"He is not like you, Irina. What will happen if your son finds out about your true nature?" Arthur asked with a satisfying smile. Irina imagined the outcome. She knows that Raphael wouldn't be happy. Just like Arthur noticed, her son turned out to be a gentleman just like his father. For some reason, he always looked to his father for guidance and advice. Her first husband made it a point to incorporate morals and ethics in Raphael. 'A true king needs to know the difference between right and wrong ' her husband used to say. She hid her nature from her husband from the beginning and then the same went on for Raphael as well. "Oh Arthur, you can try to tell my son about how evil his mother is. But he would never believe you. He loves me so much that he wouldn't even be willing to hear anything against me" she said confidently. Raphael clenched his jaw. That's what he did when Arthur and Euridice tried to tell him about Irina. He blindly trusted her. He wouldn't have trusted anyone i
Valerie changed her clothes into something comfortable. She is wearing shorts and a tank intop. She is worried. Raphael didn't send a message or he didn't even call her. Now that they have ech others numbers, his silence is making her feel restless.It's been four hours since Raphael went to speak with Arthur and Euridice. But so far she heard nothing from his side.'Did my father said something to upset Raphael? I know dad doesn't like the Ravens. But, can he stoop so low that he would ill treat a guest? Raphael was trying to protect my dignity with his marriage proposal. What is so wrong in that? I didn't get a chance to speak with Liliana and mom. If i did, then i would have known about what they are thinking and why dad wanted to talk to Raphael personally ' she thought with worry.On the other hand, Raphael gave the control to his dragon Hydra and allowed his beast to shift and fly untill his wings hurt and he no longer can fly. Hydra landed on the top of a mountain which is sitt
The past two weeks are the most confusing two weeks in Valerie's life. She came back to the Ernest palace with her family. But there is an underlying tension which she noticed in her father and mother. Liliana is her usual self. But she understood that something is going on and the tention is clearly seen in King Arthur's face. But the thing that is bothering her the most is Raphael's behaviour. He is acting so unlike himself. He went back to the Raven Palace after his meeting with Arthur and Euridice. Even though he spent that night and every other night with her, he still didn't speak anything to her. It takes an hour to fly from the Raven palace to the Earnest palace. But still he comes everynight at some point and leaves before she wakes up. She always wakes up naked and bathed in his scent. 'What happened that day?' she wondered for the hundredth time. But she doesn't know how his father and mother would react if she ask them. She is sure everything is because of that meeting
Just like every other morning, Raphael stood up from the bed to leave. But this time Valerie caught his hand to stop him from leaving. He stopped but didn't turn around to face her. Her heart is aching. He refused to speak anything. Not even a single word. But he still holds her as if she is precious. His hot and cold attitude is confusing her and making her sad. She is scared to ask him about what happened and why he is being so withdrawn and sad. But a few days ago when she tried to ask him about the same, he turned to leave. She is worried that he might never come again if she broach that subject again. But she cannot bear to see him like this. She can see that something happened which he is not ready to share. He is fully clothed while she is naked. She is wrapping a blanket around her body. It's still early and the sun is yet to raise. It's still dark outside. "I know that i am not important in your life. But Raphael, i cannot see you like this. I don't know what happened, but
In the Nester Palace, Hector is thinking about something Liliana asked him that morning. 'Why don't i know about this? Even Raphael didn't mention anything. I should ask dad ' he decided. With out any delay, he went to meet his father in his office. He knocked on the door before entering. When Euridice saw his son, he smiled. "Hector? You said you are going to the town with some work. You came back so soon?" he asked. Hector sat on a chair opposite his dad's desk. "No dad, i didn't go" he replied. Euridice gave his son a curious look. "You didn't? But you never like delaying things. What happened now?" he inquired. Hector hesitated a little. "I wanted to ask you something. So i decided to come and meet you first" he shared. Euridice raised his eyebrows. "Looks like this is something important. Or else you wouldn't have ignored your work" he said thoughtfully. Hector nodded. "I learned that Raphael is going through a rough phase. I wanted to know if you have any idea about
In a posh bar in Windsor, both Raphael and Hector are sitting on bar stools beside eachother. More than a dozen empty alcohol bottles are lying on the bar table in front of them. Raphael drank more than he never thought he would drink. He is slurring and it's safe to say that he is drunk. But he couldn't forget about everything that is threatening to tear his heart apart. The most painful thing is the fact that he might never see Valerie again. "I lost her forever" he whispered sadly. This is the first sentence he spoke from the moment they came to the bar. Even Hector understood that Raphael is not ready to talk, so he didn't ask anything. He was not expecting Raphael to speak at all. So when he opened his mouth to share how sad he is, Hector began to feel for Raphael. The Raven prince doesn't have to tell him about whom he is talking about. Hector realised that it is about Valerie. "Man, i saw with my own eyes that she likes you. She didn't let anyone convince her to remove your
In the Raven palace, Irina is on edge. From the moment she heard Roland sharing with her about Raphael and his affection for Valerie, she is fuming. "No, this cannot be. I thought he must have forgotten about her. It's been more than four months already. Why is he still thinking about her? Raphael is not so emotional and usually don't develop this much affection for anyone, let alone a woman who used to be his slave after she was my slave. Valerie is only good for two things. Taking revenge on her father and using her for my business as a money machine. I cannot imagine her as my daughter-in-law. The future Raven queen Cannot be from the Ernest clan. I hate that clan and Arthur" she fumed with anger.Cadmus Snickers from beside her, earning a glare from her."What? why are you looking at me like that? I already told you that your son have feelings for that slave. But you didn't listen. Now see what's happening. He is depressed and barely speak with anyone. If this keeps going on like
In Windsor, Raphael and Hector walked out of the bar after the Raven prince told his best friend not to call the Elder Ernest princess. The Nester Prince did not realise that Valerie heard their conversation. "Raphael, you should talk to princess Valerie" Hector suggested. He is drunk and he is slurring. They both might not remember most of what they did that night. The human alcohol do not have any affect on the dragons. The alcohol sold in Windsor is specifically designed for dragons. Their alcohol is potent for humans. A little bit of dragon alcohol can kill a normal human. But only that will give that intoxicating feeling for dragons.Raphael laughed humorlessly. "Talk about what Hector?" he asked sadly. His heart is breaking and the pain is unbearable. He going through a rough phase in his life. Hector stopped in his tracks and cocked his head to one side."What do you mean by 'about what?' Everyone can see that you love her. She might not be screaming at the top of her lungs
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