In the Raven Palace, after the guard left, Cadmus opened his eyes and looked at Irina with concern. He sat up on the bed and twisted his face with disgust."Irina, why do you think so many people came to see you at this hour? I think you should go and see what they want" he advised her.She is so drunk that she cannot even sit properly, and forget about talking.She gave him a drunk smile."Cadmus, relax. They will wait if it's important or they will go if it's not. Why do you trouble yourself? How did they expect me to stay away until now? They will learn to follow appropriate timings from now onwards" she said carelessly. But Cadmus couldn't sit as leisurely as she was sitting. He has a vague idea about why so many people came at once.'The missing kids. I am sure this must be about the kids' he understood.He knows where the kids are. But he cannot do anything to help those crying parents.He stood up and walked towards the window. He pushed the curtain an inch and peeked outside.
"Hide your identities. For now, call me as, Blake. Direct attack is useless when it comes to Irina. Am I clear?" Raphael told the men, who are now his men. Loyal to him. They are ready to do anything for him. They have done things that they are not pleased with. They were carrying a heavy weight of guilt for years now, and it only intensified as the days passed by. Now, they have a chance to redeem themselves and right all the wrongs. "Yes, Blake," they all said in Unison.Determination is seen in every one of them. They are not second-guessing their decision to join forces with Raphael. Even though he is not their ruler, yet. Even though they are about to go against their current ruler. Still, they are not worried about the consequences. They wanted to do the right thing. "Once we start this, you should not stop until it's finished. Don't stop until you take all those kids back to their parents. Don't stop until this hell hole is destroyed" he spoke, inspiring them."Yes, boss" the
"Try me. Who knows, I might surprise you just like you surprised me now" Raphael encouraged him.Cadmus tightened his gut for courage and looked away from Irina. He cannot speak if he sees her face. He is scared of her."I told our men to kidnap those kids and old people. All those kids are kept in a lab outside Windsor. At exactly six in the morning, those scientists will start injecting a potion that they developed into those kids. Please save them before that. I told her it's dangerous, but...." he froze. He realized he spoke more than he should.Raphael is taken aback by the information given by Cadmus. He did not expect why he changed his mind so suddenly. But whatever he said is correct.'Why is he not talking about Irina? She is the one behind these evil deeds. Then why is he not taking her name?' he wondered."She? Who is she?" he inquired.Cadmus is quiet for a moment before he spoke again."Please don't ask me anything else. I cannot tell you. She will kill me if she finds o
It took the Raven Prince and his men half an hour to destroy the lab, which his mother built in ten years. It's like a base for Irina, from where she does most of her evil deeds from. All the scientists are killed and the lab is burned down to the ground. The Raven guards took the kids back to their homes. When each kid is being handed over to their parents, the gratitude that was shining brightly in their eyes made everyone's heart swell with pride. They know they did the right thing. They are now more grateful to Raphael than ever. Their loyalty now solely belongs to the Raven Prince, whom they fondly call as 'Boss '.The Raven Prince, who started a war against his mother who is evil and did so many bad things has a very high standard in the hearts of his men. He is the prime example of how a leader should be, and Irina is the example of how a queen should not be. They are polar opposites. People hate the queen, but they love the Prince, who is their future king.'Thank you so much,
"What about Her?" Raphael asked Cadmus.They are playing hide and seek out in the open. "She will not be happy. I am sure she might kill me even. Will you come to visit my body after I die?" he asked softly. Cadmus wanted to tell Raphael that it was his mother who is behind all of this chaos. But he is worried that Raphael would not believe him and might hate him even more. The Raven Prince is speaking with him normally for the first time. He doesn't want to ruin it so soon.Raphael clenched his fist with anger towards Irina when he heard vulnerability in Cadmus's voice. 'I will not let that woman kill another person on my watch ' he vowed to himself."Cadmus, why are so scared? You are the king of that palace now. You hold power and authority. My father, your brother was a very smart man. If he sees you today, he will not be pleased. Stop dancing to her tunes. It's time to return the favor. You know how she is and you know her weaknesses as well. Start playing your game. Start maki
"Valerie? What are you thinking?" Liliana asked when she noticed that her sister was not watching the video at all.Valerie turned to look at Liliana. "Sis, what are the chances of this Blake being the same as my bodyguard? Can they be the same?" she asked, her mind whirling with possibilities and so many coincidences which are too close to ignore.Liliana frowned."Your bodyguard is on leave. He might be anywhere now. Dad once mentioned that he came from the Raven clan. So mostly it might be possible that your bodyguard Blake might be the same person whom that man mentioned in that Video. I mean, he went on with some work at the same time when this incident happened. And coincidentally the name of the man behind that rescue is also Blake. So Ya, it is highly likely that they both are the same" she analyzed.Valerie remembered how she always felt like there was a lot of resemblance between Blake and Raphael. Their bodies look the same. Their eyes look the same. And she is as affected
"Stop it, Liliana. I don't want to marry anyone" Valerie protested. Liliana is not in the mood to listen to her innocent younger sister."Oh? Now you don't want to marry anyone? Then what do you want to do? Do you want to forever harbor false hopes for the Raven Prince? Do you want to live in a dreamland where Prince Raphael comes as your bodyguard? Did you want to see and feel miserable when he finally marries someone else and leads a happy life? Is that what you want in your life?" she questioned.Valerie doesn't want to imagine Raphael with anyone else. It left a hollow feeling in her chest. She doesn't want to think about all of that. Her feelings and emotions are all over the place. Her chest is aching with an unknown pain. What Liliana asked is true. Raphael has to marry. She cannot demand him to marry her either. But at the same time she doesn't want to see him with anyone else. All these feelings are confusing. She tried to walk away unable to explain her feelings. But Lilia
Blake(Raphael) returned to the Ernest's palace after he spoke with Cadmus. He is waiting to see how Irina would react. Previously he doesn't have anyone reliable or trustworthy whom he can use as his spy inside the Raven Palace. But now, he has four dozen men at his disposal whom Irina still trusts and whom he can use to keep an eye on Irina's actions. He doesn't have to worry about Cadmus either. His men would protect him if Irina decides to kill him.He is wearing his Blake mask and armor to conceal his identity. He is sure Valerie would be awake by now and he has to escort her to their training area. He reached her room and knocked twice and waited for her to open the door. But a minute passed and then another, but she didn't open the door. The area between his eyebrows creased.'She usually wakes up early. Why is she not opening the door?' he wondered. He knows everything about her morning routine to a 'T'. He knows what she would be doing at OP. He knocked again, this time lou
After one year....Raphael wanted to hide everything Irina did, because she was once a queen of the Raven clan. Her black deeds will forever become a black mark on the Raven clan. The hard earned reputation of his ancestors would be ruined, which he doesn't want to happen. So he hid her death when it happened. As everything happened in the middle of the night and as the Raven palace is sitting at a fair distance away from the town, no one knew what happened or suspected anything. By morning, only ashes were left behind. The dead army and even irina who brought them to life are all gone. Cadmus lied to everyone that irina went on a spiritual journey to find peace. Everyone believed that lie as Irina made sure to keep her reputation spotless when she was alive. Only peace was left behind after she passed away. "Raphael? What are you doing here?" Valerie asked from behind him. He is standing in the palace court yard while looking in the exact place where his mother died. Valerie noticed
Raphael and his men together surrounded the dead army from all four directions. They start to burn the dead army with their dragon fire. As Irina is momentarily disoriented, the dead army stands still like statues, while their bodies are burned down to ashes. When Irina realized what was happening, she gained back the control she has on the dead people again. "You dumb idiots, attack" she screeched loudly. At once the dead army started charging toward the Raven palace again. As their bodies already started burning, they are now walking fireballs charging towards the Palace gates. At once the palace gates shook with the force of the dead army. It creaked loudly, protesting from the force with which the dead army was pushing at it and trying to breach the palace walls."Guards, shift and stop them from entering the palace. The gate will not hold that much force for longer. Barricade the gates with sandbags. Quick" Raphael instructed his men while he resumed burning their decayed bodie
"Your Highness, dead bodies are walking," he said in a rush. The guard is pale and looked scared. Raphael and Angoori ran outside and were shocked to see an army of dead and decaying people walking towards the Raven palace. Their bodies are muddy as if they just came from inside a grave. Bones can be seen in their half-decayed bodies. Most of them are just walking skeletons, and the rest are in the process of decaying. Irina is leading them in the front. She looked happy at herself. Raphael thought he was prepared to deal with anything Irina threw at them this time. But no amount of mental pep talk would have prepared him for this. 'How does anyone fight with already dead people?' he thought while taking in the walking dead steadily approaching the palace. The Raven guards look scared out of their minds. But the guards are trying to look brave and do their part by locking the tall wrought iron palace gates and positioning themselves to shield the entrance with weapons. That dead ar
In the dark forest, Irina is pacing the uneven land with fury. She is furious with Raphael who destroyed her lab and then ruined the souls for the dark powers. Out of all her enemies, she never imagined that it would be her own son who would destroy everything. The years of planning, pretending and after a million cunning ideas, everything was burned down to ashes because of Raphael."No one, I mean not a single soul dared stand against me. But now, after twenty-five years of unhindered rein of only victories, my own flesh and blood is standing in my way" she screeched with anger and frustration.The dark forest shook with the intensity of her anger. "After everything I gave you, you decided to take up my enemy's side and betray me. Now, after I learned that you stole my dark powers, there is no going back for you from this betrayal. You have to join your dear Father in heaven. You never really saw my true nature, Raphael. I only ever pampered you and hid my true self from you. I onl
Cadmus understood what Raphael meant by 'Our plan ' after half an hour. They are standing in the palace Courtyard and all the Raven guards are standing in front of them. Confusion is seen on their faces. It's almost midnight and a meeting with their king at this hour is not common. But Cadmus understood why Raphael is doing this now. Because they cannot afford to waste any time, especially when they don't know where Irina is and what she is planning. "You must be confused and thinking about why your new king wants to speak with you all at this hour. But I understood that this is the best time to speak about things that all of us want to hide from others" Raphael spoke.His words left everyone confused in the beginning, but then the men who are loyal to him understood where this was going. So they looked at each other and nodded their heads in understanding. Stealthily they changed their positions in such a way that they are now surrounding Irina's loyal men whom they are sure would g
After her failed attempt to threaten her enemies, Irina left the Coronation party in a fit of murderous rage. "No, if they think that they can intimidate me, then they are dead wrong. Raphael might not know about me, but Arthur, how did you think that I would let you go so easily? We grew up together. You know how stubborn I am. If I set my eyes on something, then that should either belong to me, or it should be destroyed. Just like you. I wanted you, but you rejected me and married anesthesia. I thought of killing you, but that would be an easy punishment for you. I want you to suffer. And your suffering would only end on the day you die. Now, your daughter made a huge mistake by taking over my position as the Raven Queen. You made my son go against me. That is a sin deemed to be punished by death. Now she will die, and so will you. None of you know what I did for two years after I left the Ernest palace. I practiced dark magic. All these years I was trying to amplify my dark powers
Irina has a malicious smile on her face. She is hiding how angry she is. She never thought that there would come a day when she might have to see her son laughing and chatting with the people she hates the most. What's worse is, he made her the worst enemy and made Arthur's daughter his Queen. "Hello Eugene" Irina greeted the Nester king. She intentionally skipped his title. This is the same way she used to address him when she used to stay in the Ernest clan. But after things turned bad between her and Arthur, she distanced herself from Eugene as well. Because she knows that he is loyal to Arthur.Eugene became stiff and so did the others. Raphael tightened his fists. Valerie's eyes flashed with anger. Anesthesia, Arthur, and Liliana have matching frowns of disgust. Hector and Cadmus look uncomfortable."Hello, Irina" he replied with a blank face. Irina turned her gaze towards Arthur. She wanted to disturb their happiness. "You look happy Arthur. I saw this kind of smile on you on
After the coronation of Raphael and Valerie as the new king and Queen of the Raven Kingdom, Cadmus is given the respectable position of the Royal advisor and the Royal godfather of the Raven clan. He is given the power that he can involve in every matter that concerns the Raven clan. His position is equal to Raphael and Valerie's. He is overwhelmed with joy and his happiness has no bounds. But the same cannot be said about Irina. She is not at all happy. Raphael gave her no position to hold in the Royal court. He decided that it was time for her to rest. He made it look like he is doing her a favor and all of this is for his good..'The previous queen of this clan has given her everything for the well-being of this clan. After my father's unfortunate demise, she took it upon herself to take this clan under her care. She worked restlessly toward her goal. I think it's time for her to leave these heavy responsibilities to us and rest. She deserves this more than anyone ' he announced.
The entire Agnes clan bowed their heads when Valerie approached them. They don't have a choice. Going against a gold dragon is like going against a mountain that is taller and stronger. It's useless to fight with a mountain when you clearly know that you cannot win that battle. A gold dragon's wrath can destroy an entire clan. Her blessing would help any clan flourish and grow. The land that she touches will be greener than any other land."I am not killing you merely because I don't want my mate's coronation to be remembered with a blood bath. Ravens are known for their hospitality. You came here as a guest. I don't want to hurt a guest. But be aware, Princess Tasha. I will not tolerate disrespect either. If you open your nasty mouth to pass cruel comments, then I would not hesitate to kill you in the future. Keep your judgments to yourself. Me, Valerie Ernest, daughter of King Arthur, princess of the Ernest clan, and the mate of the Raven King here by declare you, Princess Tasha as