Chapter 41: Chapter 41

They all followed him carefully as if if they missed a step he took, they were going to loose him. Aranya didn't know how Lorcán got to know this place in the palace, but it was certainly secretive. He turned to look at them and when their eyes met, they stared at a nervous Desdemona that looked up at them, "Are you sure this is where he has been kept all these years?" Her voice quivered as she spoke and he nodded his head at her.

It has taken him two days of not resting, of risking his life to find the whereabouts of the only Durush in Belrynna. "I'm sure he's in here, but there are guards at the door, we can't enter."

She heaved a sigh out of relief and from where they stood, she could stare at the building. "That wouldn't be a problem, I can easily change to one of the guards." She was eager to get to him, they could tell. They stood until of the guards walk passed them and in a swift, Desdemona looked exactly like him. She walked ahead as the duo stayed behind. Security was something that was very tight in Belrynna.

"Should we wait for you?" Aranya called out and she shook her head without turning to stare at them.

Entwining their hands, Lorcán smiled at her while they began to walk away. She sighed and he softly squeezed her hand, “Don’t worry, a durush never lies, she’ll fulfill her promise.” He said softly and she wondered how he knew exactly what was in her sure.

She stopped midway and turned to look at him, “What?” He inquired, staring blankly at her.

“Are you sure you’re not an upgrade version of a durush? How could you know what I'm thinking, Lorcán?” She chuckled at the expression he had on his face and he pulled her to him, lightly hugging her.

“You’d have been the first person to know, if I were.” Abruptly, he broke their hug and his arms rummaged around her body as though she had been hurt and he wanted to make sure that she was safe.

“What are you doing, Lorcán?” She asked, trying to get away from his hold but he held her firm.

“Have you been sick? You’ve lost some weight and I'm only realizing it now.” He looked worried and Aranya didn’t know when she threw her head back and laughed at the expression that was painted on his face.

“Come on! It’s only natural for me to loose some weight after loosing my mother, Lorcán.” Her voice shrunk at last and she quickly masked her emotions, “Well, to be honest I haven't eaten a decent meal in days.”

“Then we’re going to fill your stomach today,” she was about to argue when he turned and shook his head at her, flashing her a very serious expression. “I mean it, Aranya, and no matter what you say or do won’t stop me from feeding you today.” He gently held her wrist and guided her back into the town of Belrynna. She wondered why is it that no one noticed them, noticed her.

After she woke up and realized she had been captured by these people and later realized she was in Belrynna, what Betla told her rushed back to her brain and she wondered if by first glance, the people of Belrynna wouldn’t notice that she was their princess. It was now that it all occurred to her, how sometimes while changing to her wolf form, it felt as if her body was fighting against another, as if she had another form of creature within her. Sometimes her tailed looked more of that of a panther than a wolf, but she thought everything happened because of the bloods of power they had sucked out of those powerful men. But now she knew better, and she couldn’t wait to see the man that bore her.

As Lorcán gently guided her into the busy market of Belrynna while she immersed deeper in her thoughts, Aranya stared at the way he was being careful with her. How he made sure that no one brushed past her or even touched her gown. It was as if she was the weakest creature he had ever seen and he had to protect at all cost. The gesture warmed her heart and she smiled lovingly at him.

They got to a restaurant and sat down without her taking her eyes off him until he placed their order and turned to look at her with a curious look in his eyes. “Do I have something on my face?” He inquired, rubbing his palm all over his face.

“Yes, you do.” She answered and crossed her hands over her chest, amused.

“What is it? Take it off please.” He leaned toward her and Aranya quickly planted a kiss on his cheek.

“There, your cheek looked lifeless so I blew some life into it.” He smiled and she chuckled at how taken aback he looked, a blush creeping out of his cheeks. “Come on, don’t blush, Lorcán! I'd love you more than I do now if you do.” But sadly, he did. And she was sure his love had intensified in her heart.

Like he promised, he fed her until she couldn’t feel her lungs and she had to resort to begging him before he believed the fact that she was indeed full. They walked out of the restaurant with their faces filled with smiles and love and she turned to look at him, “She still haven’t come to us, Lorcán, are you sure she isn’t going to fail us?”

He wrapped his hand around her shoulders and brought her to his chest, “I assure you, she’d come tonight. For now, she’s nothing but a wife that have been forcefully estranged with her husband for hundreds of years, they have a lot to catch up with even though it would never be enough. She’ll come for us, we’re still useful to her.” She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder as they began to walk back to their chamber.

*

Keres had been pacing in her for minutes now, wondering where Desdemona had gone to. There were times she doubted the loyalty of this woman because she felt something will come up and she will deceive her, and these were among those times. Where had she gone to? The last time she remembered seeing her face was in the morning and it was night already.

She heard a knocking on the door and immediately sat down, no one deserved to know that she was anxious and wanted to see to king, not even Katharina which she was sure was the one. “Katharina, have you known about her whereabouts?” She had asked her to find out where Desdemona had gone too for almost an hour now.

“It’s me, your highness.” Upon hearing Desdemona’s voice, Keres sat upright and sighed, not knowing why she felt as relieved as she did.

“Come on, we have a lot to discuss.” She waited until Desdemona walked in and found a space for herself to sit down before she spoke, “You seem in a good mood, something happened?” She asked, trying to bring up a conversation between them as she knew Desdemona wasn’t easy to deal with sometimes.

She chuckled and shook her head, “I’m just happy that I've finally found a solution for you about your problem with the king.” That made Keres jerk up with a smile beginning to form on her face.

“What is it, Desdemona?” She asked eagerly because there was nothing she wanted now apart from getting close to the King so she could make sure her clan was safe and also, she wanted to know his real face. She wasn’t comfortable being with him while he had Xanth’s face on him. Xanth...she thought of him and immediately pushed his thoughts out of her mind. She needed to focus on the king for now.

“I heard that the imperial queen has been poisoned, even though she's not dead, she’s seriously sick and that made him locked all his palace maids and is now taking new ones. We could take Aranya there so she could be among the maids taking care of him and from that, she should make sure to get as close to him as possible and all the things you want to know will be revealed. Also, her being there will give you more chances of being inverted by the king, don’t you think.”

Keres stood there motionless, thinking of all that Desdemona had said and the possibility of all that she had mentioned, happening. She hadn’t even thought much about what she wanted to do with Aranya, had even forgotten that she still roamed around Belrynna. Was it because her mind was filled with more serious things?

She smiled, nodding her head in agreement, “I agree with this, Desdemona, doing this, we will also degrade her princess title and she has nothing but to obey what we ask her to do so long as she wants her beloved to stay alive. And after we’re done using her, we can kill him and find a way to kill her as well.”

Desdemona chuckled, “Killing her is close to impossible, Keres. But as you said, we can always find a way.” She stood to her feet, “I’ll be taking my leave now.” Keres watched as she walked out of the room with a relaxed smile on her face and wondered what it was that made her feel this way. Desdemona had never looked calm and relaxed and not in a bad way but good.

She reclined on the sofa as she thought about the angles her life had taken. How everything baffled her. She started from being the most beautiful and powerful dragon princess and now to the wife of the most powerful king in the world. She knew there were girls out there that would even be jealous of her life as it is, but little did they know that even with these things, she didn’t have the two things that were most important to her; love and happiness. At the thought of that, she chuckled sadly and closed her eyes.

Love? She had lost hope on that since when she lost Jaromir and for happiness she knew she could never be happy with this man, not even close. She didn’t hear when someone walked into the room until she saw a shadow of someone standing over her. Or in better words, staring at her.

With her heart lightly pounding, not with fear but anger, she opened her eyes and saw that it was Xanth and there was no iota of regret in his eyes. She immediately stood up and with one swift of her hand, her sword appeared and she aimed it at him, which he craftily dodged. She kept on trying to hurt him with her sword but without fighting her, Xanth kept dodging steadily until she stumbled upon one of the pillows on the floors and flew but he caught her into her his arms almost as immediately as she lost her balance.

She tried to get off from his hold but he held her firmly, “What do you think you’re doing? Let go of me and get the hell out of this chamber before I call on the guards for you!” She ordered but he didn’t seem fazed that for a minute, she wondered if it was the king not Xanth. But she knew so well that the king wouldn’t come here for her and would never wear this kind of clothing.

“I heard that all the wives of the king have been poisoned in his chamber. You’ve went to the chamber few days ago, have you taken the tea served there?” He seemed worried and his voice came out in a raspy tone. He was staring at her directly in the eye that no matter how Keres wanted to fight him off and make sure she fed his blood to her sword, she couldn't. Somehow, she realized no one had ever acted this desperate to know she was fine.

She tried to get out of his hold but he only shifted her to make her comfortable in his arms, “I haven’t taken the tea there. I'm fine.” She whispered.

He heaved out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding and what he did next took her off guard and something shook in her heart. He hugged her. Xanth closed his eyes as he laid his head on her shoulder and brought her closer to his body, he ran here when he heard about the King’s wives falling sick because of the poison and when he found her reclined, he thought she was sick as well. He had never felt relieved like he did today.

Keres stood there not sure whether to hug him back or not, she felt as her heart beat rapidly against her ribcage and reluctantly, she wrapped her hands around his torso and rested her head on his chest. She realized, she needed this hug, perhaps more than he did. “I'm glad you’re fine, your highness.” He whispered and she felt as his hands snaked around his waist and tightly held her. She didn't try to fight him off, just that her head made rumble it had never done before and she slowly melted in his arms.