My voice broke into a sob as I walked closer to Nikolai's downed body.
But a knife was suddenly at my throat. "Back away from my Nikolai."
My Nikolai? Who the hell....
Umaya stepped out from behind me to cover my view of Nikolai. She looked positively tomatoish, if that even is a word.
Her faces still kept changing. But they all had on the same expression. It was determination mixed with grief, fear and heartbreak.
She looked just as devastated as I was about Nikolai's fate.
The difference was that she was holding a knife and threatening death and I was shocked out of my wits.
"I know you recognise me."
"I know that you know that I know who you are."
"I'm not playing a game, Lunia. "
"I'm this the part where you tell me your master plan, Runeria? I thought we'd be great friends because we both had similar thinking. And if I were you I'd do something dramatic like tell you my master plan and then frame you for Nikolai's death."
"Oh. I'm going to tell you my master plan, alright. " She said and caught a hold of my collar.
She nudged me towards the ruined couch and pushed me over it. Nikolai's open eyes stared at me, unseeing from his position on the ground.
A fresh wave of tears flooded my eyes as I watched her crouch over him and close his eyes.
"It is unfortunate that Nikolai ended up the one to bear the brunt of your punishment."
"You killed him."
"It was supposed to be you!" She cried. "You were supposed to be the one who dies. And Nikolai would be heartbroken over you and I, posing as Umaya, would be his shoulder to cry on. " Her voice cracked as she spoke looking down at Nikolai.
"The scarred man."
"Is an assassin I paid to murder you."
"And he double crossed you." I guessed.
"Someone else paid him more to kill Nikolai instead." She swiped at her face and pointed the knife at my face. "Let me tell you my story from the start.
"I grew up in a family of four. My two parents, my elder brother and myself. My father was the King. And my elder brother was the prince, soon to be King. Ours was a happy family. My parents cared for me. But my brother? They adored him. The people adored him. Everyone, everywhere only cared for his wellbeing. He was to be king , afterall. They didn't care that I was the princess. They didn't care that even I needed love. They only cared about him.
In a few years, it was finally his coronation day, the whole kingdome gathered together at the chamber of origination. And just when he was declared King, the fifth Theodorius hatched. " Her eyes glazed over, as if remembering that day.
"It was the best day of my life. To know that one day when Theodorius the fifth would mature, then my brother would have to give his beloved crown away. That one day, he would be just like me, a nobody. " She grinned wickedly.
"That day came nineteen years later, when Theodorius the fifth matured and took the crown from my brother. My brother became bitter after that. He cursed his fate and that of the Theodorius line. He became obsessed with gaining back the throne. He tried to assassinate Theodorius the fifth. " She paused as pushed some of my hair away from my face with her dagger.
"He was killed. Our family as a punishment for his sins was wiped away from the minds of the people by the Theodorius' magic. My parents and mine own mind was wiped clean of all memories of my brother. And I was turned back into a child, to make my parents believe the lies woven in their minds. But." She grinned.
"But, my dear Lunia. I never forgot. I was a magick dragon. I was very powerful. And Theodorius' underestimated me and used very less magic on me. And so, I remembered the fate of my brother.
After the ordeal, my parents began to love me like I was their only child. They gave me everything I ever wanted and I was finally seen. However, I was not satisfied with that. It was leftovers. Every once in while I would see confusion on their faces. I would see longing when they looked at the sons of other people. They wanted a boy. They wanted their boy. And so I left them.
I live away from them and in the palace, serving as a friend of the new prince, Ravenos. I whispered secrets in his ears, I manipulated him to do my bidding. He was a puppet, the strings in my hands. And then Aurora strikes again. Theodorius the sixth is hatched. A fire dragon that too. The breed of dragons that wiped themselves out. And so I took the form of a child again and befriended him too.
I introduced him to Terahar, who I just used as a friend so I wouldn't appear as a lonely child. Theodorius was stronger than Ravenos. More mature, somehow. He was a wonderful creature but I sensed he was also a threat to my person. If he grew up to be strong and as wise as he was, then his rule would have no end and I would never get the throne.
And so I whispered into the ears of the people. And the King and Queen. I had him imprisoned. I had him driven to madness. And then in the end, I had him cast out."
She laughed, maliciously. "My rule begin after that. I manipulated Ravenos to do just as I asked. I punished the people for not loving me. For not cherishing me. For not being there when I needed them.
Theodorius can never be found Lunia. I gave you an impossible task and planned to kill you before you reached the word to Nikolai. I wanted to give the Resistance on Aurora a hope that Theodorius would be found by the demons. That is why I abducted you and had Terahar listen to our words. And then I ordered your execution. Ensuring Theodorius' death. And he will die, Lunia. I've got the ghouls onto him."
A drop of blood slid out from my cheek as she pressed the dagger in.
"But the assassin double crossed me. Instead of killing you he killed Nikolai." Her voice cracked.
"Why? Why do you care so much about Nikolai."
"It was not meant to be thus. I was not supposed to fall in love with him. But I did. He was everything I'd ever hope for. Her heard me. Listened to me. Understood me. And I got attached. Then he told me about you. He told me that he was leaving me for you. That he never intended for me to get attached. And I was so angry. I manipulated him, too. I put words into his mind. I made him imprison you. I travelled into the past and started my manipulations right from the first time he met his Oracle to know his future. I made him hate you. I was the one all along. " She laughed.
Her words registered. Nikolai had just been her puppet. A weight lifted from my heart, knowing that Nikolai was innocent just made me feel more sadder now that he was gone. He died thinking that it was his fault that my life was ruined. I now understood the confusion in his eyes every time I asked him why.
My days with Nikolai passed right before my eyes.
"The dessert on the wedding night. "
"It was meant for you. Nikolai was going to eat it but I was glad that you did. "
"The poison that you gave Yula?" I asked, confused.
"That was when someone had paid my assassin to cause trouble for Nikolai. Trouble that would get him killed. But it's not important anymore. " She snarled and wiped her tears away.
"Whatever happens, happens for the best. Nikolai's gone but you're still here. And now everyone will know my true intentions. My true workings. I can't let that happen. I will rule the demons because I am not able to rule the dragons. We will join the dark side and win with war and then the ghouls will make me the Queen of the dragons. All I have to do, is bring the demons on their side. And now with Nikolai and you out of my way, I'll just use my magic to control the rest of them all." She grinned.
Just then the door opened. She quickly threw the dagger at me, it impaled my hand to the wall, making me cry out. The next moment she threw her body over Nikolai's and began wailing.
Alexei and Dimitri stared at their brother's downed body, frozen in shock and disbelief.
"No." Dimitri said and slid to his knees.
I struggled at the wall. My blood dripped down, it hurt like a bitch but Nikolai's death had already caused me enough pain to ignore this wound. I tugged the dagger loose.
"Arrest that woman! She murderer the king!" Runeria cried, pointing towards me.
The guards instantly obeyed her. They swatted the dagger out of my hand and pressed my wound making me kneel.
"No! She's lying! Alexei! Dimitri! Listen to me!"
They kept staring at the unmoving body of the Demon King.
"Dimitri!" I shouted before they dragged me out.
He looked towards me, thankfully.
"I didn't do this. She's lying. I love Nikolai. I'd never do this to him."
His face hardened with fury and I knew that I wasn't getting help from him.
"Throw her in the dungeons."