Chapter 23 Final Rites pt2
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The lanterns of the spring palace were lit for celebration for the first time in ten years. The once deserted palace was now bubbling with celebrative activities. The past kings of Nayak, often threw parties at this palace with their ministers a night before their wedding and Treven had followed suit with the tradition. The wide spacious hall was decorated with various types of flowers as a symbol of growth and fertility. The monsters and members of the king’s court were all seated according to their ranks.
A big table was placed in front of them with a big, barbecued whole cow accompanied by different sorts of exotic side dishes. There was too much to eat and drink, Most of the high-ranking ministers had their table to themselves while the servants served them dishes and wine from the big table.
At the center of the hall was a group of performers who made the occasion lively with their wonderful dance performances and beautiful melodies from their musical instruments. The cheers and the laughter of the ministers could be heard loudly as they continued to enjoy the celebration.
King Treven sat on his throne with a tight smile on his face. He wasn’t a fan of parties or funny crowds like this. He only agreed to throw the party because Annalise kept on reminding him of the tradition. He didn’t even want to celebrate anything, he just wanted to complete the wedding rites and crown the chosen queen so he could go back to searching for the person who dared to poison him.
” Your majesty, you should stop doing that” Valtar, his trusted guard slurred beside him. The man was visibly drunk, judging from the sheepy smile on his face. Another reason why Treven felt the wedding Eve celebration was simply a waste of time. Every drunk person at that party will surely wake up the next with the most terrifying hangover and they must not miss the wedding rites at the temple. It’s the same as committing treason. Well, it’s none of his business since he hardly drinks. He took another sip of his favorite tea and turned to look at his guard.
” What?” He asked.
” That facial expression. You look like you are about to murder someone while trying to smile at the same time. It’s your wedding Eve, you should smile from your heart” Valtar said and ended his statement with a shit-eating grin that made Treven scowled at him.
” You are drunk, you should get some rest” He muttered resting on his throne properly.
” I’m not drunk” Valtar denied but the three words he said were all slurred. ” If I leave and get some rest, who will protect you?”
” Well it’s so obvious that you can’t even protect yourself if you were to try harming yourself right now, just keep quiet” Treven rolled his eyes as he took another sip of his tea. Why drink alcohol? when a cup of tea can calm your nerves properly. Valtar kept quiet for a while as he fixed his gaze on one of the beautiful dancers on the stage. His drunk eyes followed every move of her sultry body and he took a look at the king to see if the King was enjoying the performance. Well, he wasn’t disappointed at what he saw. He still had the most bored expression on his face.
” Are you happy?” Valtar blurted out all of a sudden after staring at the king for a while.
” Do I look happy?” Treven bit out coldly.
” Every King was always overjoyed whenever they found their Queens why are you not happy?”
” Well their Queens were not tainted by the hands of another man before they found them”
Valtar sighed, he knew the reason why Treven was angry and bitter about his wedding Eve. He felt cheated by Natalí, He thought his queen was going to be pure and innocent, made for him only, that was the reason why he had searched endlessly in the past for her but the goddess had blessed him with a married woman instead. Valtar felt that any Nayaki king would have been happy regardless of the marital status of the woman Natalí chose for them but Treven was a very possessive man. He doesn’t like to share. That was ironic because the Queen would also have to share him with three other women in his harem.
” Well Natalí knows better” Valtar replied lifting another cup of wine to his mouth. Treven nodded his head but he didn’t say anything but stare into space. Ignoring the festive mood he sank deeper into his head space. He refused to think about her beautiful face, her plump lips which another man had kissed before. Her soft smile and her slender yet curvy figure started haunting his dreams ever since he laid his eyes on her. He refused to think about her but the thoughts were not asking him, they had invaded every part of his mind before he even refused them.
Trying to take her out of his mind, he tried to engage Valtar in another conversation since he was the only one at the spring palace who was still capable of talking without planting his head on the floor even though everything Valtar had been saying we’re full of rubbish and half slurred words.
” Have you found the poisoner?” He asked but beside him, Valtar was busy pouring another cup of wine from the bottle oblivious to his questions. Treven regretted not commanding him not to drink before the party started. He sighed and relaxed on his throne again when he heard a buzz around his head. One of his Hornets had something to tell him. His expression morphed into seriousness immediately.
” What is it?” He muttered and the Hornet flew around restlessly before flying away. ” The Queen is in danger” He grabbed a sword from Valtar before he could stop himself. His body already moved without thinking like it was instinctive to protect his Queen.
” The banquet is over,” He said stopping the festive activity at once. The members of the court started leaving one by one while whining about the party ending when it had just begun. Some of them were confused, seeing the king grab a sword all of a sudden. They wondered what was going on. The king stormed out of the spring palace with Valtar hot on his heels.
” Where to your Majesty?” Valtar yelled after him but he was already out of the spring palace, heading to the stables. He took his favorite horse and mounted it immediately.
” To the temple,” He said riding out before Valtar could even say any other thing. But the bodyguard knew that it was forbidden to follow the king to the temple, if there was something wrong at the temple, only the king was allowed to enter the temple during the final rites and protect his Queen.
Treven rode as fast as he could toward the temple. He may not want her as his queen but he would be Damned if he allows anything to harm her before he could have her. Without his knowledge, a green light flashed through his Iris faster than the way it came, The Oath he made to protect her was activated.