KAIN replayed the humiliating incident he had had with the king earlier in the day. Rome had embarrassed him right in the presence of the council members and worse still, he had raided his brothel and shut it down because of dealings with under aged girls.
Was the King that stupid?
Of course, any reputable brothel employed the services of younger girls as the patrons wanted variety. Some enjoyed older girls but many others favored the younger girls while others didn’t mind having either.
Rome would have to pay for what he had done even though it would be difficult now to punish him. This would be the last time he would be a step ahead of Kain, king or not.
Kain paced about in his spacious living room – one he fondly called his throne room remembering how some of the council members had had the guts to snicker as the king humiliated him.
Oh, how they would pay! He thought, chest was aflame with anger.
He paced some more, clenching his fists as thoughts of the previous day infuriated him so much so that he couldn’t push the thoughts away as everything reminded him of the incident. The stupid flowers, the clear skies, everything!
“Father, you’ve been pacing around for hours now.” His daughter, Erika interrupted him. Another cause of his problems. Her presence irked him. The audacity she had to even speak to him. Ever since the king had banished her, she reminded him of what he could have gained as being the grandfather to the heir.
He boiled even more. His daughter seemed oblivious to the fact that he was infuriated.
“What do you want from me, you bastard of a child?! One can’t trust you to do anything right! Always messing things up like your whore of a mother!”
Her face dropped and tears welled up in her eyes but Kain didn’t care. For all he knew, she deserved it and more.
“You’re worthless and unbelievably stupid! I wish I could take back all the money I spent grooming you to become Queen. Worthless whore! Wasted a beautiful opportunity just because you couldn’t keep your legs closed!”
This was indeed a bad time for Erika to intrude. She the tears pour down as her father’s words stung her.
“What would it have cost you to bear the king’s heir? You lost the opportunity. Is that what I deserve after raising you? You couldn’t even carry a child! A rather simple task that even a common whore could do it!”
Kain’s face was redder than a cherry. He seemed like he would burst if he continued raving but he didn’t care. His worthless daughter needed a piece of his mind.
“Wasted investment! If you weren’t my offspring – which I doubt every day – I would have sent you out and even sold you off as a fucking slave! But then I doubt you’d amount to anything because you’re as useless as useless can be. I don’t want to fucking see your face anymore. Get the fuck out of here!”
Erika was devastated, of course, she had heard their words before but it opened fresh wounds. She sobbed loudly and made a sound like a wounded animal before leaving Kain’s presence.
Kain heaved and sighed and then paced around even more. His daughter’s presence did more to aggravate his wrath.
“Sir…” One of his servants called.
“What?!” Kain screamed.
The servant knew his master was in a bad mood. “Three men, werewolves from Alkarod. One seems to be an Alpha.”
Kain remembered the letter he got from Alkarod. Something about a dying son and a careless – in his opinion – visit to the Elves. He had asked them to come over to Hanaerum for a meeting because, at that time, he was sure that taking Elora would be like stealing toffee from a baby. Now the king had ruined his plans by poking his nose into his business.
Kain gritted his teeth and balled his fist again. He had planned a lot and even involved some of the council members. Now some lowlife werewolves from Alkarod were at Hanaerum to see him and he didn’t have a solid plan. He mulled over sending them away but they had travelled all the way from Alkarod. Kain was indeed heartless but he couldn’t turn them back. He sighed and put himself together.
“Right. I have been expecting them. Send them in.” He said, rubbing his hair and composing himself.
In minutes, three men in black cloaks walked into the room. Kain was already seated in the large chair facing the fireplace. The chair was made from the hide of various animals he had hunted. On one side it was cheetah, on the other wolf, the other a tiger. No one dared to sit in that chair, Kain had specially made it.
As the werewolves walked in, they removed their cloaks and bowed. They had no choice but to, the Lycan exuded dominance, and also because they were at his mercy, they needed his help desperately. Alpha Rasmus gritted his teeth as he didn’t enjoy the humility they had to feign. He cursed under his breath.
“Lord Kain.” They said in greeting.
He gave a tight nod, grunting and signalling the servant that ushered them in to come closer. “If anyone comes looking for me, I’m not here. Seal up the entrance until these gentlemen leave.”
The servant gave a curt nod.
He said loudly, “Get these distinguished men something to drink. Something a bit strong…” He turned to them. “Right, men?”
“Of course.” They said in unison and chuckled.
“Yes, sir.” The servant bowed and left the room quietly.
“Please, please sit.” Kain offered.
The only seats available were ones smaller than the one Kain was in. Kain made sure of that. Alpha Rasmus hated that they had to look up to him, the Lycan had subtly reminded them of his power but that wasn’t the time to badger about the dynamics of power, he needed the Lycan’s help.
“Please, go straight to the point, Rasmus. I have a great deal of work to do.”
The Alpha cleared his throat. “As stated in the letter, my son fell ill, an illness which we had never seen before. It turns out it had to do with rejecting his mate in the way it happened. We were advised to seek help from the Elves in which we did–”
Kain scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Werewolves like you going over to the Elves? You’ve got some nerve.”
The insult wasn’t lost among the wolves.
They knew he had just insulted their race.
Rasmus bit his tongue to prevent him from saying something offensive. “We found out that the only cure is Elora. The girl we sold to you.”
A vein popped in Kain’s forehead just as a servant walked in with a pitcher and cups. It contained the drinks he had ordered. He placed them on a table and walked out quickly noticing the tense mood settled over the room.
Kain waited until the man had left before speaking, gripping the arm of his seat to stop him throwing something across the room.
“I wouldn’t have bought that girl if I had known she would cause me so much trouble. That girl has brought me nothing but misfortune! I regret doing business with you lot! She’s a heap of bad luck.” The Lycan was losing his patience. He tapped his finger on the chair.
The werewolves shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “What do you mean, sir?” Anthony asked.
“She and her siblings have been a big headache since the night at the auction. I lost a lot of good business because the king seems to be very interested in that girl! I sold her and he took her away from one of my biggest clients and just yesterday, he raided my brothel and shut it down because of her sister!” Kain was heaving. The thought of Elora angered him.
“All my plans are ruined! I’m out of business and I’m afraid the fucking girl is out of reach.”
“What do you mean?” Rasmus asked. He was worried. The Lycan didn’t seem as confident as he portrayed in his letter.
“You lot should have reached out earlier, the girl has become the king’s fucking mistress now. The king’s bloody eyes are always on her and her good-for-nothing siblings.” Kain got up abruptly and the others followed. “It’s going to be quite impossible to get her.”
Rasmus went pale as he had never imagined Elora would be that close in contact with the king. That was not good, what if the king realized she was not the child of a traitor? He wasn’t sure that he wasn’t aware already.
“I see you lost in thought, Rasmus. What’s the matter?”
“We have to take her immediately and kill her! If the king realizes that we framed her father, he’ll come for us and end us!”
Kain fell back into his seat. “The girl… She’s not the child of a traitor? Rasmus, this is bad. This is terrible! What have you done?!”
Rasmus ran a hand through his hair. “I know I fucked up, Lord Kain, but we have to end her before it’s too late.”
The Lycan was pissed.
“I should never have trusted a sloppy werewolf. Look what you’ve done to me.”
Kain paused, then spoke. “Whatever happens, we have to shut her up. We have to threaten her into silence. If she whispers a word about what really happened to her Father to the King. We’re all fucking toast. We have to deal with that first.”
“Well, what do you have in mind?” Rasmus enquired.
“We have to deal with it. Threaten her into silence. Tell her if she speaks, we’ll kill her mother.”
“Hmm. That works. We can indeed use her Mother.”
George spoke up, “The elves already have something planned. I say we visit them to find out how to proceed.”
Kain knew the Elves were up to funny business and had avoided dabbling with them no matter how desperate he was. These stupid fuckers had balls to be considering working with the tricky bastards.
“You had the nerve to go visit the Elves? That’s a bit dumb even for you mutts. Those creatures are manipulative as fuck!”
“We had no choice. They have the cure!” Anthony replied.
“Once again, we have to visit Yaris, the seer.”
“Yaris…” The recognition was registered across Kain’s face.
He knew the Elf.
“You’re the one who has access to the girl. You’re Lycan…” Rasmus admitted loudly.
Kain stroked his chin. Yaris could indeed help with something dear to him but…No. Visiting him should do no harm after all he was a lowly Elf while Kain was a great Lycan. He had nothing to fear from those Elves.
“Well… when do we set off?” Kain asked.