Darius
My eyes drew into narrow slits as I predicted Orion’s next words.
“Not here,” I told him, shifting my gaze toward my sleeping wife. He nodded, then took a step back. I took a step forward and we both marched down the hall to get to my personal study.
Once we were inside the soundproof room, I trotted to my desk and sat behind it on my leather chair. Orion took the seat across my desk. I cleared my throat. “It’s her, isn’t it?” I asked for confirmation.
“Your former fiancee has been busy,” was what Orion said with a sigh.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How did the spies come across this information? And do we know where she is?” I asked.
Orion shook his head. “She slipped through their fingers. But I have better news,” Orion changed the pitch of his voice into a low one. I raised a brow, leaning closer.
“Thaddeus is here,” he said. I frowned, immediately relaxing back into my chair.
Everyone in Moratia knew how I felt about him. There was this subtle rivalry between the two of us. If Thaddeus were to be any other person, I would’ve cut his head off but he was one of the strongest Lycans in the entire kingdom. He was basically a small king in his own part of the land.
The one sharing a border with the humans. He owned a part of their land too which he had to control that brought him many problems. Other than the fact that he was strong, he also had influence on the councilmen. Even more than I did.
He was more disciplined than I was; traditional. The elders adored him because he kissed their asses. It was only the young people in the council who were supportive of me. If it wasn’t for my surname and birthright, I was sure that Thaddeus would be the one to sit on the Moratia throne.
He and I both knew that fact, and he reminded me of it every single chance that he got. Annoying bastard he was.
“How is Thaddeus being here a good news?” I asked Orion with a scowl on my lips.
He chuckled a bit, taking in my pouty expression. I shot him a glare and he sobered up almost immediately.
“Well, a bunch of rebels were caught stealing armory from his camp and he was able to catch three of them. After questioning them, he found out that Light was their leader.” Orion explained.
My brows furrowed. “How was he able to find that out? The assailant that we had in dungeon, it took weeks for us to get something from him and the small information we even got was by sheer coincidence.” I said, logically.
Orion sighed. “Well, according to Thaddeus, one of the rebels was a Lycan. He got her name from forcing it out his mind through a link.” Orion said. My jaw almost fell.
“Are you trying to say that there are more Lycans working with Light?” I asked, standing up to my feet. Orion followed suit with a panicked expression on his face.
“It seems so,” he replied.
I let out hiss through my teeth. “Where is Thaddeus?” I asked with an urgent tone as I marched right past Orion and exited the office.
Close behind me, Orion said, “The drawing room.”
I nodded my head as I made my way there with my heart pounding inside my chest, impatiently. I hoped this situation wouldn’t turn out the way I was thinking it would. Once Orion and I got to drawing room, the guards standing by the door made way for the two of us.
Thaddeus sat comfortably on one cushion with his legs crossed, without a care in the world. His guards and hand servants bowed their head in respect once they saw me. As for him, his lips formed a sneer.
“Your Majesty,” he said with his slimy, sinister voice, nodding his head at me.
I did the same, then settled on the cushion across him, crossing my legs. Orion stood over me by my right-hand side without a word.
“You may leave,” I said to everyone else. The guards and the servants hesitated. “I despise having to repeat myself.” I put on a vicious expression.
They did as they were told to without a word after that, leaving only three people remaining in the drawing room-Myself, Thaddeus, and Orion.
“What about you? Aren’t you going to leave?” Thaddeus said to Orion.
I frowned. Thaddeus noticed my expression and barked a mocking laughing. “He is my right hand.” I said to the man through gritted teeth, suddenly feeling Orion’s discomfort next to me.
“Right hand? My lord, you and I both know that he’s nothing more than a glorified killer servant.” Thaddeus mocked, the sound of a sword drawing out from a sheath echoed round the room.
In a split second, the tip of Orion’s sword was up against Thaddeus’ throat. I mentally facepalmed myself on Orion’s expense. This was not the first, nor was it the second or third time that something like this had happened.
When in public, Thaddeus always behaved civil with Orion but behind closed doors, he looked down on my right hand because Orion wasn’t born of noble blood. Nor was his wife. Orion was brought to this castle when I was a child and worked as a slave here.
That was until my father took interest in him and made him a knight. It was a long forgotten back story that Thaddeus never seemed to forget.
“You will mind your tongue, Moss.” I said, referring to Thaddeus with his last name. He rolled his eyes, then relaxed into the cushion. I turned to Orion. “Stand down.” I told him.
Orion did so immediately, drawing his sword back into its sheath. I cleared my throat, then crossed my legs. “You wouldn’t mind giving a full report of what happened, would you?” I asked Thaddeus.
He sighed. “Well, it happened about two days ago. My men and I were out for a hunt. Since it was late, we decided to camp out in the forest. One of the guards on duty heard them raiding the armory tent, he brought it to my attention. We fought about two dozens of them. The lot of them seemed to lack good training.
“Only a few were able to stand their ground in battle. And those few killed a bunch of my men. I’d say it must’ve been a practice mission for the ones who couldn’t fight. We were able to keep three, but about six escaped. The rest of the bodies left behind consisted of both humans and Lycans.
“I couldn’t get anything out from the humans and though they weren’t very good at combat, they were able to stand their ground during torture. But the Lycan among them. I was able to break through his mind walls and read his thoughts through a link.”
At the end of Thaddeus’ report, I had already gone off the deep end in a pool of my own thoughts.
“That kind of attack sounds like they wanted to be caught,” I muttered to myself. “Why else would such a number of men try to steal armory from a small group of Lycans? If they really needed the armory, two of their most skilled members would’ve sufficed.” I said.
“Two things. Either the human princess wanted to show that she had a lot of numbers and could spare a few or the rebels were acting out on their own.” Thaddeus stroked his bearded chin as he spoke.
I nodded my head, seeming to agree with his words. “The first option is likely the most possible,” I said.
“So now that we know who the head of the rebellion is, what are you waiting for?” Thaddeus asked.
I frowned. It all boiled down to this point. War. The eldest human princess was rebelling, going against the treaty. The next option was to bring war onto them. But I couldn’t do that yet. Not without knowing all the facts.
There was a ninety percent chance that Light was acting out on her own without informing her family and if that was the case, then war shouldn’t be an option. But if she wasn’t acting alone… I’d have to get rid of my wife and her bloodline. Something about that option didn’t sit right with me.
“She has the Morati knife. We can’t just wage war just like that.” I said. Thaddeus scoffed.
“That fact is on you alone. Never had any king before you carelessly given such a weapon to the humans.” Thaddeus said.
Orion made a click sound with his tongue. “It seems like you have forgotten the story of the person who even created the knife.” He said.
I grimaced. Every Lycan knew about the story of King Augustus Moratis and Queen India Moratis. She was a human princess who sought out a witch to create a weapon strong enough to kill a Lycan King. After receiving the weapon, she killed every other witch in existence safe for the one who helped her.
She got rid of Augustus himself, then planted herself as the sole ruler of Moratia, her only child, the sole heir. She got rid of all of the council members who stood against her as well as every single person that protested against her rule.
She made herself untouchable. She was known as the best ruler Moratia has ever had. On her death bed, she gave the Morati knife to her son and told him that he should never let it out of his sight.
It went without saying that the knife had become a family heirloom, never to be wielded by any one against the crown since it would be very dangerous. The Morati knife was indestructible and was never to be taken care of recklessly.
That was before it was given to me and that wicked wench of a woman managed to steal it away.
“Oh, you mean that glorified foolish woman,” Thaddeus said, disrespectfully.
I stood up at once. “You will shut your mouth right now before I order him to cut out your tongue.” I threatened.
His eyes widened a bit in surprise before they relaxed and he backed up a little, raising his hands in surrender. “Alright. I shan’t say it again. But what happened centuries ago has no business with the current happenings. This rebellion is against the crown. Against you.” Thaddeus pointed out.
“If you die, no Lycan will sit on the Moratian throne again. That will be the end of it all. Humans will take control of us all, just like they did in the past. In order to prevent that, you must do away the head of the problem once and for all. And also with the problem’s associates.” Thaddeus said, indirectly emphasizing that I should kill my own wife.
“I have heard what you are saying but you can’t possibly think that it’s as easy as you speak. I cannot break the treaty.” I said.
I could not physically hurt another human because of a spell placed in my blood. It was impossible for me to break the treaty but not impossible for a Vitalis to.
“Then, I shall do it for you.” Thaddeus stood up from his seat at once, then trotted out of the drawing room in a flash.
It only took a moment for it to dawn on me what Thaddeus set out to do. Once I did, I stood up from the cushion immediately. “Stop him!” I ordered everyone who was listening to me as I burst out from the drawing room.
*****
Hope
How unlucky you are to have been born as a human.
I couldn’t be sure if Darius actually said those words to me or if I had imagined it all on my own. Either way, it was not like I cared. I couldn’t even understand his general dislike for humans or Vitalis’. I stood up from the bed since I was tired of lying down. I went ahead to grab a glass of water from my stand. After downing the glass cup, I set it back on the table.
As I turned around to lay back in bed, the doors to my room burst open and came in Thaddeus. With my brows furrowed, I asked, “My lord, what are you doing here?”
He ignored my question altogether, taking steps forward and toward me. Before I got a chance to ask another question, he pulled out a sword from a sheath behind him. I gasped, taking a step back.
“Righting a wrong.” He finally answered, pointing the tip of the sword to my neck.