"Good morning," Nyo greeted them, her coiled hair resting upon her shoulders, reminding Lysandra of Medusa. "Do sit down."
It was little bit of a stretch of her wild imagination but Nyo definitely had a stare which could freeze people in their tracks with the authority and power that oozed out of her.
Lysandra snickered to herself as she sat down on the plush couch and nudging Seraphine whose eyes were fixed too hard on the African Queen.
"Calm down, would you? She is not going to poison our teas or something," Lysandra murmured to Seraphine, shooting Nyo a sweet smile.
Seraphine cleared her throat and split her lips into a courteous grin directed at the Queen as she took a seat beside her cousin.
"I have summoned the both of you here to discuss a very important concern that has been bothering me," she started, rather hesitantly, "and I would hate to have to bother your parents and distract them from their duties."
"It is our responsibility to take care of you while you are in Athens, Queen Baraka. Do tell us what your trouble is." Lysandra nodded as her cousin spoke, making the dark-skinned woman feel a little at ease.
"Please, call me Nyo. Formalities, I feel, are unnecessary."
"Sure!"
Lysandra's enthusiasm brought out a chuckle from the other two royals. A moment passed and Nyo rubbed her palms together before speaking.
"You see, the other day when I was attacked, you had captured a vampyre. My doubt is that they have begun protesting and decided to harm me thinking I have joined hands with King Eucarpus."
Lysandra furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would the daemons attack you? Besides, I don't understand how they knew you apparently joined hands with my father, if you did, that is."
"That is the what I wanted to discuss. Your father let me in on the whole plan, yes. But— "
I told you, my precious, your father is planning something huge. Huge in the scale of taking over the world.
"Who are you?" Lysandra asked, her tone wavering.
Your well wisher, came the monotonous voice, ringing within her head.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"Uh, yes. I apologise, Nyo. I am fine."
"So, King Eucarpus's plan is to terminate all sorts of daemons or get them under his control for when he takes over the Earth and he believes that if the seven bellator kingdoms join hands, that will be an easy goal to achieve. Besides, it has been centuries since the lycanthropes and warlocks came out of their hiding. Being limited in number keeps them indoors and hidden, mostly."
"We had a rough idea about his plans, yes." Seraphine nodded, fidgeting in her seat.
"Yeah," Nyo trailed off. "So, I sort of refused King Eucarpus and I had come here to respectfully reject his offer but I reckon my arrival here spurred the daemons on. Perhaps, they assumed that I joined hands with him because I chose to come here when the Russian Tsars are here."
She will grow to regret her refusal.
Lysandra's frame froze as she grit her teeth, trying not to respond to the voice within her head. "Can I be excused?" she asked as Nyo muttered an apology for causing her discomfort.
"Are you unwell?"
"No, I uhm, yes. My stomach, fuck," Lysandra cursed as the creepy voice's chuckle reverberated within her head. "I feel nauseous, probably a silly stomach bug."
"Would you like me to inform mum? She can give you a potion for it," Seraphine offered, squeezing Lysandra's shoulder to make her feel a little better.
"No, don't bother aunt now. I have a pill in my art supplies bag anyways." Lysandra shot up, mumbling a quick goodbye to the African Queen whose features held uncertainty.
"Get better soon," Nyo said in a soft tone, her smile crinkling the corners of her obsidian eyes.
Lysandra was utterly petrified owing to the strange man talking to her and left the room without a word. Taking swift steps in order to get to her room as fast as possible, she looked around, foolishly searching for anyone to sprung up from behind a curtain and attack her. She was excessively paranoid but, at that moment, her heart was thudding at a rapid pace and her senses were queasy, repeatedly warned her about some impending danger.
"It has been quite a while since I saw you, princess. Busy with the royal duties, I presume?"
Lysandra jumped at the sudden voice and sucked in a shaky breath of relief when she was Avgustine walked towards her. But in a matter of seconds, her senses went overdrive as she remembered how he spoke about her the day of their betrothal. She wished she could scream to the world about how she felt and throw the ring on her finger down to the depths of tartarus. Her lack of answer to Avgustine made him clear his throat and she braced herself, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You could say that." She shrugged nonchalantly. "But, then again, you cannot completely put away the idea that I can possibly be whoring around in all of the time I've got."
She would regret this insubordination which would most probably prove to be a setback for their grand plan but, she did not care for it. She wanted to be in the comfort of her own room in her chamber that she had grown accustomed to and everyone in her path would be nothing but a hindrance she would gladly get rid of.
Do you really think your cousin Seraphine cares for you? You are just a pawn in her game, precious.
Her breathing raced and a strange chill kissed down her spine. She bit her lip and practically ran into her room once she reached her chambers. "Who are you?" she called out, clutching her head once she closed the door behind her.
Like I have mentioned before, I am your well-wisher. A guardian angel of sort.
"I don't care, you have no right. Get the fuck out of my head." Lysandra paced across the length of her room, wondering if the lack of sleep the previous night was affecting her head and letting it conjure dramatic scenarios as such.
You can't push me away like you did to people your whole life, my precious.
It was her breaking point and she could not hold it in anymore. The pain, the agony found an outlet in the tears which streamed down her face without a pause. She crumbled, falling to the ground and giving in to the moment of weakness.
"You feeling better now?" Seraphine asked, wiping the sweat off her forehead after an intense fighting session with Lysandra who had abruptly come to her room, asking her to accompany her to the training wing. Hoping it would make her cousin feel better, Seraphine agreed, clearly understanding that she was in some sort of emotional turmoil.
"I think so."
She is going to be very sweet until she gets what she wants from you, you must know that much, surely?
After crying for a couple of minutes, Lysandra had taken a long bath to ease her nerves and in the couple of hours that passed, she'd learnt to ignore the voice in her head with a practiced stony composure. It was a silly person blabbing shit and she would be a fool to let it affect her.
"Good," Seraphine said, patting Lysandra's shoulder. "Let me know if you need someone to talk to."
"What did Nyo say, by the way?"
"Uh, almost nothing more than what we already assumed."
"Almost?"
"The thing is, your father has been trying to persuade her into agreeing with him but, Nyo had been saying no. She strongly believes she'd be betraying God if she agrees to the plan. Besides, the Russians are with him in every step apparently."
Do you know for sure if Sera isn't secretly trying to steal the power for their family and banish yours? Have you ever wondered if they are just greedy bellators using the innocence of the returned princess to their benefit?
Lysandra once again paid no heed to the matter but, her head went wild with the thought. She'd trusted the Dimitrovs because as far as she knew they had been truthful to her regarding most issues and besides, they appeared to care about her more than her parents did. She wondered if it was all an act but as she saw into the blue eyes of her cousin staring at her in concern upon receiving no answer, she crossed all of her doubts away. Seraphine wouldn't betray her, her gut knew that but danger alarms went off in her brain and she couldn't help but feel extremely exhausted again.
"How do we know," Lysandra begun, "that Nyo is telling us the truth?"
"We don't know, Lee. We have to take and risk and stick together until she gives us a reason not to trust her," Seraphine said, shrugging. "One snitch, one little snitch will be enough for us to figure out your parents' exact plan but, their men are too loyal for their own good. They believe King Eucarpus is very righteous, especially after he took care of the kingdom after everything that happened to the last um, ruler."
Lysandra tensed at the mention of Celeste's parents. But, she braced herself and tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. "What do you suggest we do now?"
"Maevis has been collecting information and from what she found out, your parents have only been communicating with the Russians and their stay here is told to be for your union. And Nyo was called in as an inspiration to you on the coronation so that her sudden arrival would raise no suspicion. It is planned very keenly, you see."
"Looks like they have brains after all," Lysandra scoffed.
"They are using events to safeguard their other interest to discuss things with the rulers. Apparently, there is this solstice in the beginning of next year and they plan to use it for the annual meeting of bellator rulers like every year. The rulers arrive a couple of days before so that should give them enough time to set everything up to take over the world."
"Won't the other species protest?"
"We have a huge population, Lysandra and with the five kingdoms combined, they will be suppressed."
"Wait, you said Nyo thinks my father attacked her but it was a vamp, no? My father hates the underworld species with a passion from what I noticed."
"That is what is the mystery. Like Nyo said when you were there, the vampyres could've thought she cooperated with King Eucarpus."
"Fucking royals and their hunger for power."
"Lysandra, you are a royal too, silly!"
Just because she is joking around with you and taking care of you, you can't trust her, my precious.
"Nevermind. It's no use assuming things on our own, Sera. That vampyre must've been worried sick for his Gracie. If we push harder, he might just open up so we'll pay him a visit tonight."
"Alright. Go take some rest, okay? You seem very tensed and I don't know...worried, I think."
Lysandra cursed inwardly. Her cousin noticed everything and that was becoming a problem for Lysandra at the moment. She did not want to bother her cousin with the strange stuff her head was making her go through and it was becoming harder to control herself when the gravelly voice was getting assertive every time it resonated within her head.
"I'm okay. Don't worry," she assured Seraphine before making her way to her chambers.
british accent or american?
[I grew up watching Harry Potter and loads of other British films with my dad so I am going to have to go with the first option.]
hope you enjoy the update xx
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