In the Raven palace, Raphael pricked queen Irina's index finger with a needle which is dipped in Valerie's blood. Quietly Irina looked at her son. She doesn't know what he is doing, but she is sure whatever it is, he is doing something to help her recover. But she is a little surprised at his act. It is the dead of the night and there is no one in the room except for them. He sent the maids out of the room, claiming that he wanted to be alone with his mother for a while.Raphael on the other hand waited anxiously for something to happen. He looked at his mother's finger, eagerly waiting. But nothing happened. It remained as still as it was before.He became depressed. He met his mother's curious gaze."That needle is bathed in Valerie's blood. She said that her blood has some kind of magic. I thought of trying it " he confessed.He saw the shock in her eyes, which made him smile sadly."I know mother. I am not someone who would believe in all this. But I can not lose you too. I alread
"Do you know anything about him?" Raphael inquired Valerie.She shook her head gently."He always used to hide in the shadows. He made me call him as 'Master '. For as long as I can remember, he is the only person I have spoken with. I heard a few voices but never saw anyone. I am sorry" she whispered softly feeling sad that she couldn't help him.Raphael closed his eyes tightly. The small glimpse of the life she has been living until she escaped is making him angry. He wanted to catch whoever this man is and kill him for trying to kill his mother and kidnapping Valerie."Is Valerie your real name?" he asked her softly.She never thought about that."I don't know. He always called me as Valerie" she confessed.Raphael is feeling like an asshole. He let his anger rule his actions. He wanted to punish her for hurting the only person he loves. "Come and sleep now," he told her offhandedly. So many things are running through his mind, and he is feeling restless. He is snapped out of his
"Go" Raphael parked his car in front of Valerie's school. He has some work in school, so he decided to drop her off in person. Valerie tried to open the car door, but she couldn't find what to pull. Raphael leaned over her and opened the door for her. "If you pull that, doors will open" he showed her. She nodded her head, understanding what he showed. This is the first time she sat inside a car. So she doesn't know how to open the car door and close it. Just when she is about to get out of the car, he stopped her. "Valerie" she paused in her tracks but did not look at him. "I am going out of Windsor for a couple of days. I found someone who can cure my mother. I will come back as soon as I can. Someone will come and pick you up from school. Feel free to ask the maids if you need anything. Ok?" he told her. Valerie became tensed. Everyone in the palace made it a point to show her their anger this morning when she was passing by them. She saw hatred aimed at her. But she did not t
That evening, no one came to pick up Valerie after school as Raphael said. She waited for an hour before walking back to the palace on foot. The palace guards gave her a once-over when she was passing by the gates. "I would love to tap that ass" they joked among themselves and began to laugh. Their crude remarks made her feel jittery and unsafe. She never thought a change of dressing would make her feel so scared and unsafe. She kept her head down and swiftly walked towards the room given to her that morning. Once she locked herself in the safety of the room she took a deep breath. On the other hand, Cadmus is angry. "Your highness king Raven, it looks like that slave girl has cast some spell over our prince. I heard that he commanded everyone to treat her nicely and cater to her needs this morning. If this goes on like this, then we might lose our Queen for good" a healer shared with Cadmus. He is the same healer whom Raphael called to treat Valerie the previous night. Cadmus
In the Raven Palace, Cadmus made the guards drag Valerie out of the safety of her new room. He made sure that everyone watch how she is being treated. The guards dragged her out of the palace and tied her to a pole outside so that everyone can watch how she is humiliated. Valerie is scared. The guards roughly dragged her out of the palace and tightly tie her arms and legs to a pole. This brought a piece of her past to the forefront of her mind. 'Stand there under the mercy of the elements until I come back a week later. This will teach you never to talk back with me ' her captor left her tied to a pole for a week without food or water. She was only twelve years old then. Valerie is brought back to the present when a crowd began to gather around her. As more people began to gather around, the more scared she became. "Your highness, please stop this before it's too late. I think his royal highness prince Raven wouldn't have forgiven her if she is really at fault" Roman urged agai
Valerie gasped with shock when she realized what happened. No one said a word. The two guards who came to whip her are now standing there in fear. "Prince Raven" Valerie whispered. Raphael is standing in front of her, with his front facing her. The blows which were meant to land on her body and tear her skin and make her bleed landed on him. But unlike her, he healed immediately, as if nothing has happened. Valerie is in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes. He is the same man who tormented her and treated her like a slave for one year. And now he is the same man who is protecting her from the wrath of so many people. In the short life she lived, all she faced is suffering. She didn't realize that she is looking into his eyes with her own filled with tears. "Are you alright?" he asked softly. She gave him a jerky nod. Her clothes are torn and she is bleeding and bruised. Raphael is fuming with anger when he saw how they all hurt Valerie. She suffered enough and he refused t
In the Raven palace, Irina's condition is so bleak. Her vitals are all dropping and the healers seem to lose hope of her survival. "Your highness King Cadmus, she might not live past this night. We should be prepared to live without our queen. We are so sad that we will lose our queen like this" the senior healer who seems to have developed an unhealthy dislike towards Valerie told the king. His name is Sanador. He has been serving the Raven clan for over two decades now. He is experienced and very popular for his skills in healing people whom no other healer can. Cadmus is feeling frustrated and helpless. He is believing that Valerie holds the information that helps Irina, but still, she refused to help them. "That slave, this is all because of that slave. I will kill her" he announced with anger. Sanador is feeling the same. "Your highness, that slave girl seems to indulge in some black magic. Look how she turned our prince against us. I am sure she has her eyes set on this t
In the Raven Palace, Valerie is looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Even though Raphael told her to stay in his room, she went to her new room, which is beside his. The guards and the maids whom she came across in the corridor are giving her death glares. Even though none of them dared to say anything, it is clear that they don't like her. As quickly as she could, she slipped inside her room and locked the door after. After what happened to her just now, she is not feeling safe in the palace. When the Raven prince used to treat her as his slave, everyone used to ignore her at best. But now, the man who vowed to torment her is shielding her from everyone.Her clothes are torn and bloody. Her body is bruised everywhere, and it is becoming hard to ignore the pain anymore. When she used to be with him, she used to slip into her mind until she is forced to come back. The thought of never coming back was so tempting, but she wanted to know who she is and where she came from.
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