Aria "How are the arrangements coming along?" Aria asked Erika who was helping her with all the things that were needed for the late King Kaida's burial."the burial is about to start, my Queen, the elders are already there waiting for you to start the ceremony." Aria gave out a heavy sigh. she wasn't used to hearing anyone call her 'queen'. even though it had been her fate when she decided to marry Zane. "remember everything I taught you." lady Brunhilda said. just like Aria and Erika, she was putting on a black gown. the whole kingdom was mourning the death of King Kaida. Aria nodded. "you two can go without me, I'm going to wait for my father and my brother." "we will wait with you dear." lady Brunhilda gave Aria a reassuring smile. Aria's father no longer bothers her about leaving the kingdom or her husband. it wasn't because he started having some likeness for the man she was married to, it was because he had finally accepted that Aria had no intention to leave. "We are re
Aria "what is all this about?" Aria complains, "Don't they know that I'm still mourning." Erika gave a little laugh, "My Queen, your husband is still alive so it's not understandable that you are mourning for so long." Aria walks in as Erika opens the door to the meeting room. the inner court elders sat down with a grim expression. Aria could tell that they still didn't like her. but she didn't care. she had no intention to please them. "Queen Aria." Elder Svend said. "it has been almost a week since the burial of our late King, and there is still no sign of Prince Zane.""We have been talking among ourselves." Elder Leif said, "Until Prince Zane shows up we shall be in charge of every activity the king is meant to do." "And that also includes you," Elder Svend said, "you are not allowed to make decisions without our permission." Aria gave out a loud laugh. 'they think I'm going to let them control me?' the thought made her laugh again. the elders had an angry expression on the
Aria "I pledge my allegiance to you, my queen, and the new king of Esterial." Aria smiled. the fake smile on her face was starting to make her cheeks hurt. she ordered the guards to give out the documents of alliance to the prince in front of her. Or was he a king? Aria didn't know anymore. all she knew was that there were so many. the brown-headed man looked at her for a word, something she needed to say to show that she appreciated his loyalty. Aria's fingers were starting to feel numb because of the amount of documents she had been signing. her eyes went over the crowd that was still waiting for her to attend to them so that they could pledge their loyalty again to Esterial because a new king was in control.'This is not supposed to be my Job.' Aria thought as she tiredly waved the brown-headed man away so that she could attend to the next person in need of her attention. 'this is supposed to be Zane's job, but he heartlessly ran away and left everything for me to deal with. I
Aria "Whatever questions you have about my husband should be discussed with him when he returns." Aria got ready to leave. "wait." Elder Leif called out.'oh no.' Aria thought. She felt a little panic about the situation she created. there was no excuse for what she just did. wanting to protect Zane was not enough reason for her to practically chase the inner court away from the kingdom. Zane wasn't going to be pleased when he comes back. 'why won't he come back?' Aria thought, annoyed. "Where is King Zane?" Elder Leif asks. "we at the very least deserve to know where he is.""Why?" Aria asks harshly as she stares down hard at Elder Leif. 'what am I doing?' Aria thought worriedly as she continued to put on a strong front."Do you want to torment him the same way you tormented his father before his death?" "what nonsense is she saying?!" Elder Svend shouted. all his pent-up anger was let loose. "not only are you accusing us falsely, but you also do not understand the situation at
Aria "Queen Aria." General Radford bows in respect to Aria who walks into the strategy room with her brother by her sides. "any news?" Aria asks about alpha Bryant who planned on attacking soon. "our spy brought in news that Alpha Bryant is allying with others who had the same issue on the missing wolf case." General Radford said. "he must have known that he didn't have any of defeating us because we have more army than him."'alpha Bryant is not a complete idiot after all.' Aria thought. 'he is willing to use the case about the missing wolf as an excuse to draw others into a battle of life and death just so that he can kill me.' Aria sighs out loud, 'No matter how much I think about it, he's still an idiot. I thought this was going to be a small battle. the humans in Esterial need to leave.'"Aria, what do you plan on doing?" Axel ask.Aria faces General Radford. "evacuate every human in Esterial, let them temporarily stay with their kind for now until this whole mess is over. if
Aria Brian held Aria's hand as she was about to go into the battlefield. "If you are trying to stop me don't bother. it's too late to change anything." Aria forcefully removes her hand from Brian's grip. the battle with Alpha Bryant had begun. Aria made the mistake of bringing in little soldiers to fight against alpha Bryant who had gathered different support from other packs. "I'm not here to stop you, or fight with you." Brian's eyes went to those who were with Aria. alpha Draven, Axel, and General Radford. "you already have enough strong supporters." "then what do you want?" Aria felt impatient. the last man who fought with her got badly wounded. she was in a hurry to get back to the battle before anyone got hurt again because of her. "I have an offer for you. one that can help stop all this unnecessary blood share." Brian said with a serious tone. "alpha Bryant has agreed to face you alone without getting the others involved." Brian watches the reluctant look on Aria's face,
Aria No one understood what was going on. 'why are they all here?' Aria asks herself. "wha..." Aria's voice was weak. She almost didn't believe that was what came out of her, "what is going on?" she asked weakly. her body falling to the ground without control.'what is happening to me?' she thought to herself as she tried to keep her eyes from closing. from the dim light that was threatening to disappear from her heavy eyes that wanted to close, Aria saw Erika running towards Brian. 'Erik...' Aria thought shut down. She lost consciousness.Aria felt a headache in her head. She tried using her hands to ease the pain she felt in her head, but her hands couldn't move. realizing that her hands couldn't move made her sharply open her eyes. She was in a dim room, tied to a chair. her hands were tied to the back of the chair along with her legs. Aria took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. she looked around and saw Alpha Bryant and Kaiser. Aria was surprised to see that they w
Aria "leave me alone." Aria turned towards the door of the room she had been captured in as she heard beta Brian's voice. he sounded weak. the door abruptly opened. a mysterious figure dressed in black attire with a mask and a hood over its face pushes Beta Brian's chair to the floor.just like the rest of them, he was tied the same way, Aria was surprised that his chair wasn't even broken with the way he landed with a loud thud.beta Brian grunted in pain.the dark figure walked towards him and took his chair up. "What did you do to him?!" alpha Bryant shouted. his eyes were aflame with rage. "I thought we were the only ones here." kaiser said.the dark figure ignores them, walks towards the door, and shuts it close. Brian had been badly beaten up. his eyes were swollen. "Brian!" Aria's voice was filled with fear, she didn't like how weak Brian looked. his eyes looked like he could barely look at them. as though he wanted to shut them forever. "stay awake." Aria was afraid th
Aria "I'm sorry my Queen."the young lady whose name is Clover bowed down in front of Aria. She was one of the new batch of humans who had agreed to come to Esterial. Aria had chosen to show them around the town. she loved going outside the palace, Aria now knew every place in Esterial kingdom. the human Clover, her head was still down. she was afraid, the other humans with her, looked as though they were equally afraid."It's okay. it's just a little stain." Aria said kindly as she encouraged Clover to raise her head.Clover had clumsily stained Aria's dress with the snack that was given to her. Aria brought food for them when she noticed that they were hungry. although they were afraid of her, Aria knew that they were going to adjust to a different lifestyle in Esterial, and they would soon realize that they were safe. "Please forgive me, my Queen," Clover begged again."don't worry, my current maid is not the type who loves to scold me for everything I do." Aria tried to clean
Aria "Dad there's not much things to pack," Axel said to his father.Aria had thought that she would be relieved when her father and her brother returned to the pack, but she didn't feel relieved. her chest tightened with unknown pain. a little voice in her head said, 'Everyone is leaving you. no one is going to stay, you are all alone.' Zane's hand brushed against hers, driving away her fears, taking away her pain, and helping her to feel light. he won't hold her in front of her father. Zane usually likes to do whatever he likes without caring, but he is careful with his actions in front of alpha Draven. "why won't you let me escort you out?" Aria argues with her father in his room. We heard that your last escort ended in tears, I can't let myself cry in the palace in front of all the girls who are always watching me," Axel said. it annoys Aria that she couldn't tell Axel that no one cared about him because he was right. somehow, he had managed to get himself a lot of admirers du
Aria Aria tried to hide the tears in her eyes as she gazed at Erika and Brian. Erika was already crying, and seeing her tears made it difficult for Aria to stop herself from crying. "you two ladies are making me feel bad." Brian said, "Maybe we should stay in Esterial." he said to Erika. "no. it's okay if you both don't stay here, staying here means you have to quit your job as Bryant Beta, and let's be honest, Bryant would be lost without you by his side." Aria said in between tears. Brian chuckles softly. "Besides, living here isn't a good idea. there are a lot of politics that can turn into a headache. I'm sure you don't want that." Aria wipes the tears on her face. she was in front of the palace gate. she had only wanted to follow them out a little. but now she couldn't stop crying. "Queen Aria." Erika left Brian's side and hugged Aria. "I'm going to miss you." "I'm going to miss you too," Aria murmured into Erika's shoulder. "thank you for everything, Brian." Aria removes
Aria "My Queen, I was sent to tell you that you have a visitor. General Radford isn't sure if Alpha Bryant is allowed into the palace or not." Genevieve said, her head bowed. "is Brian here too?" Erika ask. eager to know if her mate was in the kingdom. she removed her hands from Aria's hair even though she hadn't finished braiding. "Beta Brian is with alpha Bryant, along with Lady Lillian." without a word, Aria hurried off to them. She didn't need Genevieve to relay a message to people she wanted to see. "You still haven't informed your guards that we aren't enemies anymore. I don't want anybody threatening me anytime I come here." alpha Bryant nagged Aria. Aria rolled her eyes. "I have told them, but they are vampires, you can't expect them to start trusting our kind just because I say so." "but they trust you," Bryant stated. Aria could see that he still couldn't understand the difference between them. She was Zane's wife. of course, they trust her. after Aria free alpha Bry
Aria Aria looked at Zane's schedule, she collected it from Aidan. even though she was no longer doing any of Zane's duties she wanted to help him. there was not much for her to do as a Queen.Aria squirted her eyes at the paper she was holding. "Erika." she called. "did Zan_ I mean did the King leave the palace today?" Erika put down the tea she was having with Lady Brunhilda. "I believe King Zane had been in the palace all day." "What is the point of coming to my chamber to see me if all you are going to do is think about your husband." Lady Brunhilda mumbled audibly for Aria to hear. Aria examined Zane's schedule again. "he's doing it again." she said to herself. she got up from her chair and headed straight to the throne room. Erika wanted to follow her but Lady Brunhilda stopped Erika. She raised a tea cup in front of Erika. "we are not yet done with our tea." "everyone please excuse us." Aria tried being polite so that she could hide the anger in her tone. all the official
Aria The dungeon was just as Aria remembers. Zane was back to his duties as king. not many people in the palace have seen him yet. Aria suspected that he didn't want them to. but he couldn't hide forever. those who have seen him were shocked, some were scared. Aria had almost fired a servant who was terrified of Zane's looks but Zane stopped her."Are you sure that you don't need General Radford's help with interrogating them?" Aria asks Zane. Elder Orvyn had gained back his consciousness. but Svend was still passed out. elder Orvyn screamed in fear when he saw his colleague's swollen face. 'this could be you.' Aria thought as she watched Elder Orvyn distancing himself from his friend who hit him. She wonders if he appreciates the fact that he was passed out while Zane beat Svend up. "This is something I want to personally handle," Zane said. he hasn't been able to get any words out of Elder Orvyn."you can't keep me locked up in here." Elder Orvyn said!Aria raised a questioning
Aria the wind blew with a heavy rush around Aria's ear. her eyes were closed as she held on, tightly to Zane. She could feel herself going up, higher and higher. made her wonder how far Zane could Jump. they were supposed to be coming down by now but his feet hadn't touched the floor yet. in curiosity, Aria opened her eyes and gasped out loud at Zane's dragon wings. "you can fly?" she asked amazed. "yeah," Zane replied in a low voice. he sounded as though, his being able to fly was a crime, an abomination. Aria was barely able to catch his words, it almost escaped her. A few minutes ago, he was able to face her, now he was hiding his face from her again. his fears were coming back. Aria knew that it was because of his dragon scales wings, 'I have to do something,'"this. is. amazing!" Aria screams out loud in a voice full of excitement. her random outburst caught Zane off guard. he was confused. "I can't believe I'm flying. I can't believe you can fly," she said excitedly, as thou
Aria Elder Svend comes out of hiding with a sly grin on his face. Aria and Zane both watch him as he claps his hands together as though he just came out of an amazing movie theater. He was being annoying. "That was so sweet. the two of you know how to put on a great show." he continued clapping and pretended as though he was wiping a tear off his face because of how touched he was. "what are you doing?" Elder Orvyn asks, Svend. he came out of hiding with an angry look on his face. "can't you see what I'm doing?" elder Svend asks, "I'm clapping, it been over a hundred years since I last saw an entertaining love tale like theirs, so full of sickening emotions, I'm too old to feel anything like that," he said in irritation. "This wasn't the plan." Elder Orvyn's fearful eyes looked over to Zane before he turned his fears away. "you are ruining the plan." "of course, the plan." Elder Svend said in a voice that sounded like he didn't care about whatever plans they had made. "the plan
Aria 'he's afraid.' Aria thought. after listening to Zane, she understood the fears she saw in his eyes. the fear of being accepted as though all his life he had lived like an outcast even though he was King Kaida's son. something like that wasn't going to disappear in one day just because she told him that she loved him. even if Zane could hear the truth in her words, he would prefer to isolate himself and believe in what he had always believed all his life. it was his way of safeguarding his heart. his way of living. 'I need to bring him out of it.' Aria thought sadly. if she left him like this, he wasn't going to change. he won't want to change. Aria thought that Zane was no different from a blind man if he continued like this. he got his sight back but he still wanted to remain in darkness. his darkness. something he had unconsciously created for himself without knowing. 'I need to be gentle, let him know that he can trust me instead of assuming that he was going to trust me.'