Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Chapter 42:

Lancelin’s P.O.V

“You called, father?” I entered his chambers after knocking on the huge iron doors.

I knew that these doors were not just bulletproof but also spelled by mages against any supernatural attack. My father was paranoid and it wasn’t just because he was the King. He has his fair shares of skeletons in the closet. And that is why Castel Estella is a fortress, surrounded on all sides by extremely capable guards as well as mage barriers.

“Ah! There you are!” He answered from his bed, sitting only in a red, velvet night robe, surrounded by several of our scantily clothed human servants.

My brother and I were both mirror images of our fathers. And anyone who saw Nathaniel Eustein would notice that immediately. Sometimes people mistook us for one another. He and I had the same dark hair, the same fair complexion, height, built and face cutting. The only difference was in our eyes. While I had the topaz eyes from my mother; Nathaniel had bright silver colored eyes.

It wasn’t a surprise that my father used feeding as an excuse to fuck around, but with a house full of guests I had hoped that he’d somewhat try and be on his best behavior and not disappoint me and my mother any further. Obviously I was wrong. By now everyone knew that my father didn’t have a single faithful bone in his body and he used being the Incubus King as an excuse for anything and everything. Still, a hopeless part of me keeps hoping that things might return to the way they had been before Asmara came into our lives. But I knew now that the only thing Asmara was truly responsible for was showing my father’s real face in front of everyone.

“Father,” I told him as politely as I could. “We have guests. Could you at least restrain yourself for a few days?”

“Oh, I’m on my best behavior, trust me.” He smirked, taking a sip of his whiskey. “These are all for you, my son! Only the best women from my harem for the future King of all Incubi. Consider this my coronation gift to you.” He spread his arms around, pointing to the giddy and giggling women who looked too intoxicated to even think properly. Humans didn’t have the kidney of the supernatural kind.

“Everyone, leave us.” I ordered with a growl in my voice and every one of the women scrambled out of bed and ran out the room, trying their best to preserve the modesty in the meantime. Maybe they hadn’t been as intoxicated as I’d assumed earlier.

I locked the door securely once the last of them had left the room.

“You disappoint me, servulo meum (my little servant).” Father sighed and crossed his legs one on top of other. “You should learn from my experiences to never let a woman manipulate you.”

“Playing the victim card doesn’t suit a King,” I attacked his ego instead of taking insult. My coronation was to take place tomorrow, so he was still the ruling King.

Nathaniel threw back his head with a roaring laugh. “Disappointing indeed. Here I was hoping that you’d become a great King like me, but in reality, you’re a shadow of your mother.”

“And I couldn’t be prouder,” I told him calmly, walking over to the fireplace and pouring myself a drink. “Yes, people might consider you a great King and yes, you have implemented some very valuable rules. But it had always been for your own good.”

“What are you implying?” He narrowed his eyes at me over the rim of his whiskey glass.

“Incubi must hide their existence from humans so that they don’t become the prey to improving human weaponry? That rule came after centuries of us living peacefully amongst humans without any conflict.” I pointed out. “You wanted every Incubi and human who knew about us to praise only you. You hated the fact than a group of humans might consider another Incubus their lord and master; worship another one of us as God.”

“Even if that was true, I did save several human lives by forbidding getting them pregnant by a human-Incubi coupling.” He pointed out smugly.

It was my turn to laugh this time. “Do you really think we were so stupid as to not notice that the order came right after Dilayla died while pregnant with Acelin’s child? The truth was, you were scared that Acelin’s child might have been born with golden eyes, the eyes of a ruler and that would mean the throne would be passed on to someone who wasn’t of your bloodline. You didn’t want to take any chances, in case the genes skip a generation as in the case with Acelin and instead goes to his offspring. You didn’t want to lose your throne. And what’s surprising is that you still think you can actually control everything through me once I’ve been crowned.”

“You really have changed,” He observed with narrow eyes. “And not for the better.”

“Unfortunately, your time is up…father.” I took a sip of the whiskey and threw the glass into the fireplace.

The fire roared to life, crackling violently for a few seconds before gradually reducing down to a slow sizzle.

“Such anger? For a mere human?” Nathaniel smirked. “You should know by now that they are flickering lights. Now they might glow brightly but it won’t take much effort to snuff them out. Be sure to take care.”

“Stay away from my Sanaya.” I warned him. “If anything happens to her, I wouldn’t guarantee your safety either.” With that, I walked out of the room and headed towards my room.

If I could go back in and bash that man’s skull open, I would be the happiest person on earth. But regicide doesn’t help you to win the hearts of your people. And I was sure that my father would love nothing more than to make a puppet out of me. I keep lying to people and telling everyone that my father named me Lancelin because he wanted me to be a servant of God and deliver his will. But that was all bullshit. Nathaniel had named me Lancelin to make me his personal servant, his little puppet, so that when the day finally came when he had to give up the throne, he could still rule through me.

My biggest advantage was my position in the Dark Council. A council of all the supernatural Kings and Queens of all races. The council held peace across all dimensions and it was the sole reason why we weren’t tearing each other down, trying to conquer territory that wasn’t ours. Erick was the Vampire King and the newest member of the Dark Council and Miaka was the established head of the council.

And maybe now was a good time to take the help of that very council.

Switching hallways, I turned towards the guest rooms instead. I had to see Erick before the Sanaya arrived tomorrow. It might be the only chance I get to talk to him before the coronation and I had to speak to Sanaya after that. I was sure Erick would help me and he was young enough so as not to follow the “favor for a favor” rule. But I would be indebted to him anyways and I will return that favor whenever he needed me.

After my father’s ominous words today, turning Sanaya into a vampire might be the best option not just so we could be together but for her safety as well. I had made my decision and I knew Erick wouldn’t object.

Now, the biggest decision lay in Sanaya’s hands.