“Your Majesty,” Xiao’s voice interrupted my thoughts. My eyes flutter open, immediately catching his gaze. “She’s awake. Phaedra is awake.”The news immediately brought me to my feet, but after a few steps, my feet halted and suddenly gained weight—like an anvil was weighing them down. It was the hesitation keeping me rooted in my spot; unsure of my next step now that she’d regained consciousness.Do I want to reconcile with her? Do I want to antagonize her, or stay civil? Do I want to blame her like I blame Flavian?“Xiao, I-I…” I started, my tongue yielding deep into my mouth.“I…I do not know how to react. We did not exactly part with good terms, but we need her—them. I do not know what is the right thing to do.”Despite my retreating tongue and my stutters, he seemed to have understood my sentiments as his creased forehead smoothed, and he smiled—he smiled?“You must be conflicted, your Majesty. You desire to act emotionally as her friend, yet you know you came here as the Queen a
“It is impossible to resist the royal order when the Queen herself has personally sought you out.”The Priestess, or former Priestess, irritatedly turned to him. “We do whatever we want.”Xiao replies; calm as still water, his hands on his staff. “Nevertheless, I am certain your daughter will make the right decision. She’s more levelheaded than you, after all.”“What?”As the two old people bickered, something they would never be too old for, my ears perked at the faint rhythm of something hitting the glass. I left the middle of the battlefield of the former Priestess and former General and looked for the sound. I found a window at the end of the hallway and saw a pigeon with gold-streaked feathers chipping at it with its beak, a paper tied to its foot. This was familiar, I thought. I remember giving this order of communication only if there was an emergency. Furthermore, seeing the gold streaks in the pigeon, its only sender could come from the palace because it was our secret symbol
“Has she sent a reply yet?”Fenrir exhales loudly, frustrated, before shaking his head.“No,” he answers the anxious General.“If she’d already read our missive, she’s likely on her way back as we speak. She would not bother to write back.”General Liefeng nods in agreement, quietly praising Fenrir’s perfect assumption of the Queen’s personality.Among them that remained in the palace, he was put in charge and Liefeng could now see why. They seemed closer than everyone thought. Liefeng looked at Fenrir’s torch-illuminated back, who was preoccupied watching over the walls as they camped in the southern watchtower. The night was deep, yet they were yet to get a wink of sleep.It was not only them. The entire Capital is awake and anxiously awaiting the attack. It was all too predictable, yet their defense was anything but stable for this expected attack.“I sincerely wish our assumption is wrong,” Liefeng admits after a moment of silence. Fenrir’s eyes slightly shook, but he did not make
This was not their initial plan.This was never a good plan.Soren was adamant about it, and he fought for his opinion until the last day, but everyone went against him. A few days ago, before they marched to surround the Capital, he was already confident in his master plan. The success of his plan lies in the patience they had. Unfortunately, it was a fragile foundation that was tested so early on and caused the destruction of everything that was built on it.His plan was to slowly ruin the palace from the inside, hence his spies within the royal court. He wanted the internal affairs to trouble the King and keep him occupied—and wear him out—before engaging in battle and pushing him to a wall as if putting pressure on him. To slowly burn him out, like waiting for a candle to melt its wick and use up all its wax until it’s too weakened to resist. It was a sure-fire plan.And though reluctant, the others agreed to his plan.Until more unwanted variables appeared.The King’s death a day
Fenrir was almost dozing off while standing, his arms crossed, when he smelled gunpowder. It was a faint smell, but he nevertheless caught wind of it after a breeze. His eyes flew open and immediately searched the source of the smell.There’s a revolution coming.When he found the nuzzles of canons at the edge of the forest, he gritted his teeth and yelled at the top of his lungs. His hot glare fixed on the canon.“Canon ball on the way! We’re under attack!”Soldiers jolted awake. His ears were filled with the sudden loudness of multiple heartbeats. He watched the canon get lit and waited for the first hit, the harbinger of a war that would go down in history. There was a sinking feeling and a sudden silence, watching the canon ball fly in the air, and eventually hit the wall. He felt the tremor brought by the impact.Just a minute ago, the morning was peaceful and quiet. The sunrise provided a warmth to relieve the coldness of the moon. And now chaos ensues; soldiers were running aro
The power of the silver-haired Queen’s words was enough to daunt the mages that heard it.They exchanged wary glances to each other and the agile witches used the opportunity to attack, cackling after seeing the mages fall back. They easily gained the upper hand, tilting the battle in their favor.“Higher realms?” Soren mutters to himself, his eyes narrowed at the Queen. They stood in the middle, the center of the battle, engaged in heated eye contact and each testing the waters. They knew better than to underestimate each other. Knew more than recklessly wasting their energy.Akira tilts her head to her side, her eyes never leaving Soren’s as she talked to Fenrir, commanding him, “Go help General Liefeng’s army.”The black wolf stares at her back, contemplating, before turning away with a huff. He leaps out of that fight and sprints to the walls, intently wishing he’s not too late.He knew he promised not to leave her side, especially in such circumstances, but he figured it was a wi
By the time the sun reached the Capital and its enemies flew in, a lone wolf left amid the chaos. He leaped through the woods, stealthily, like he was merely a gust of air. By the time he reached the pack, he was catching his breath and worn out. Nevertheless, it was a new record for him—two hours.Abel was known to be a wolf who rode the wind and he remains to live up to his reputation.As soon as he reached the House, he rushed to his Alpha, hastily reporting, “The Capital is under attack. The Queen is yet to arrive after leaving last night, and only Fenrir is left to fend off the rebels.”He had been lurking in the Capital since news about the rebellion broke out. He filled Flavian in on every news he hears and has been duly acting as his spy; being the Alpha’s ears and eyes inside.“How many rebels did you say you saw?” he asks, distressed.“There were thousands of humans, vampires, and trolls as large as mountain boulders. If I may be bold, I’d say they’re larger than the Queen’s
“Your Majesty,” bowed a royal guard as it rushed into the meeting hall, thus interrupting Akira and Xiao’s formulation. “A new House has appeared and joined the fight. We are yet to discover what their purpose is, but according to the reports, they are fighting the vampires in the eastern gate.”“A new House?” Akira echoed, meeting Xiao’s furrowed brows with her own. “Who?”“The House of the Wolves, your Majesty.” Akira’s heart seemed to jump out of her chest as it became the only sound in the room. “Alpha Flavian Fauntleroy arrived with a hundred other werewolves and now they’re cleaning the vampires on the eastern gate. Reports have also mentioned that they’re protecting the unconscious body of Fenrir Fauntleroy.”If her heart hammered the first time, this time it dropped. The sudden anxiety that washed over her was overwhelming as worry got the best of her and she could not stop the words from leaving her mouth. “Unconscious? W-Why is he unconscious?”The guard kneeled and bowed hi