IMPRESS.
Chapter Seventy-Two: Legend Of Andrea Driarco.
WARNING: THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET SO ENJOY!!
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QUICK RECAP:
The IMPRESS stages have yet to be completed. Ella, Rose and Cassandra still await their fate. But in the meanwhile, whilst everyone in the castle believes the Prince is still out looking for Natalya, the Queen, Alexander and Cathryn told The King that they believe the Ascelyns are the children of Isabella Valentine and are the great-grandchildren of Andrea Driarco.
All the way in Icilia, Natalya slapped Prince Zachary and now he wants her to be arrested, punished and/or executed for breaking the law. This means Natalya Ascelyn is WANTED.
Prior to slapping Zac, Natalya had an outburst where she put everyone in their place, including her brother before escaping Lady Irene's inn with Harrison and Preston. She had a bad run-in with her childhood bullies Tyler, Charlotte and Drew, in which Preston got angry and handled the situation, we are yet to know what he did to the three. Ava, Kat, Blake and Kai are on their way to meet Preston and help him guard the house that Natalya has gone into, to speak with her greatest-grandfather Daya El Rigo. Harrison went with Natalya in order to support her, and they are about to get some of the answers that we've been waiting for.
End Of Recap.
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Natalya's POV~
I had waited for this moment to come for a long time myself, so when I found out that my great-grandfather Daya El Rigo had been waiting too, it hit hard at home. I thought I'd lost the majority of my family until now where I'd learnt that, in fact, I had more than just Alaric and Todd for a family.
That is if I exclude the terrible three Aunt Roslin, Ella and Marcus.
Knowing that I had a grandfather who'd been waiting for me for who knows how long made me feel wanted, loved and cared for. Even standing in the same room as him put me in deep awe and staring at him for as long as I did, enabled me to take in his Zeus-like appearance. I think I had seen this envisioned this moment in a dream or something because he looked exactly how I imagined.
I'd pictured a handsome older man with greying dark hair and a Viking-long beard, his eyes a piercing hazel brown and skin, a Mediterranean, golden olive. Daya El Rigo matched the description. He was a man of power, and his formal posture announced that.
When our eyes met, he smiled endearingly and I couldn't help but smile back.
I was staring right into Daya El Rigo's eyes, the man that had been mentioned by many, the man I believe was my greatest-grandfather, and the man I could hardly comprehend that I was stood right in front of.
So since I believe Daya El Rigo is my great-grandfather, this means he was the one my greatest-grandmother Andrea eventually chose in the end... But then, who was the girl? And, why was she standing so close to Harrison? It was making me slightly uncomfortable, actually, highly uncomfortable.
I folded my arms over my chest waiting for the lady to finish examining my Harrison, eyeing her judgmentally at how invasive she was being. Poor Harrison was taken back, and I could tell he was wondering what the girl was doing too. My grandfather, however, didn't even seem fazed when the girl inched a little closer to Harrison's face and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand.
Okay, she's crossed the line. That's enough!
"Excuse me, do you mind not doing that?" I said frowning at how Harrison wasn't even trying to push her away. Not that he should have to do that, but I would like if he did.
The girl abruptly stopped when she heard my voice, and her hands clutched onto Harrison's jacket as she smirked and slid off him. Was she intentionally trying to hit a nerve in me, because congrats to her, it may have worked?
"Sure," the girl said in a humoured way. Why the hell did she look so pleased by my annoyed reaction to her invasion of Harrison's personal space? I'm confused.
The girl was pretty, I guess.
In fact, who am I kidding? The woman was drop-dead gorgeous, a whole package deal. One glance at her face and I felt like the ugliest girl in the world. She had an enchanting aura that surrounded her, kind of like Preston's mother, there were a few similarities between them actually.
However, this woman was something else. Her porcelain white skin seemed to create light in this room of darkness, and her hair only made her stand out more, with curly locks that were the darkest shade of black and lips painted red, it was easy to say she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen.
When her eyes met mine, I froze, I hadn't had the chance to see her up close until now and I could have sworn that I was looking into a mirror when I did properly get a look of her. Her eyes looked very much like mine? Like an exact reflection of mine. A coffee-bean brown that could brighten to a hazel yet at times, still be mistaken for black.
And on top of that, they gleamed.
"Excuse my actions, I was just trying to prove a point to a certain someone," the girl spoke again gesturing over to my grandfather. When I heard her speak this time, I was able to detect the maturity in her voice. A maturity that had me questioning whether she was a witch or a vampire that had lived many years but remained young and youthful.
"What point were you trying to prove?" It was now my turn to invade her privacy.
She didn't hesitate nor did she falter in any way. The girl smiled in a way that gave rise to my suspicions and responded, "nothing of your concern, Natalya-Andrea."
All I could do in reply was gulp and questioningly look over at Harrison.
"Call me Davina, Davina Utupris," I hear the girl's voice first before I turn back around to see her hand hovering in the air for me to shake. "I've been a friend of your family for generations Andrea, and I'm so glad I am finally getting to meet you... The girl who will bring peace to the five kingdoms. Wow, it's unreal."
Davina Utupris? Her name does ring a bell but from where do I know it from?
I shook Davina's hand cautiously, looking over her shoulder and to my grandfather for a little help in understanding who she actually was. To me, it looked like she was just my great-grandfather's rebound after he lost my great-grandmother, Andrea. But, that can't be the only case if she's calling me by my middle name so naturally like she was.
"I'm sorry for the loss of your parents, it must've really left a scar on you," she continued with a faint heartfelt smile that looked sad, to the point, that it seemed she'd been affected by the news just as much as I had, "don't be a stranger dear, I've been your guardian angel for a while now."
My guardian angel?
I furrowed my eyebrows, "in what way?"
Before Davina could answer me, she was distracted by my necklace, my great-grandmother Andrea's necklace. She took the pendant into her hand, and I was surprised to see it didn't burn her. She was definitely a vampire, I could tell, so why didn't the Nixon in my necklace affect her.
"This was hers," Davina muttered to herself more than to me, she stroked the pendant and looked at it sadly, " Your cousin Todd gave you this as a late birthday gift from your parents, didn't he?"
How did she know that? I stared at her with wide eyes and swallowed worriedly. "Yes, he did."
Davina temporarily shut her eyes as she nodded and smiled, "his a good boy that one."
My great-grandfather interrupted us before I could ask how Davina knew what she knew. "Natalya, correct me if I am wrong but I hear you came here to get some answers. Is that right?"
With my mouth ajar, I slowly turned my head and moved away from Davina to formally answer my grandfather. "Yes, you're right. I have a long list of questions, and somehow, all of them have led me to you."
He strongly nodded, his power and authority electrifying the air from the one gesture. "Ok. Allow me to answer those questions for you then, as well as get to know you two a little better," he smiled but again, the smile screamed POWER. "We should probably take this discussion elsewhere, to a more private area in the house..."
"-He means the basement." Davina clarified for our understanding, brushing past me and Harrison and back to my grandfather's side. "This way we can speak openly and be rest assured that whatever the four of us discuss down there won't pass beyond these walls."
Davina made me shudder at the way she sharply narrowed her eyes at the door as if she was mentally murdering the person that lurked behind it aka. my fiance, Preston. I pretended not to notice her directed glare and slowly nodded.
Going elsewhere to talk privately was fine by me but I had to check with Harrison first, to see if he was okay going down into a basement with people that were essentially strangers to him. To my relief, when I did look to see if he was fine with it, he sent me a reassuring nod to confirm that he wasn't bothered.
Well then...
"Lead the way."
Earlier...
Alexander's POV~
There was only so much a bastard son like me could do in a scenario like this. It didn't make a big difference whether I was the bastard son of the King or not, because, at the end of the day, I was just the son of his late mistress... I wasn't seen as anything more or less than a mistake that happened in the eyes of the Astenians.
Yes, father did treat me equally to Zachary and Cathryn, but, even I knew that my word didn't matter when it came to big decision-making. Nor did my sister Cathryns matter or even Queen Melisandres. My father, King Creon and brother Prince Zachary had the power of determining how to impact a situation since their claims were much more superior than ours.
The King and the King to be's words are the only ones that were truly respected.
Zac was next in line for the crown, so his word had worth, whatever he spoke was taken seriously by father, the council and the people. But, too bad he wasn't here to prevent what was happening right now...
"What the heck is going on? We heard about Alaric and Natalya, is it really true?!" Douglas all very suddenly appeared by my side, blowing out a gust of air like he'd just run from one side of the castle to the other. Before I could respond, Terrence followed after him, appearing on the other side of me. "This is by far the most hectic morning the castle has experienced in a long time, what's this news I hear about the Ric and Natalya?"
"When did you guys get back?! Where are the others, did Zac come back with you, were you able to find Natalya?" I widened my eyes, surprised that they'd made it back already.
As Terrance straightened his back and removed his hands from his knees, Douglas cleared his throat and answered my many questions, "we got back late last night, we came looking for you but the guards informed us that you were busy. Zac didn't come back with us. He, Alaric, Derek, Chris and Xavier are still out there looking for Natalya. Dario is with his dad, and Aaron is down in the dungeons."
"Oh thank god!"
I put a fist in the air, having been relieved at what Douglas had said. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Zac to find Natalya, however, if she valued her quality of life, she would need to stay as far away from this castle as possible, especially after my encounter with father last night. He didn't exactly take the news about the true heritage of the Ascelyns very well, by that I mean, early this morning he sent out over at least a hundred trained soldiers and guards to every region in search of Alaric and Natalya.
My father the King didn't normally send out the most trained soldiers out on a job if the issue wasn't majorly important, so this must've been a sore as hell subject for him because he didn't take a single heartbeat to decide what he wanted to do. Father won't say what he will do once he gets his hands on the Ascelyns but my gut is telling me that he won't let them off easily.
When the King senses a threat, he tends to eliminate it. Especially now that his biggest regret is having kept Oberyn alive for as long as he did, he really wishes he never delayed his execution date.
"Wait, is it a good thing that they are not back yet?" Terrence slowly questioned, confused by my response to Douglas.
"Yes, it's very good. As you can see, right now, both Alaric and Natalya's bedchambers are being searched top to bottom for any sign of threat," I direct Douglas and Terrence's gaze over to Natalya's bedchamber which is wide-open and filled with countless servants, "my father made sure to tell the servants going through their things that they didn't need to worry about making a mess, he just wants to gather as much evidence as he can to confirm that the Ascelyns are really related to the legend Andrea."
The servants were definitely searching through Alaric and Natalya's rooms thoroughly and the reason I believe this is because the level of noise that was coming from the rooms made it sound like a lot of chaos was happening.
I continued catching Douglas and Terrence up on what they needed to know, "When the soldiers that were sent out do eventually get their hands on Alaric and Natalya, I have no clue what my father plans on doing with or to them. I'd prefer if they just stay as far from here as possible."
All I know for sure is that the King certainly doesn't want the future King Zac anywhere near Natalya, and for the right reasons, I guess. I think he knew Zac showed a strong liking in her which is why he'd gone to look for her, but thing is, father had been betrayed, abandoned and left broken by Alaric and Natalya's mother Isabella in the past, so I understood if he still felt heartbreak and held a grudge. He simply didn't want history to repeat itself.
To my dismay though, this meant father took matters into his own hands as soon as he heard the news. He took it upon himself to write a formal letter addressing the Ascelyn's secret so he could fly it out by sunrise, in hopes that it would get to wherever Zac was by sunset.
If the letter did get to my brother in time, there was no telling what he would do upon hearing the news. I believe my brother truly means good but sometimes, just sometimes, he can be a tiny bit unpredictable. Like father, when my brother feels threatened he tends to react impulsively out of fear that he will lose his pride, power and authority in a click of a finger.
There was a long period of time where father had finally reached a good level of serenity, but as soon as he got the slightest taste of what peace and order is, he instantly lost the plot again. All thanks to that conniving witch, Melisandre.
"I saw your father coming up from the dungeons this morning looking all kinds of pissed off so, I don't think his handling the news very well," Douglas admitted.
"If the witches find out that the crown and everyone who serves it, is distracted by this news, they will find a time and place to attack us without warning. They will thrive before we've even run over our plan of action with the demons and werewolves. Just what we need before a war isn't it," I sarcastically rolled my eyes, and hit the wall of the corridor frustrated.
Terrence rubbed my back, "Xander, we'll be fine. We still need to resume IMPRESS, so we can use that and its next stages to distract our enemies from suspecting that anything's wrong."
I like the way he thinks. I clicked my fingers repeatedly, impressed by his suggestion. "Wait, that's a really good idea. Hey, find my sister and tell her to notify the council and IMPRESS girls to prepare for the next stage. I'm going to go find my father and make sure he doesn't make any more hasty decisions."
"Don't worry, we got you," Douglas tapped my shoulder before he and Terrence gave each other a nod and flashed out of my sight.
Later...
***
Derek's POV~
"The reason she's decided to lash out at us, especially me, is because that psychopathic demon king has hypnotised her!" Prince Zac growled, taking out his anger on an abandoned market stand and kicking it down to planks.
I agreed. That Demon King was trouble, the way he stood there smirking in the back whilst watching her make a fool of her own brother. Something was off about him. It baffled my mind that Natalya had supposedly fallen for him in such a short space of time. I didn't get it.
"That was seriously out of character, even for her. King Preston is definitely playing some sick kind of game with her," Chris said, also baffled by Natalya's recent outburst.
"You can't just assume that his brainwashing her, I think Natalya has been treated so well by him that she has just now realised how bad she was actually treated by everyone else before," Cassandra revealed, earning an everlasting glare from the Prince.
She immediately backed up and walked by Xavier, using him as the barrier between her and Zac since he was the only one out of us all that hadn't said a word since the incident.
I think he was a little annoyed by the incident too. But, I don't know whether he was more annoyed Natalya or at Zac for asking us to arrest Natalya after she slapped him? I guess he'd tell us in his own time, but I personally think everyone just needed a moment to calm down after what happened.
"I just don't understand what went wrong? I thought I was doing alright," Alaric frustratedly said as we fell behind the others and failed to maintain their pace. To be honest, it was a bit difficult to keep up with Prince Zac, he was incredibly angry at everybody and everything since what happened. "Don't you think?"
Honestly, Alaric had been a pretty shitty brother these days. I know he cared for his sister with all his heart but he acted like a wuss when it came to the prince. Maybe it was because Alaric saw him as a close brother that he failed to acknowledge the fact that his never actually disagreed with Zac on anything.
For example, the time that the prince almost killed Alaric's sister, he didn't try as hard as he should've done to prevent that from happening. I know that the Prince prefers Alaric over me which is why I had put my faith in him to persuade Zac not to kill his own sister. But, somehow, he failed.
I know one thing is for sure. If Natalya was my sister I would have done everything in her favour to prevent that event from occurring.
"I'm saying this because you're like a brother to me Ric, but you seriously let Prince Zac get away with too much. He treats your sister like shit yet you haven't once told him to stop, in fact, instead of doing her a favour and keeping him away from her, you are helping him get closer to her. For what? She clearly wants nothing to do with him."
Alaric blankly blinked at me, shocked that I'd said what I had, he'd expected me to side with him. But, that wasn't me, unlike him, I can accept the fact that I have been a shit guard. I mean- I had no idea Natalya was engaged to that demon of a man until recently. "I'm just telling you the truth mate, he doesn't deserve Natalya and you know it."
"But the way my sister looks at him tells me otherwise, and the way he constantly talks about her too. I didn't notice it in the beginning but Derek, Zac's been talking about my sister nonstop since the day he first saw her. He didn't do it obviously in the beginning, it started with little one-liners but now I find myself talking about my own sister with him like she's-"
"-not related to you," I finish off, sending him a knowing look, "see you not only act but speak like your blood-related to him and not her. You are a good person Ric, but you just need to get your priorities straight and remind yourself that you have one person you have to look after more than yourself and the Royals, and that's Natalya."
Alaric's lips were resting in the most unsatisfied flat-line when we both came to a halt, allowing the others to walk a little further when we realised that we'd caught up. "Okay, I will try my hardest to prioritise my sister a little more, thanks for being honest Derek. I can always count on you to tell me the truth."
"Don't sweat it," I shrugged.
Before we started walking again, Alaric looked away for a moment and then back at me. "Tell me you see it too, unless I'm being delusional or stupid. Natalya looks at him the same way he does her, right?"
As much as it hurts me to admit, yes she did. I liked Natalya, hell, everybody did. However, through the hate that she displays towards Zac after what he did to her, you can still see a glimmer of hope for them. She may not love him but she definitely feels something for him, whether its lust or what, I cannot say.
Prince Zachary, on the other hand, is misunderstood. Although he claims he wants Natalya to be arrested and shows that his mad at her, someone who knows him as well as Alaric and I do, know that he is just foreign to the feeling of disappointment and heartache, and so acts out instead.
"No you're right, there's definitely something there. It's just a little complicated for them, I guess."
Complicated because even if they wanted to, they could never be together as King and Queen. Natalya would have to be an IMPRESS girl if she wanted to secure that title, and as we all know, she no longer is so if she was to pursue the Prince in the future, she would become his Mistress and not his Queen.
Just like Alexander's mother was to King Creon before her demise.
"Good, at least I know I'm not completely stupid then," Alaric mumbled, clearly still butthurt by the honest truth of him being a shit brother.
I shook my head, amused by his dramatic-self and continued to walk alongside him. "Come on, we best go help Chris, Xavier and Cassandra calm him down before he goes on another blood-spree."
And with that, we instantly sped up.
***
Back to Natalya's POV~
I knew the intensity of my gaze was burning holes into the backs of Davina's hands whilst she was preparing some tea for the four of us at the table. I didn't mean to stare so harshly but I was intrigued pretty by what Davina's reason for being here was. Her name rung a bell and I know she said she was a family friend but why is hiding with my great-grandfather.
The candle-lit basement we had moved to was quite intimate, it had a warm yet serious atmosphere to it and kind of felt like an interrogation room.
Daya El Rigo wouldn't stop glancing at me every now and then, and it made me think that maybe he was making sure I wouldn't make a run for it, either that or he still couldn't fathom the fact I was his great-granddaughter.
Harrison's hand went to supportively squeeze my leg under the table, and I smiled and found his hand at my thigh before squeezing it back to show just how happy I was at him being here. Once Davina finished pouring our cups of tea, she hurried to her seat beside my grandfather and took a long thirsty sip from her own cup. She was holding the rim to her mouth when my grandfather decided to speak.
"Now this is a little bit better, isn't it?" he humoured, adjusting himself to be more relaxed and less, well... intimidating. I took a sip from my cup of tea and delightfully hummed at how nice and soothing it was when it warmed my throat. "It's cosy, I like it. Thanks for your hospitality."
Davina smiled at my reply and my grandfather chuckled waving his hand at me, "no need to thank me, Natalya, of course it's my duty to make sure you feel welcome. Any grand-daughter of mine deserves to be treated well."
I wish he would tell that to my brother and his stupid responsibility of a Prince.
Davina grinned, rolling her eyes and leaning forward. She brought her right elbow forward so she could rest her chin in the palm of her hand. "Okay so shoot guys."
"Shoot what?" I stupidly asked and Davina laughed before clarifying again, "you want answers Andrea, so shoot us your questions."
My middle name flowed so naturally out of her mouth that it didn't feel weird to me for her to call me by it. Harrison was the only one who reacted by flinching a little after having been surprised that I even had a middle name in the first place.
You see, if I had gone around telling people that I had a middle name and it was Andrea, then I would have received the unnecessary attention my mother tried so hard to make us avoid. People would have brought up the fact that I was named after the legend Andrea Driarco, and would've possibly connected the dots. On top of that, I just didn't feel the need to share it.
I let out a thoughtful breath to indicate that I was thinking about which question to ask first, and the flames of the candles centred on the table wavered.
"How did you know my name?" Harrison beat me to it, making it obvious that the question had been lingering on his mind since we'd arrived here. "We have never met before, and if we had, I would surely remember you. So tell me, how do you know my name?"
Davina and my grandfather pursed their lips and looked at each, mentally deciding who'd be answering the first question. When my grandfather indicated by nodding to Davina that she could be the first to answer, I focused my curious gaze on her.
"That's the perfect question to begin with," Davina pleasantly smiled. "Like I said earlier, we've been your guardian angels for a period of time now, Natalya..." Davina referred to what she'd briefly mentioned upstairs, "and as your guardian angels, our responsibility is to look over you and make sure you are heading down the right path. Which means us having to know every single person you've had any sort of relationship with. Including you, Harrison."
Right, that's slightly creepy and hard to take in. Does she mean they have been watching me all this time, my every movement and conversation? What the-
"Hold on, I'm confused. First of all, why would you need to look over me?" I quoted and then exclaimed, "and wait, how long have you been watching me for? Actually, what on earth have you been using to spy on me in the first place?"
Davina quickly responded, "the prophecy," which was enough to make me go quiet and chill out a little so I could get a clearer explanation, "we know that the witches have briefly told you about how you are ultimately the one who will bring Asten to its rise and fall, but in the end will be the one who also secures a peace that ends all wars."
Harrison and I were eager to know more so we didn't interrupt until we had every answer to every question. I'd waited way too long for this, to just be left hanging.
"It's best if I just tell you this now, but as you know there was a war a long time ago during the time your greatest-grandmother Andrea was alive, and as you're aware, that war ended badly. Thing is, a peace was supposed to be secured after the great war between the vampires and witches ended but for some reason, it wasn't, and nobody knows why," Davina innocently shrugged, "but what we know is that over time, after a torturous period of time, fate created another chance for us to restore the peace we failed to get before. Fate gave us a new prophecy that emerged at the exact moment you were birthed."
"Gave who another chance, you guys? The witches? The vampires?" I curiously questioned.
I thought the witches were the enemy. They tried to sneak a bloody obedience crystal down my throat!
"There are selected bunch of people who can see into the prophecy, and your great-grandfather Daya is one of them," Davina indicated to my grandfather who sat and listened, showing no other emotion than interest, "he is a half-witch Nostradamus, someone who can predict and foresee future events. He ages but very very slowly and every 25 years, he gets older. Right now your grandfather is 50, whereas, I, a vampire, am 194 years old."
"So, do you work with the witches or the vampires?" I crossed my arms.
My grandfather shook his head, "we don't work with anyone, but I can say, unlike the vampires, the witches mean well Natalya. They are just trying to fulfil the same prophecy that we are. The sooner the peace is secured, the fewer people that continue dying for no reason."
"And how can you be so sure that they're good people?" I quizzed.
He sighed, "because I was really good friends with Oberyn once upon a time, back when he was the only leader of the witches and before he was taken prisoner by the vampires. Oberyn always meant well, we liked the same girl, but he is a good guy. Like anyone, he just makes questionable decisions sometimes."
When he said the same girl, Davina pursed her lips whilst me and Harrison faintly smiled. I'm experiencing conflict in whether to trust the witches again or not, but I cannot sit here and not smile whenever my great-grandfather mentions Andrea.
"So, how long have you been watching over me for and how are you able to keep track of me all day, every day?" I was so interested in what they had to say that I kept on throwing questions at them.
"Since your first birthday," Davina easily replied and I gasped, "so yeah just imagine how surreal it is for me and Daya to finally get to speak to you like this. We don't see and remember every single detail of your life, just the important things. Daya was gifted a charmed mirror by an enchantress a thousand years ago, one that he can use to track what anyone's up to."
My mind was blown. Who knew a mirror like that existed??
"Important things like for example..." Harrison pressed for an explanation, and Davina knowingly smirked back at my grandfather who lightly smiled back, amused.
"Like the fact you've had a crush on your best friend since the age of ten?" Davina challengingly eyed Harrison, who immediately turned red at the cheeks when I covered my mouth in surprise.
Harrison has a crush on me? SINCE WHEN?
"Wait, what? Is that true, Harrison?" I exclaimed, trying not to sound too affected by the news but failing miserably. I just wished he'd told me before I had met Preston or even Zac, because truth is, up until I'd arrived at the castle, I'd had the biggest crush on Harrison for the longest time. I really wanted him to feel the same way but I always thought he saw me as his best friend and that's it.
"I mean- it was just a tiny little crush long ago. Quite harmless actually, to be honest, I thought you already knew Natalya," Harrison shrugged with a cute smile that screamed I'm embarrassed, please let it go.
I never realised Harrison had a crush on me. I'm honestly gutted. If only I had known, something could've been, but now I can't imagine myself with anybody else but Preston.
"Yeah, to be honest, I think I had an idea," I lied for his sake with the largest grin plastered on my face. "Besides I had a tiny crush on you too, so we are even."
When I revealed that I had a crush on him too, Harrison stopped blinking and his mouth opened and closed, shocked too. He stared at me for the longest, something visibly flashing across his ocean blue eyes when his gaze grew intense. Our eyes locked for a short moment before Harrison snapped his head away, recovering from the news fast and biting his bottom lip.
"Any who..." Davina laughed at us with a glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes, after feeling a change in our moods.
My grandfather Daya and his companion Davina had seen everything including the hell I'd been through, so I doubted they would bring up humiliating stories and judge my choices of the past like my fling with Xavier, my almost kiss with Chris, my pottery fun with Derek and my heated sessions with either King Preston or Prince Zachary.
But I couldn't be so sure that they wouldn't bring it up, which is why I proceeded to change the subject of the conversation before Daya and Davina could get the chance to embarrass me back in front of my best friend. Admitting that I had a crush on him too was enough for one day.
"So since you both knew my greatest-grandmother Andrea quite well. Could you tell me what she was like? I hear a lot about her but I don't know what bits of the legend are true and what parts are false... Many say she was torn in who she truly loved. You," I listed, nodding to my grandfather, "Oberyn, and the Mad King who came before Creon."
Daya nodded at my list, hanging his head low as he spoke. "Your grandmother's heart was made of gold, Natalya," Davina smiled at his words whilst looking down at her hands, as did I. "She never even uttered the word hate in her lifetime, she was pure, and it made sense since she was a pureblood."
I hummed in response.
"When it came to love, there was a problem, since she was the woman every man wanted and dreamt of, pursuing her took a lot of work. A lot of people were trying their hardest to impress her, the old King would constantly spoil her and so would Oberyn. Those two clashed the most trying to compete for her heart and each of them suffered from a tunnel vision that blinded them from realising there was a third threat. Me," Daya grinned, his hand resting on... Davina's thigh?
I don't actually know where his hand was, but I swear it was touching Davina and that kind of irritated me. How could my grandfather speak so lovingly about my grandmother when he was clearly over her? He'd moved on, to someone my great-grandmother probably called a friend.
"I treated Andrea like a princess to the point that she just couldn't resist me," Davina giggled, "I don't think that was the case, I think she just felt sorry for you, to be honest."
"Oh shush, she loved me and she knows it," Daya smirked and Davina rolled her eyes the exact moment I did, "but yes, the legend isn't told in its full truth. I know that you've been made to believe that the darkness alone killed your grandmother, but it wasn't just that. The toxic people that surrounded her were the reason she fell."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "then if the darkness she possessed didn't kill her and I possess the same one, then why did the witches instruct me to take a dose of Nixon every single day?"
My grandfather suddenly sat forward as soon as these words left my mouth, an angry expression slowly spreading across onto his face as he processed my words. Davina's eyes flashed red just as her head snapped up and frantically whipped between me and Daya.
"You still have the Nixon?" Davina asked rather loudly.
Harrison dug into his pockets and pulled out the shiny flask of unlimited purple drink. He waved it at them and answered, "yeah, it's here."
"I swear we made sure to get rid of that!" Daya angrily growled, clenching his fists ever-so-tightly. "Who gave it back to you?"
I thought they saw everything, but maybe that was an overstatement.
"Well actually... Some weird librarian back at the castle had stolen it from me. I don't know if you saw but a guy named Lord Hornsley tried to pose as Lord Hilbert to me and Alaric, and I think he was trying to-"
Davina was quick to shush me before looking me dead in the eye, "-no Natalya, that man was not a weirdo, he was trying to help us help you and your brother. The real Lord Hilbert has been out of Asten for awhile now, he is in the Kingdom of Pandora trying to create better lives for the people. But, he said he could allow Lord Hornsley to use his name if it meant helping you fulfil your destiny."
"Oh no," I bit my bottom lip, feeling so much guilt because as you know, the man was dead now.
"What do you mean Oh no?" Daya pressured me to answer and I swallowed nervously.
"Uhm," I hesitated to answer, "basically I was worried about where the Nixon had gone when I lost it, and the King of the Shadowlands aka. Preston kind of offered to help me find it."
Daya dismissively put his hand up to stop me from speaking, "I'm guessing he killed Lord Hornsley so he could get the Nixon back for you, didn't he?"
I frowned and regretfully nodded. I feel bad.
"It makes sense why we haven't heard from him then. I can't believe we missed that," Davina stressed, "well, what's done is done. It's fine, I just hope the poor Lord found peace."
"Yeah I know," I huffed, "I'm really sorry, I didn't know."
Davina sympathetically rubbed my arm, "it's not your fault, we should have been a little bit more strategic about it, we should have directly spoken to you about it instead of just leaving you untraceable notes."
Harrison noticed that I was obviously mourning after the news that Lord Hornsley wasn't the bad guy I suspected he was and was genuinely there to help me and Alaric. "What is wrong with the Nixon anyway?"
"The witches are really strict with this prophecy stuff and will fulfil it by any means, even if it requires a sacrifice," my grandfather revealed, "you are supposed to drink Nixon once in a blue moon for it to be effective in the right way, it's supposed to help you control your darkness but too much of it will have the opposite effect. The witches mean good but the way they go about things can be a little questionable. By telling you to drink it every day, they've practically been setting you up for a self-sacrifice."
"A WHAT?!" Both Harrison and I yelled in unison.
"Trust me, when we found out we were furious and that's why we wanted to take it away from you before it was too late," Davina sighed once again, "but we are worried now, if you grow accustomed to taking Nixon every day like you have, as soon as you stop taking it you suffer the exact same consequence you would if you drink too much of it."
"Death?" I worriedly guessed.
"Unfortunately," Daya hit me with the cold hard truth.
I knew the witches had been hiding more stuff from me.
"But don't worry just yet, Natalya," Davina encouragingly smiled, "the future still looks bright. We recently found out that the prophecy has two endings, one where both you and the prince die and one where you both live. The choices you make from now on will determine what happens to both you and him, and so we advise you make decisions that will keep Prince Zachary alive at whatever cost, Natalya, because the future isn't bright for you without him."
Hearing that my life depended on the person I hated the most at the moment made me sick to my stomach. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't I just depend on myself, because now I had to endure the stress of having to keep Preston from killing Zac when I couldn't actually care less about him.
"She can do that," Harrison answered for me, knowing full well that I hated how things had been fated out. "I'll make sure of it," he reassured. "After all, I promised her parents many of times that I'd take care of her."
Every time Harrison spoke, I swear he was succeeding at charming Davina because the amount of awe in her eyes was hilarious. I cleared my throat when I didn't want her staring at him for too long again.
"On that note, speaking of my parents, since you two have been watching over me for a while now, you most likely know that I have been trying to hunt down and seek revenge on the person who killed my parents and burnt my village to the ground. I hear that you may have an idea on who it is who did it," I clasped my hands together and sat them on top of the table, preparing myself for the answer I had been waiting for, for ages.
My great-grandfather Daya sat back and cleared his throat, responding. "Natalya, I just want to let you know, what happened that night was prophesised to happen. Your mother knew that night was coming as did your father..." He confessed, "and yes, Davina and I do know who killed your parents and we know who set your village alight."
"So it was the doing of more than one person?" I queried my mouth ajar in shock.
Daya gave a hesitant nod, "It was. However, if we tell you who did it, we may risk tampering with the future and that could result in unnecessary bloodshed."
Before I had the chance to complain about what he'd said, Davina quickly sat forward and advised, "I know you're upset by this, but listen, this doesn't mean we can't give you some advice in order to lead you in the right direction."
"Go on," Harrison pushed.
Davina lowered her voice, "well it's not our place to say but the culprit is closer than you think Andrea," she stated in a sinister way that had chills rushing down my spine. "I believe you should have a word with your husband to be, he knows a lot more than you think he does. Congrats by the way. I will be attending the wedding."
I looked at my grandfather hoping he would drop some more hints for me, and I wasn't disappointed when he thankfully did. "Yes congratulations Natalya, your parents would have been proud seeing you become the woman you are today... In terms of advice, what I suggest you do is continue impressing that Demon King of yours, keep him happy because your love for one another is the thing that will ultimately save you and many others during this war."
"Okay, thank you, I'll take your advice into consideration," I forced a smile in response, one that was full of uncertainty. Why was Preston suddenly the answer to everything? What was Davina talking about when she said Preston knew more than I think he did, what did he know? I sat back, uncomfortably looking down at my lap and thoughtfully blinking to myself. Thinking...
Why would Preston have anything to do with the village fire? And how will our love for each other be the thing that saves me and many others?
I only met him several months ago.
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AND THERE YOU GO! A LOOOOOONG CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR THE LONG WAIT!! I wanted to add more to this chapter to make it super exciting but it would have been way too long. However, the good news is the good stuff I couldn't fit into this chapter will be coming in the next one so get ready. This chapter's main purpose was to feed you information that may or may not foreshadow the ending of IMPRESS ;)
I hope you liked it though and I hope you prepare yourself for the next chapter! I say this all the time but this time I am serious, the next chapter is coming soon!!
Qs: Anyone shipping Narrison or did that ship never sail? What do you think about Daya El Rigo and Davina? What do you think about Preston? What do you think the King will do once he has his hands on the Ascelyns? How will Zac react when he finds out Natalya is special?
Vote, comment all your lovely thoughts and share with your fellow wattpaders!!!
Love you & thank youuu!
- Natasha Xx