The next morning, Lucian and Alexia woke up early in the morning. They took turns to freshen up and get dressed. Alexia wore a black flowing dress as usual and had her hair tied up in a bun. Lucian wore black trousers and a shirt too. They both wore matching outfits.
They got dressed and sat in the chair at the corner of the room. They had not sat for long when they heard a shriek, they exchanged knowing glances and stood up and went out of their room. The shriek came from Kai’s room and by the time Alexia and Lucian had gotten there, the guards were putting his body of Kai on the bed, and his mother was on the floor, crying.
Alexia rushed to the woman and held on to her in a bid to comfort her. The woman was wailing and crying. Kai was her beloved child. Lucian walked over to the body of his half-brother on the bed, the man’s eyes were still open and Lucian closed them. He shook his head in grief. He then walked over to where Selene and Alexia sat on the floor.
“Cry not mother, we will take care of you.” He said.
His words seemed unheard as the woman did not respond, she just kept crying and though Alexia was trying her best, she would not be consoled. She wept bitterly. Lucian left the two women on the floor and went out of the room. He sent a servant to the elders’ houses to deliver the message. Kai was dead.
Raphael was the first to come, then Bob, then Louis, then Bill. One by one they came and confirmed the death of Kai. The elders summoned the Lycans and they gathered at the base of the palace. The elders stood on the balcony.
“We are grieved to announce the death of our ruler. Kai Marius. He was a great leader and will be greatly remembered. Be rest assured, he died peacefully in his sleep.” Raphael spoke on behalf of the elders.
The Lycans were dismissed and they went back to their duties. The elders went back into the palace and summoned a meeting with Alexia, Lucian and Selene. The three of them arrived at the meeting hall. Selene had stopped crying but she looked pitiful, she came in with Alexia by her side, holding onto her. Lucian was coming behind the women. They arrived and Alexia helped Selene to her seat and sat beside her. Lucian sat too and the room went silent.
“Selene dear, we are sorry about your loss. We all are.” Raphael broke the silence.
“Tell us, Selene, how did you know he was dead? I mean, how did you find his body?” It was Bob.
Selene sniffed. She was beginning to cry again.
“It was during breakfast, he always comes early for breakfast but he didn’t come as early today and I went to check if my boy was alright. I went and knocked severally but he wasn’t answering so I went in and I found my child on the floor… Lifeless.” Selene explained.
She was crying out now and Alexia was rubbing her back for comfort. Lucian wiped a tear from his eyes and sniffed. He was doing so well with this pretending. The elders looked sad too.
“We are sorry once again.” The elders said in unison.
There was silence for a long time, only Selene’s silent sobs could be heard. They turned to Lucian.
“Now that your brother is dead, the title of rulership will be handed over to you. We hope that you forgive us and take the title and rule. It was Raphael who spoke.
Lucian did not speak. He turned to look at Alexia and their eyes met. She did not show any reactions. He turned back to the elders.
“I will think about it,” Lucian replied calmly.
The meeting was dismissed and Alexia took Selene to her room. The room was spacious. Alexia aided the woman to her bed Selene lay on it and Alexia tucked her into the sheets. The woman closed her eyes for a while and when she opened them, she looked at Alexia and whispered a thank you to her. Alexia did not speak, she only nodded.
“Stay here, I will get you wine to drink, you have been crying all day and your throat must hurt really bad,” Alexia spoke.
“It really does,” Selene responded weakly.
Alexia left the woman’s room and went to the kitchen and asked for a glass of wine, she was given and she took it to her room. She went into the closet and came out with the three bottles and poured a drop of their contents into the glass of wine. She took the wine again to Selene.
When she entered with the glass of wine, Selene sat up immediately and Alexia handed over the glass to her and the woman gulped down all of the wine. She handed over the empty glass to Alexia and Alexia took it, she kept it on the floor and sat on the bed and took the woman’s hand into hers.
“I am not a bad person Selene, I hope you have seen that now. I was only acting out of anger. I’m sorry.” Alexia spoke.
Selene did not speak, she just smiled and nodded and laid back on the bed. Alexia tucked her better into the sheets and kissed her forehead gently.
“Get some sleep,” Alexia whispered.
Alexia took the glass on the floor and left for her room. When she got to her room, she broke the poisoned glass and called on a servant to come to clean up the mess.
She was still in the room when Lucian finally came in. He looked extremely tired. When he came in, Alexia stood up from the chair she was sitting on and walked over to Lucian at the door. She cupped his face in her hands and gave him a light mission his lips.
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