Chapter 124: Chapter 124

Getting off the exhausted horse and patting it long neck, the young rider murmured some faint apologies to the poor animal, he hated to abuse the poor helpless thing and push him beyond it limits, but he had no other choice, the longer his journey took the bigger the risks of being exposed were.

Sensing the heavy presence behind him, the rider sighed before turning to meet the sharp blue eyes, staring at him as if exploring his soul and mind, finding the answers they wanted without hearing them.

“Good!” as expected, the prince knew how things went with the rider’s task only by studying his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide his emotions and control his expressions, which worked with everyone, the man in front of him would always know.

“All done, the girl drank the poison, and the people have enough to build their own assumptions, the right ones, the rest is up to your brother and the way he is going to react to rising rage, which is rising awfully fast while we talk.” The rider explained while removing his hoodie, revealing a bald head covered in symbols and tattoos, his face had similar symbols covering his forehead, nose, and chin, but leaving his cheeks and the side of his jaws bare, unlike the man facing him whose entire face was covered in tattoos.

“He is not my brother!” the rider didn’t miss the hidden hatred and the calm tone, but he didn’t address it, the man in front of him was a one crazy bastard and even though they all served the same cause, he didn’t plan on taking the risks of messing with a man without a single grain of remorse and rationality once someone gets on his wrong side.

While the rider was back to tend to his horse who looked beyond exhausted, Nicholas walked back towards his hideout, the horses were actually kept in a small farm away from their main place and tended by a loyal old man whose loyalty was insured by having two of his sons killed because of the tyrant king, it was all an extra safety measure, for even if someone followed the riders, they will still be unable to find the separate hideouts nor the meeting place.

Once he was deep in the forest and in front of a giant tree, Nicholas bent down and knocked three times and then scratched the tank, the roots then started moving on their own, revealing a small opening, large enough for the prince to crawl through it and enter his hideout.

The moment he was inside, Nicholas took a deep breath of the earthy scent and moss, mixed with the specific smell of a certain someone whom he was longing to hold, letting the smell and the thought of his beautiful lover calm his stretched nerves, he walked further inside the tree which was turned into a small but comfortable residence with everything he needed.

This place felt more like a home to him than the castle where he grew up, he thought while pacing towards the bed, where the beautiful smiling face was waiting for him, taking off his clothes quickly and placing them on the foot of the bed, Nicholas climbed the bed and approached the other person whose eyes were filled with lust as he stared at the lean body covered in tattoos.

“So?” Nicholas barely heard the question as his mind was focused on the feather like touch that traveled his chest and woke his body up, the fingers were so warm and soft, experienced as they know just how much pressure to put and where to touch.

"The first step has been successful, all we have to do now is wait for the girl to die and the chaos her death is going to bring, and then, we strike!” Nicholas’ eyes looked at the pure eyes in front of him with so much love and adoration, this lover of his was perfect, so perfect to the point where it was nearly impossible to stay away or thin about anything else.

“I still don’t think she will die from that poison!” the other person pulled back right when their lips were to touch Nicholas, leaving him with an unsatisfied expression, not welcoming the game of tease.

“You still think she is the same girl? Even when I have told you that they didn’t look the same at all? This one has dark hair and ugly scars, aren’t deities supposed to have absolute healing?”

“Remember that she is not a full deity, as for the hair color, it is not hard at all to change it, your women do so all the time.”

“They are not my women!” Nicholas protested, hating the choice of words, he was never found of women, but he only started hating them when his father, and then his brother, would force women into his bed, saying it was time for him to be a man, those nights were the worst, where he would let the women do what even they wanted with his body, but no reaction came out of him, only disgust.

“I mean human women, my love, you are solely mine!”

“I am!” Nicholas said as he leaned forward, finally getting the kiss he craved and much more.

……..

Even while worried, Henry couldn’t help but notice the strange way his friend reacted to the news about the girl, the shadows’ lord literally jumped out of his bad to terrorize the guard who told them about Dahlia, Eren looked as if he was about to snap the poor man’s neck if it wasn’t for Henry stepping in to save him.

“She is breathing normally, my Lord, just not waking up when we call her!” were the words that saved the guard’s neck, Eren let go for him quickly and searched the room for anything to wear, luckily, there were clothes already prepared for him which he put on as fast as he could before following the guard towards the dungeon.

Why? Henry asked himself, could it be that she was the one he thought her to be? But Eren did confirm that she was dead, let alone the fact that she looked nothing like the fairy princess he met on the ball, could she be someone else from his friend’s life or past? They did have similar hair colors and aloofness, or could it be that the shadows lord’s heart was falling again for someone else, but Dahlia was…too strange to be loved that way!

Sighing, Henry decided to not dwell about the matter any longer as there was no good coming out of it, when the time was right, he would ask Eren directly and be done with it, instead of wasting his time on building baseless assumptions, following his guard and his friend, Henry stepped inside the dungeons and then the cell the girl was kept in, noticing almost immediately how clean and decent it was.

Looks like the girl was popular even among the guards!

Seeing the petite frame lying on the small bed and sleeping peacefully, Eren rushed towards it, inspecting every inch of her body, her breathing was fine, deep and steady, and she wasn’t bleeding from anywhere except of her wrist, her smell was the same, nothing out of place, her energy was flowing normally, like any sleeping person, slow but steady, in other words, she looked asleep, just asleep, and nothing seemed wrong until her brother tried to call her.

Once…Twice…Three times…Tapping…Shaking...nothing worked, the girl didn't make a single sign indicating that she did hear or feel them.

Panic took over Eren as he watched Henry's futile attempts to wake his beloved up who remained asleep and unaware of everything happening around her, he stood beside his friend, frozen, watching his face contour with worry, as he stared down at the girl, the gears in his head obviously working while Eren’s mind was almost blank.

How could Henry think at a time like this? Eren wondered as he studied his friend’s face for a second, wondering if the human king was actually worried for the sleeping girl or about something else, because from the way he was acting, it didn’t look like it was brotherly affection.

No, this was not Henry the brother, this was Henry the king, Eren told himself as he watched his friend retreat out of the room to go and talk to the guards, his heart clenching as he thought about his friend and his beloved.

Once Henry was about of the cell to talk to the guards, interrogating them, Henry leaned over Sara, watching her carefully as she slept, the last time he saw her unconscious was the night he set her free with a promise he was not even trying to keep.

Fuck that promise and the thought of staying away from her, Eren thought as he cupped her face, his thumb caressing her scars, he knew she would be furious if she knew but he couldn’t stop himself, not tried to that is, for she was so beautiful to him, even with the scars that told how much she suffered yet survived.

“Wake up, my fair lady, I promise I am not like them, I love you, you and not what comes out of you, I promise to love you more and cherish you, just wake up, I am here!” Eren whispered close to her ears, knowing no one would be able to hear his words but her, he caressed her face a bit more, pushing away the silky strands that hid her face from his eyes, the caresses then turned to gentle taps but they were as useless as his friend’s, he couldn't point out what was wrong, she was just asleep, her body and inner energy told so, but she wasn't waking up, he tried shaking her, pinching her skin even but it was also without use.

Henry was still talking with the guard while Eren studied Sara's face, she was so beautiful, he thought, so beautiful when asleep, so beautiful when awake, so beautiful when angry, when sad, when happy, when emotionless, she was so beautiful, Eren’s eyes dropped to her plump limps and a sudden buried hunger woke up inside him, making him forget about almost everything as he thought about how much he loved this woman, his woman, getting closer to the soft lips, wanting just to peck them quickly, just enough to wet his thirsty need for her, he was stopped by the strange smell coming out of her mouth.

"Did she eat or drink anything? " Eren asked while frowning, stepping away from her the moment the others walked back inside the cell.

"No, my lord, I've already told his grace, she refused the food I offered her and only took the bottle of water, but I don’t recall seeing her drink from it." The guard answered truthfully, knowing that he was going to be accused of slacking down, something he believed he deserved for not keeping a more carful watch on the precious Dahlia.

"Who provided the water? "

"I... I did my lord” the guard trembled and stuttered as he answered for he had caught the hidden meaning behind the demon lord’s question, something was in the water, but it wasn’t him who put it.

“I...My lord, I did not!”

“No one said it was you!” Eren answered while rolling his eyes, the guard’s reaction was way too spontaneous to be a lie, let alone the fact that, despite his king’s orders, chose to give her a clean and decent room and offer her food, something which isn’t usually done for captives, which only meant that the young guard cared for her.

But then, that thought was infuriating!

"Did you find something?" Henry asked, curious to why his friend was terrorizing his guard with those deadly glares.

"Have you ever heard of the mountains’ snake?" Eren asked, his eyes looking at his friend’s, seeing the scary realization settle on Henry’s face, he finished, “Because her breaths smell mile the venom of the mountains’ snake.”

"Your Grace, My lord, It wasn't me I s... "

"Stop whining!" Eren broke his gaze from the guard while sniffing the air, finding a bottle in the corner of the cell.

"Who gave her this bottle?" Eren asked

"I did."

"And who gave it to you?"

"From the storage room, each prisoner is given one."

"Who gave it to you?"

"No....No one did my lord, It was the only one left on the new shelve, I chose it, b... Because I didn't want Miss Dahlia to drink from an old one..."

"And no one else touched it from when you brought it here? "

When the guard nodded, Eren turned to Henry, "We need to check who was on that storage room..."

"But Eren, isn’t that venom lethal?"

"It is, but maybe the dose was too little to kill. Eren pretend to think while in reality, he knew for sure that the dose given to Sara was meant to kill her, it was probably her divine half that protected her from the certain death.

"We need to get her out of here..." Henry said while Eren walked to Sara's unconscious body and lifted her in his arms effortlessly and gently, wanting to take her to his castle and place her in his bed and keep her safe, but chose to wait for his friend’s instructions.

"Well, Show the way..."

Once Henry finished giving the instructions to the guard, he and Eren left the dungeons to head to Dahlia’s room, Eren was in a world of his own, only humming vague replies to Henry's questions and theories about the identity of culprit and the reason for his actions.

The human king surely had a lot of theories, Eren thought while his were focused on the girl in his arms, she was still light and easily carried, her soft body pressed to his felt heavenly as he allowed himself to enjoy the proximity, knowing for sure he can never be that close to her if she was awake.

Reaching the corridor where her room was, Henry and Eren were both stopped by Nara who was standing by Dahlia's door looking all worried, the moment she spotted them, she ran toward them.

"Oh God, Here she is...." Nara's voice was dripping with worry as she watched her advisor's face.

"What happened to her?" She asked her brother who told her it was a long story before asking her what was she doing out of her bed instead of resting.

"I came here looking for Dahlia, Brother, the people are furious, they are gathering in the public court, someone leaked the information of Dahlia being captured and the people are furious about it, they are demanding to see her."