This is the day.I feel like my heart is in my throat. My heartbeat pains my ears as the throbbing goes harder, faster, making my hands tremble in fear as we all march towards the wide plain at the border of Northern Kingdom and the Imperial city.King Laurent didn’t allow Lady Marian to march with us. She is waiting for me at one of the darkest downtown alleys for the mission to save Aster, and my child. I can’t wait until this battle march is over. I can’t wait to see Aster again and our son. I pray Helena didn’t do anything to him. I pray he is safe inside the Headow Stronghold and being watched by my ancestors, keeping him safe.The sky is clear and the sun is gentle on my skin as I rode with the three Kings on my side. The North, West and Talaphatian King swore their loyalty to me and the future that I promised to them. The future that we all are seeking is free from greed, violence and self-interest that the Imperial council portrays just to make themselves more powerful and t
I immediately went to the officers who were leading a horse for her to use and then thanked them shortly after I put on some new set of clothes and before I hopped on the animal and galloped towards the Imperial City in a route not too familiar for me. I had to take it as per Lady Marian's advice so that no Red soldier wouldn't recognize me on that path where few people take it because it was a little farther than the main road.With gritted teeth, I made the horse run to its full speed. But I have other plans. I know Lady Marian is already waiting for me at the downtown alley where four Talaphatian soldiers are with her. I know she will surely get mad once she finds out I didn't go just as we planned. I have to go alone and never wanted to put my best friend's life in danger just like what I promised King Laurent. She will be safe with her guards.Through the woods, all I think about is Aster and our son. I will go to Headow Stronghold alone and face whatever will be waiting for me t
It is a call of desperation.I glared at Emyr. He knew from the start that he and Helena won't win this war. That is why he is trying to make some bargain to spare his and Helena's life. But there is no way I could let these two escape after what they did to my son...to Aster. I don't exactly know if he will do his side of the bargain though. But I am getting more desperate to see Aster once again and have my baby in my arms. I know I shouldn't trust Emyr with his poisonous words. I shouldn't let myself be deceived by his lies. But my child's life is more important to me."Show them to me first, Emyr! And then I'll decide!" I yelled at him with confidence in my voice. It is me he is pleading to and not the other way around. I should be the one who must ask for demands. "Sure! Just follow me!" He answered with a grin on his face which made me more suspicious. I know I should be more careful but knowing that I am finally going to have my son back takes all the fear in my head and jus
"MARIAN!!!"My whole body froze as I watched her kneel in front of the red guard who stabbed her. Her face turned dark before she fell to the ground, her body not moving anymore. My nose was filled with the scent of her blood as it wafted all over the place, giving me shudders all over my body. The hall turned silent as we all watched Lady Marian dead on the floor. I feel like my heart and soul were shattered into millions of pieces and it horrified me more when I could no longer hear my child's cry. He also turned silent as fear crawled all over me. "See what you have done, Eodelle... I told you not to fight me anymore. I may be a liar sometimes but you know what I can do when someone upsets me," Emyr sneered while I stood frozen, still in denial that Marian was already gone just like that.Tears fell from my eyes, "What do you want me to do then, Emyr? What do you want from me?!" I tried to contain the anger inside me as my throat ached while I sobbed. My whole body was trembling
“Aster no…”But I couldn’t stop him anymore.As fast as he could, I saw how he killed the palace soldiers one by one inside the Emperor’s Hall and saved Nina. But to his shock, he stopped in front of Lady Marian’s body which was lying on the marble floor, cold and unmoving. He stared at her for a bit with a solemn face like she was some kind of a sister for him and lifted her, and carried her towards me and Nina where she covered her lifeless body with a curtain he took from one of the walls with the insignia of the North Kingdom as one of the allied Kingdoms of the Empire.As soon as he came back to me and our baby, He held me tight once again and looked at the small child in my arms with his gentle eyes despite the agony he must be feeling all over his body. And then he glanced back at Lady Marian's body which made me sob as my heart broke into pieces for losing a great friend.“She is a good person, Eodelle… She helped me through a lot about you and Laurent. She never deserved thi
My life has never been so easy for a wolfless like me.As I watch all the people miserably at the birthday party, I cannot tell how many glasses of wine I have already consumed while trying my hardest not to have any eye contact with the noblemen standing not too far from my seat beside my father’s. It is my eighteenth birthday and they say that I am of legal age to wed one of the noblemen who came into this palace to ask for my hand. The larger the land, the better. As if I am some kind of livestock being prepared to bring in more possible allies from other countries. And I heard that it was because Helena suggested it to my father. Helena, his top favorite among his concubines is awkward and sickening because we are just the same age. I have no idea what Kingdom she came from but father was so crazy about this lady. She's supposed to be in here though but she left yesterday to visit one of her cousins. The suffering I have now is all of her doing and I will never forgive her and he
My feet were heavy as the maid led me toward the hall. There is this wrenching feeling in my chest. I suddenly feel too terrified, hurt, and confused about what happened in the garden. Terrified, because I thought meeting my Mate would give me a ticket on my way out of all this mess. Hurt, because Aster was already engaged to someone else despite being my Mate. And I have never felt so devastated after hearing it from his lips. And no matter what I do, I am still a slave in my father’s eyes; not even my Mate could save me from this. Confused, the man’s face was bright as the moonlight until the maidservant came and the reaction on his face changed from being amused to disdainful.Was he scared when he heard that I am the daughter of the Emperor? Because that’s what most people feel whenever I try to make friends with them. My status stops them from getting too close to me because they know how my father despises me and no one wants to make the Emperor upset. Unless they have a death w
“W-what? You cannot say that—”“Why can’t I? Your father is a murderer,” he growled at me with rage in his eyes. His lips pursed against his teeth, and I could feel the malice in his every glare. “He killed my parents long ago and I was just lucky I survived! He annihilated my whole pack and there is no way I could ever let him live after what he had done to my Clan!”I stared at the enraged expression on Aster’s face and I can see how much he has been waiting for this moment to avenge his family. I couldn’t say anything because I have known about this story every time my father boasts it to his colleagues while he was drunk most of the time. Subconsciously, I looked down at my hands and my dress and I could smell the disgusting metallic scent of blood all over me which must be from King Richard when he was stabbed in his chest and his stomach while we were dancing. My body trembled as I embrace myself, remembering the horror of cries and shrieks of the innocent lives killed in that b