“How and why… that information slipped out of the report?” She arched her brow and tightened her jaw.“That’s because I have sworn to secrecy.”“...Canary!” It was a warning voice.Canary immediately went down on her knees and dropped her head. “Please state your punishment. I’ll gladly accept it.”“It’s an overdue payment, don’t you agree?” Liliana crossed her leg, showing her dominance. “... I understood your intention, my queen.” Canary was hesitant yet braced herself from any upcoming dirty punishment.Liliana studied the duchess, humming low. Canary was the loyalist subject that she trusted so much. She was the only one that she could trust her back to. Yet, she readily covered for the crown princess when cornered.She had a lot of guts inside her bones and Liliana was fond of her due to that. She hated to inflict pain on her subject but an exemplar should not be half-hearted and she knew exactly what Canary should do to return the honor.Though the upcoming punishment would sul
Wearing formal attire, the three of them: Ibrahim, Aidan, and Firash took their sweet time. From the resident palace and straight to their east wing where all the government workers were working.“Sister… the youngest… will she not be here?” Aidan asked in wonder.“She is not,” Firash answered.“Why?” There’s a hint of pouting inside that voice.“Because she doesn’t want to.”“This meeting will become so boring without her.” He grunted loudly.Ibrahim hummed, agreeing with his firstborn.“At least… our overdue meeting is happening thanks to her.” Firash’s tone was malicious. It was a warning for his brother to act accordingly as a crown prince.Again, Ibrahim had to agree. He hated it, but he had to agree. That’s because Firash was right. Shadow was never taken advantage of regarding her title. Furthermore, she was the most beloved princess in this kingdom. Everyone devoted their love to Shadow and it was never a secret.Whenever she showed her face to the people, the people would scr
The king’s family waited for the queen right in the middle of the path. Due to safety, they had to be under the roof whenever they were together. They could handle any threat alone, but together, their guard simultaneously went down. It was because they had complete faith in the knights to protect them while they were enjoying them. It wasn’t a wise choice but they didn’t care. The surveillance and protection were triple the moment Shadow was added to the family.The protection was not only available inside the palace, but it covered the whole kingdom. Why? In their book, Shadow was a petite human who had no lion power. Nevertheless, she carried a lion crest proudly as if she was one of them.And yes, she was one of them. She was their family, friend, and protector. She was qualified to do so. She had the right. “Come again.” Dhia nudged her brother.“She is not here, sister,” Firash said in frustration.“Where is she, then?” “I don’t know, Princess Dhia. She can be anywhere, som
Inside the meeting room, they were sitting around the round table, facing everyone with clear air. The space of the room was massive with the table situated in the middle to not intimidate each other. This room was called the Equal Room where no one was above anyone. Hence, the name. The room was Shadow’s idea and to be fair, Ibrahim loved it so much. Queen Liliana seemed to be pleased as well. They were exchanging a few greetings between them, talking about their interest for a couple of minutes. But his eye twitched because Liliana’s attention was riveted to her surroundings.“Queen Liliana, what are you searching for?” Ibrahim said politely.“Where is our beloved princess, King Ibrahim?”Ibrahim cracked his knuckles, his lips curved inwardly. “As you can see, she is not here.”“She is supposed to be our main character. Where does the character go without being inside the meeting room? I don’t have any desire to face you guys without her.” Queen Liliana unintentionally spoke arro
“Albert.” Albert looked across the room, where Lily was. “You can tell us if you’re ready. But if you don’t, we will wait for the day to come. We need to understand your point of view. We need to know why you betray your own kind. We need to make sure that we will not regret anything. Our decision or whatever.” Albert sniffled. He couldn’t refute her. Hell! She was right. If they want to have an equal footing, they need to strip their bodies naked. Lily had told him about her past, about why the wolf tribe was aiming for the hyena tribe. It was his turn now. Hell! He wanted to. He really wanted to. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to come undone. His secret was prone to receive the biggest reaction from everyone. And yes, including the king and his family. Luckily, Shadow didn't do as much as twitch her mouth and moved on past that. But he couldn’t. It’s hard to do that. Dhia placed her arm on Albert’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug. Albert was younger than Aidan and Dhia. Bo
The massive body was still showing its strength and putting air to dominate the atmosphere. And, as soon as there was a clash on the ground, the sky fell down and the ground split yet again. As soon as the wind howled, it made that massive punch wind and blew off a few trees around. She and her two lions took a couple of hot minutes engaging with a familiar yet alarming scent. To be frank, she didn’t remember what had happened but when she opened her eyes, she was already on the forest floor and was blown by the unpredictable sharp wind. Her shirt had already tatted and her bloodshot eyes were still searching around. Not to say anything about her brain, but it totally pending and stopped working for the first time in her life. She tasted the blood at the corner of her mouth and heck! Her lips were already cracked. She looked to her side, her bare feet missing their shoes. GRRRRRRR~ A few drakes snarled and bared their poisonous fangs at Shadow and whimpered King and Double. The
“Hah! It’s not enough that you took me from my father without his consent.”“Are you mad, doll?” Ajiad grinned and folded his arms across his chest.“Am not.” Shadow’s blank expression proved her answer.“Apart from being my daughter–”“I was coerced to be your daughter, papa.”GROOOWL!BOM!The environment became so chaotic.“Do you hate it? Becoming my daughter?” Ajiad unsheathed his dagger as well.“I don’t know,” shrugged. “You forced me and Albert to be your children.”Taking Shadow and Albert as his adopted children against their will and creating such behind the king’s back could be considered treason. His action was a red flag because he was acting according to his desire.Ajiad barked a burst of gleeful laughter. “Spare this old man. I have been married for more than decades. My brother had his own children, so I want to have mine as well. However, we are incapable of having a child.”“So, you resorted to kidnapping both of us and forced us to be yours instead? Interesting ta
The two of them hugged each other with their eyes planted on the breeze under Shadow’s feet. The ground had disappeared. Ajiad gasped loudly, breaking his character as soon as it involved Shadow’s safety.“What are you doing, doll?” He snarled.Instead of asking him, Shadow took his agitation to her advantage and swung her fist under his chin.“Ugh!” Ajiad nearly stumbled backward.Shadow felt the grip around her loosened up and she swiftly shifted her body and fled.She landed behind Ajiad while snatching the dagger on the floor before kicking the abandoned dagger toward her uncle. “Our training is not ending anytime soon, papa.” She announced proudly.“You fool.” Ajiad reset his jaw with a crack sound. “That hurts, yeah.” But his eyes flashed with anticipation.Of course, Ajiad was a warrior and a teacher before her father. He was hella proud of her development.“You took my weakness to your advantage, doll. Marvelous.” He clapped but didn’t pick up the dagger, nonetheless.“Well t