HANAERUM
“Fuck!” Kain groaned, as his little toe bumped into the foot of his custom-made leather couch.
He stumbled backward and knocked over one of his priceless clay vases, dropping his glass tumbler filled with Scotch on his expensive imported rug.
Could this day get any worse? He wondered.
He tried to recall a time when his life hadn’t consisted of drinking himself into a staggering mess but it was hard with the pain from his toe ringing through his brain. He vaguely remembered calling for a servant to clean up and pour him another cup of Scotch.
His mind was in a constant spiral as the Elves, which he thought could help him, seemed to not think his problems were important enough. He had been ordered not to make a move.
“Bastard! May his penis be cut off and fed to pigs!”
Another constant pastime of his, apart from the liquor, was the usual strings of curses he whirled at the king.
The darned Lycan was the root of his problem, he and his werewolf slut.
With his brothel shut, income was low for him. Coupled with the fact that he now had to pay the slaves he kept in his house because of the king’s decree, he was nearing bankruptcy.
Sexual pleasures could have made his situation a little more bearable but surprisingly he struggled to find it pleasurable; the quivering slave girls turned him off and his wife was as useless as ever.
He paced about his living room with the new glass of liquor in hand frustrated that there seemed to be no solution to his problems. It angered him even more as he used to be the one to devise creative plans for every other person’s problems but now he couldn’t think of one for himself. Everything had been going well for him when he’d been providing the wealthy Lycan’s access to the pleasure they could never find anywhere. But now, in his moment of need, they had all…
“I curse the day Rome; son of Nathan was born!” He yelled, throwing his empty glass at the wall. Liquor made him an angry, bitter man. “Eugene!” He yelled for one of his trusted servants.
“Yes, my Lord.” Eugene ran into the room as if he had been waiting for Kain.
“I want this place cleared up now!” He commanded, staggering and falling into a seat. “And bring me another bottle of this!”
“Yes, my lord,” Eugene answered, bowing. “My Lord, someone is here to see you. He says he is a messenger from Alkarod.”
Kain frowned and placed his cup on a small side table.
“Alkarod?”
“Yes sir. From Alpha Rasmus, sir.” He informed, clearing his throat. “It seems like it’s quite urgent, sir.”
Kain grumbled and pinched the breeze of his nose as he felt the beginnings of a headache.
“What does he want now? Why didn’t he send a damn letter? Bring me another bottle of this Eugene and send that boy in.” He directed, dismissing the man with an angry wave of his hand.
“Yes, sir.” He answered opening the door.
A young man dressed in a black cloak entered the room. He bowed to Kain and waited until he had been given leave to speak.
“Good day, Lord Kain. I am from Alpha Rasmus–”
“Yes, yes get to the point. You can see that I’m busy.” Kain cut him off, not in the mood for unnecessary formalities.
The messenger bowed. “As you may know, sir, the Lycan king raided the auction house yesterday–”
Kain whipped his head in the messenger’s direction, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“I may know what?! What bullshit is that?”
“–Alpha Rasmus sent me to ask why he wasn’t warned.”
He was speechless and it wasn’t even at the werewolf Alpha’s rudeness. He rose to his feet in a burst of speed that had the small man staggering backward and ran up to the messenger, grabbing the front of his shirt.
“What are you saying boy?”
There was no way in hell that Rome could have raided the auction house.
He would have been spotted from miles away with his distinct copper hair.
There was no way that was true.
“The auction house was raided by–”
In one quick burst of movement, he had thrown his glass at the wall again, this time narrowly missing the messengers head.
“How the fuck did the king know about the auction house? How the fuck had he gotten in there without you fools knowing?”
Kain shouldn’t have been so worked up since he really had no investments in the auction house, but the thought of the king raiding the auction house after shutting down his brothel disturbed him greatly. The king was making it difficult for men like him to survive by suddenly being more steps ahead of them.
Had he finally learnt to play their game?
He continued pacing as Eugene came in with another bottle of his favorite Scotch, a luxury he soon might not be able to afford, pouring him a glass and presenting it to him. Kain stepped past him and grabbed the bottle instead, taking a long swig of the warm amber liquid, ignoring the burn in his throat.
“Anything else?” He asked the messenger.
“The girl we needed joined the Lycan king. She was present at the auction house.”
Kain Kurt paused mid-swig and dropped the bottle. He had a feeling he’d be needing the oblivion it offered soon.
“What? That girl? The traitor girl?”
His face reddened in anger.
That girl had had the nerve, the audacity, to defy him after he’d threatened her.
Did she perhaps think him below her now?
Had she told the king about his hand in her slavery?
Fuck!
This was exactly why he paid spies to study her.
“Why the fuck am I paying so much to those useless spies if a girl like that could outsmart them? What then is their usefulness to me?” He paced more. “How in hell could they miss out on important information like that? This is outrageous!”
Kain’s vision took on a red tint as he felt the desire to kill something rise inside him.
“Many slaves were taken from the auction house. Alpha Rasmus begs you to distract the king from questioning the slaves… He will start digging for answers soon and it’s best for him to not know anything about our hand in it.” The messenger told him.
“Of course, of course.” He waved. “I have gotten his message, tell Rasmus that.”
“Good day, sir.” The messenger bowed and walked out.
Had the girl told the king about the auction house?
Was the raid her plan?
Kain had thought he had nothing to worry about after threatening her. He had thought she was under his control when she’d accepted that she’d been a slaver at the Royal Dinner.
Had she been planning this all along?
Had she just been mocking him that night?
He frowned and felt the stirrings of revenge waking in him. He was going to teach her a lesson, one that she would never forget.
“Eugene!” He called out.
“Yes, sir.” He came in running and bowed.
“I have a message for you to deliver. Go find anyone of my spies in the king’s palace and instruct them to spread the news amongst the palace workers concerning that girl, Elora. Tell them that she and her siblings are children of traitors. Their father was a slave master, a powerful one in Alkarod even after the king abolished slavery. And that she was also a slaver herself. She invented new ways to torture slaves… Yes, tell the spies to be creative about the torture techniques.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hm… Her siblings have been left untouched for too long. They need a push. Inform the spies to bully and shake up her siblings and deal with them. Tell them to keep an extra eye on Elora and the captured slaves.”
Kain didn’t fight the smile that spread across his features. Rumors spread far and fast in the palace and in a place that had offered safe haven from evil slave master, Elora was bound to feel the heat.
“Yes, sir.” He bowed.
“And also, summon Erika.”
“Yes, sir.” Eugene bowed again, walking out.
He hadn’t spoken to his daughter in weeks. She reminded him of everything he could have gotten if she were with the king. Her sight irked him as he never dreamt of having a child so stupid.
Why had he spent so much, raising her if she was going to turn out useless?
“Father. You summoned me,” Erika said bringing him out of his reverie.
She looked dejected and skittish as if she was frightened of him. Her hair wasn’t styled in the way she favored and her face was bare.
“Are you going to keep being useless to me, child?” Kain asked, glancing away from her, “You looked terrible, Erika. Have you no shame? After everything–”
Noticing the tears pooling in her eyes, he paused and sighed.
She was a dramatic little thing.
“Father… I–”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Erika! I already have enough on my plate. I don’t need you crying now!” He yelled, hitting his palm on a nearby table.
She whimpered, wiping the tears that managed to roll down her cheeks.
“Father, I loved Rome with all my heart. The only reason why I cheated was that I needed a child. The pressure to conceive was piling up, father. I didn’t mean to…”
“That’s not my business, Erika! Love? Love my fucking foot!” He wiped his forehead and lowered his voice. “Cheating is not the problem but being caught is. I fucking raised you to be smarter than this, child. Getting caught should be the least of your problems.”
Her whimpers grew louder. “I’m sorry…”
“Wipe your tears, girl. I’m giving you a second chance. A second chance to make this right.”
She raised her head and wipes her cheek. Erika would do anything to get on her father’s good side. She had suffered long enough as he neglected her.
“You and the king were together for about… was it ten years? Ten fucking years. I watched you two grow up. You were joined at the hips. Ten fucking years, attached to each other. That boy couldn’t even look at another woman. Was it not?”
“It was so, sir… I loved him!” She hiccupped.
“Save your tears for later. You need to win his heart. The king’s mother stayed with the old king while he cheated repeatedly on her, so the king should forgive you for making just a simple mistake. He can’t throw all that you had away. He must still love you.” Kain Kurt spat out the word love. “You must still have a hold on him.”
She straightened.
“Yes, father.” Erika thought about the night she snuck into his room. It didn’t seem like she had a hold on him that night.
“Very well.” He took a swig of liquor. “The king must take you back. Do whatever it is to win him over. I don’t really care what you do but make sure that you win the fucking king back!”
She nodded. “Yes, father.”
“Make him believe that you’re not on my side. Most importantly, whatever you do make sure you bear his child before that girl does.”
Erika was shocked but determined to follow through.
“From what I gathered, the king has not shared a bed with his mistress… Make do with that. I’m not saying you should reclaim your position as his Queen but you must have his baby before his mistress does. Bear his heir.”
Once Kain Kurt was the grandfather to the king’s heir, everything was going to fall into place. His grandson was going to be king of Bale. He would control Bale. It was as easy as that.
“My grandson would be trained by me. He isn’t going to turn out softhearted and lily-livered like that son of a bitch, Rome.”
“Yes, father.” Erika sniffed. “I’ll do all you have asked of me.”
“Oh, yes you will. This is the only chance you have to redeem yourself, or else I’ll personally hand you over to the Blackfoot’s. And that is not an empty threat, my dear. You know me.”
“Yes, father.”
“Do me a favour and don’t be even more worthless than you are.”