Chapter 46: Chapter 46

“It is so good to see you again!” Henry took big strides towards her, the woman who was in the center of his thoughts since the first time he met her!

“Me too.” Rima smiled back at him while taking the seat he just offered her, and there was that awkward silence where they both stared at each other, not knowing what to say!

It was still somehow weird, being in each other’s presence, even though they had been working together for a while now, trying to bring both worlds together, and create an alliance between the humans and the demons. Still, that feeling of nervousness was always there, telling each of them that he was being affected by the other.

“How did you get in here?!” Henry tried to compensate for the bluntness of his question with his softest voice and even softer smile, not wanting the ice queen to take the wrong idea for he wasn’t at all bothered by her presence, just surprised to see her, in his room, at that hour!

“Your men helped me, they said you were expecting me.”, as expected of her, the ice queen was practical person who didn’t feel entitled or offended by a mere question, she understood the meaning behind his words and that somehow spared them both the time of explaining themselves to each other, for they had somehow developed a mutual understanding, and in a way, mutual trust of the other’s good intention.

Something in her reflected him, Henry thought to himself, they were similar, and shared many qualities that made their little secret alliance possible, their conversations have always been smooth for they both had the willingness to listen to one another.

“Aren’t you going to offer me anything this time?” she said teasingly, and Henry chuckled, remembering that time when they met and he, out of courtesy, asked if she wanted anything to drink, not knowing that the only thing demons could consume was blood!

“You Came alone!” Henry stated, seeing her nod, he asked with a frown, “Why? It could be dangerous!”

“How can I expect you to trust me if I don’t show you that I trust you as well?” Rima stated while her red eyes studied him.

“You look a little tired!”

“I feel that way too, to be honest, the last days haven’t been the kindest!” he said with a sigh, taking his seat next to hers, he didn’t feel any shame in telling her such a thing for he knew she would understand, she was the one person who could understand him for she was in the same shoes herself, and in a twisted way, he was happy with that fact, that she was the one accompanying him in the rough journey they started together!

“Have you received an answer from the other human kingdoms?”

“I did, and I am afraid it was not as I hoped, even after providing them with a proof, they still refused to cooperate, they won’t be standing in the way either.” Henry said with a frown, remembering the disgraceful and pusillanimous replies he received from other human kings.

The attack he lead on the holy tower was actually a piece of cake! this was the first proof he had for the rest of the humans, the tower was always protected by the Gods, for it to be easily taken down was a sign that the Gods had abandoned it, as well as the rest of the human lands, he had captured all the priests, took all the books and scrolls, including one weird black book with black pages, and then burned the place to the ground, his soldiers couldn’t sleep that night, thinking that the Gods’ punishment would fall upon their heads like lightening strikes for the unforgivable crime they had committed, but nothing happened in that night, morning came and then another night, and with it the scary contentment that nothing was going to happen to them, for Gods had abandoned not just the tower and the priests, but the entire human lands!

The priests had also admitted, after being driven to the verge of death, that most of the doctrines they had passed as Gods’ wisdom was actually theirs, and that the Gods rarely sent any prophecies. the oldest high priest confessed that, during his entire life, he had only witnessed two prophecies, one about the hybrid girl, and one about the upcoming end of the world.

But even with such testimonies, the human kings refused to believe him, even his own people barely did!

“I don’t think we can blame them; it is hard to let go of a creed you have known your entire life and was passed on for centuries!”

“I understand, but this is about our survival!”

“Well sadly we don’t have more time to waste on trying to convince them! The shadows’ lord recently found out that the dark energy isn’t going to stop at the edges but proceed to the human lands as well, for the light force, and by that, I mean the creation energy, is being retrieved towards the center. “

“How did he find that out?”

“In the hybrid’s dreams.” Rima’s voice was steady even though her mind wasn’t as she confessed the words, she knew that the hybrid was non other than the human king’s sister, she didn’t know much about the man but she knew he loved his family, his reaction however was rather calm and unfazed, as if he didn’t care.

“What would happen to her?!” Henry asked in a monotonous voice, not allowing himself to care more than he should for it would only hurt him more.

“I don’t know exactly, but I don’t think she will make it out of the ceremony alive.” Rima said while shaking her head, obviously sorry for the terrible fate waiting for the poor girl, she had nothing to do with the whole ordeal, yet she was the one who was meant to pay for her mother’s deeds.

If this was any other day, Rima wouldn’t have wasted an effort to save the innocent girl, even though she grew up among monsters, she had set high moral values for herself, and on top of them was seeking justice, however, if the hybrid was spared then all of them would die, including the hybrid herself, she was going to die either ways, her fate was sealed since the day she was born, so why not save the others then?

“I see.” Henry said, trying his hardest to keep his face straight while a slight painful guilt erupted in his heart, especially when he thought back about the young lady he had met in the ball, the frail innocent one who looked like a small fawn in the middle of wolves, he had felt a connection with her that day, a need to protect her and keep her around where his eyes can see her, it was a feeling he had for his mother and sister only, and he wondered why would the strange girl affect him that way, until he learned, later that night, that she was his sister.

But even with that fact in mind, there was nothing he could do about it, for he believed, just like the ice queen, that this was a necessary sacrifice for the greater good, he doubted he would be able to do the same thing with Nara, but he barely knew the hybrid to even consider her a sister!

“What is this ceremony?”

“It is just us, the three lords, drinking the divine blood, once we do, we will gain some kind of resilience against the creation energy and we will be able to step into the human lands, each lord then will transfer this ability, through his blood, to his people!”

“You mean you will feed the entire frozen edge with your blood; can you survive that?” Rima couldn’t help but smile at the genuine concern that flashed in his eyes, even though the man was hard to read, the way he was acting now, so open in front of her, touched her in that untouchable part in her heart!

“No, not the entire empire, just few of my demons, and then each of them will do the same to other demons and so on until every demon has that ability.”

“But it won’t break the curse?!”

“Not exactly! The curse can only be broken from the center!”

“I see, and when is this ceremony?” Henry asked, thinking about the girl, surrounded by three demons drinking her blood, the thought was scary, let alone the experience, and the painful guilt was back, more painful this time!

“Tonight, and then we will march forward, I am here today to have your confirmation, that we will be able to pass your lands safely!”

“No!” Rima tilted her head in question, and the human king quickly explained, “This is our wars as much as it is yours, and we are not going to sit and watch, we will help!”

“But, Henry…”

“My Lady, it is the only way we can have true peace once the war is over! We must fight this war together, either win together, or die together!”

“Together” she said softly, agreeing with him, and surprised even, for she didn’t expect he was willing to be this helpful, the human king, beside the shadows lord whom she wasn’t a big fan of due to his gruesome ways, was the first man to empress her, and one of the very few men whom she found reliable.