Chapter 97
POV: Queen Tamara Pierce
She couldn’t stop herself from being grateful to Shanaia and Tamika. She didn’t know them deeply, but they had been helping them with all their might, and like what she told them their debts were now piling up.
Hades was now soundly sleeping inside their master bedroom and she was improving thanks to Tamika’s assistance.
She thought all of them were doomed because of what happened to Hades. She couldn’t believe that they had a plan for it.
Hopefully, Hades will be waking up soon.
“So, what have you done to my brother?” Raven’s voice inquired as his eyes darted to Shanaia, who seemed unbothered by his piercing eyes.
His forehead creased as to how Raven said those words as if he was suspicious or something. He seemed to be pushing Shanaia to speak up for the truth.
‘What the heck is wrong with him?’ Tamara mentally thought.
“Tamika gave that to me, just in case. We all know that you’ve done something to the elixir during our surprise attack on them. But Tamika made that as an antidote just in case this happens. And I think, she’s right” Shanaia boredly explained as she shrugged her shoulders.
Then, her left brow twitched as she glared at Raven hoping for her to get her message to stop, but his eyes were glued to Shanaia.
“Is that it? Why won’t you tell us about that, then? Are you doing something behind our back?” Raven gravely accused Shanaia making the latter chuckle at him without humor.
“And that’s the real intention of your accusations. I can’t believe it.” Shanaia shook her head and slightly bowed her head.
But the moment she stared at Raven, it was the coldest and lifeless eyes she had ever seen. Far more worst than Tamika’s eyes.
“Being so suspicious towards us? You are just wasting your time, Mr. Prince. We already laid everything that we had. Just be grateful that we are on your side and not the other way around. Don’t worry, once this war is over, we will go back to where we belong.” She sardonically stated.
Before she could even question her words or stop Raven from his savage words, Shanaia had already excused herself and went out to the Throne Room to tend to Tamika.
She looked at Raven, who sighed deeply before sitting in his designated chair, as if he was exhausted by what had happened. Kage was just silently looking at him, too with the same expression on his face, like hers, curious and skeptical.
“Why did you do that, Raven? Haven’t they proven their loyalty to us already?” She seriously inquired.
To be honest, even she, felt offended by his choice of words.
Raven just grunted as he intently looked at her.
“It’s too early to claim their loyalty, Tamara. The war isn’t finished yet.” He equaled her seriousness as he said those words making her slightly annoyed.
“And what do you mean by that?” She coldly asked.
Raven heaved another deep sigh as if he was trying to be patient with her and that just made her inner wolf get more irritated.
“It’s difficult that all of us here seemed to trust them too much. I just want to balance everything, Tamara. I have no other goal but for this war to end with us being victorious in the end. I am just being cautious. All of our lives are at stake here.” He marked his words with finality as he excused himself to the crowd.
Kage instantly followed Raven as she was left with silence. She couldn’t believe that Raven was thinking that way towards Shanaia and Tamika. However, no matter how much she disliked his idea, he got a point.
Tamara let out an exhausted sigh.
In any other way, she still had other things to keep her mind occupied. Hades was still unconscious and before she could jump to another conclusion, she must make sure that he would be waking up with her by his side.
***
POV: Lamina Darkwood
They had already planned not to end the war yet, but they made sure to make them suffer gravely. They still wanted to test whether the elixir they had injected into Hades and before he could even gather all his strength to fight with them, they would be attacking once again.
A slow yet painful method of war. The one that’s more she liked for her parents, for Leah and Aeron.
She was packing her things as well as the elixir that her father and Aeron had made. Those were the only things that they had left for her. Those were the only things that their memories held. She couldn’t hold back the nostalgia that she suddenly felt.
Cessair advised her to seek another safer haven to gather their last vast rogue army. They still had the upper hand, and the victory was surely theirs to take. Despite the fact that Aeron’s experiment suddenly turned upside down putting them on the spot, they still have a lot of elixirs at hand.
They wouldn’t let the Royal Bloods take them down not now, not ever!
She let out a deep sigh as she ignored the possibility that there’s something odd in Aeron’s experiments. But it wasn’t the first time it happened. She even told Cessair that he might have lost track of time that he bought her reason out.
They would still be using it the next and last time they would attack this time, they would surely end it.
Lamina sadly smiled as she hoped that Leah and Aeron were there to congratulate them.
She let out another deep and exhausted sigh.
Her mourning towards her parents had changed into revenge and pure hate instead. And now, thinking about her children, she couldn’t believe that the pain they left her couldn’t compare to the feeling she felt before. Even though she had filled her heart with vengeance, fury, and hatred she could still feel the void and emptiness that only Leah and Aeron could fill.
Lamina let out a deep sigh as she felt her heart ache for her parents and for her children.
She had wanted revenge since time immemorial. She had been hoping for fairness in the end. However, it was truly out of reach and fate wasn’t by her side.
Truthfully, she wanted to ask the Moon Goddess about giving her this distressing fate, but she had already passed that thing. She had been blaming her for everything that happened, and she was done believing in her that everything would fall accordingly.
Lamina just continued packing her clothes and getting them from her dresser when she felt something from the deepest part of it.
It was her mother’s old dresser that she was using now, and she didn’t know that there was something inside it something like a secret vault.
Her forehead creased as she heard a light clicking sound before it opened. It was difficult for her to get whatever was inside because it was only a small hole and only one of her hands could fit through it.
She was curiously looking at the old paper almost ripped because of forcing it out of the vault. Her parents never mentioned this one to her, and she was just so curious as to what it was.
Lamina slowly opened the rolled paper.
Her forehead instantly creased as her hands trembled in shock, tension, and fury all mixed up, making her want to shout in pain and betrayal.
“What the hell is this?” She murmured under her breath as she read once again the contents of the letter more of an agreement.
‘Kersh Clan and Darkwood Clan Agreement’
She never knew that her father would work for the Darkwoods. She thought that when they were gone, the Darkwoods would eventually help her in her revenge.
Lamina was trying to hold her sanity as she tried to calm herself although her wolf was already at bay, restless inside her.
She gritted her teeth as she came up with a decision. She must talk to Elder Courdamus. He must know something about this!
However, why didn’t he even tell her so?!
Why would his father work for the Darkwoods and gave all of his inventions to them?
What the heck is happening?!
She was about to knock on the Elder’s room when she found out that it wasn’t locked. She could hear his strained and cold voice talking to someone inside.
“Are you sure you are able to inject the elixir into him?” Elder Courdamus’ voice resonated in her ears slightly making skeptical and hoping it was just tricking her.
However, all of what she’d heard was real.
Lamina swallowed hard as she might have a slight clue to who he was talking to.
“Of course! I would never miss that opportunity. I’ve already done a lot of things. I won’t let that particular moment slip into my hands. If I hadn’t lost track of time, I would have ended his life. Like what I did to his father.” Cessair in his eeriest voice replied.
Her brows twitched as she realized that her hunch was right.
“You really know your truths, Cessair. You truly are a sly man.” Elder Courdamus’ proud voice commended her husband making her more curious.
‘What the heck are they talking about?’ She questioned her mind as she stayed in that particular corner where she could continue listening to them.
“Of course. I’ve been doing it since my father and that Lomero even started doing their… business.” He meaningfully stated.
Her shaking hands instantly flew towards her mouth as she tried to stifle any sound that came out of it.