The Blood King's Bride
Chapter Eighty Three

The Kingdom of Pres.

The King's castle...

"Our king has been missing for three months now." Côtan Loki, the duke and the closest

advisor to the king stated. He talked to the group of politicians who had joined him in a secret place to discuss how to save their Kingdom. The past few months have been hell for the people of Pres. They felt they had defeated the Allikans once they had come out of their stupor, but more Allikans returned, and in less time, they were defeated.

"Are you sure it wasn't on purpose?" One of the ministers asked. "He did sound weird the last we spoke to him."

"No. Our king wouldn't just leave us like that." Côtan Loki stated though a small voice inside him feared it was true.

After he had been brought out of the vile of the evil queen, he was hit with the most

intense feeling of regret he had ever felt in his entire life. He remembered the sad things he did or caused to humiliate their queen. He remembered the little Elena, who he had adored, even though he planned to get his son to marry her so they could have a place in the royal family. He didn't think it was a bad idea at that time. Though he also was little, his son bore a

deep for Elena. He remembered that the king could barely even look at the queen during those times. He was worried, but he didn't speak as it was not his place to. Then he brought a new woman into the castle, one he was perfectly sure he had been seeing outside. He wanted to complain to his king, though in the form of advice, at the improper way he treated his wife when suddenly everything changed.

For some reason, he just didn't like her anymore. Her daughter he hated even the most.

As if it wasn't bad enough when the queen died, he did nothing to help Elena from the dangerous

situations she had found herself cornered with, and he simply removed his gaze whenever he saw

it.

He was a politician. He wasn't as evil as that. Though he didn't have a daughter, he

imagined the same thing he did happening to her. He would have caused the evil being even into the ends of the earth.

His son, Afang Loki, felt much worse. Though he had him hidden in one of the safe

houses in the Kingdom, he knew that when Afang came out of the cursed stupor he was in, something broke inside him. He didn't know what, but he was sure that his bright son would never be the same again.

"What are we going to do now?" Another minister asked. "Most of our soldiers have been vanquished, and no one is willing to go out to face the new batch of Allikans. The first time, we were all fueled by rage. Now, everyone is riding on common sense. We want so badly to be able to defeat this evil, but we can't."

Côtan Loki had thought of this also. No one was willing to risk their lives or the life of

their young ones any longer. They had no saviour, nothing at all. The Kingdom of Neba had been able to defend their city from the attacks of the Allikans. He once thought of asking for their help, but he knew it would be futile after what their Kingdom had done to their princess. Despite all these, what he worried about most was the king. He had a hand in the killing of the only woman he loved. Côtan remembered how he had laboured to allow her family to marry him. He knew he didn't have much then, as he was still battling for power to the throne. But he had loved the girl intensely. He was sure that she was also in love with their king then. Very much painfully in love with him. He wondered how many years she had suffered another wing that her husband spent his time with another woman. She had every reason to leave, to go back to her Kingdom. But she chose to remain behind because she had faith that he would come out of this situation. In the end, she was killed by the very hand she loved.

Their king would be more than devasted; he would be broken. He was sure of it when he

saw the lack of emotion he expressed at the death of the daughter he had spawned with the witch.

He merely even blinked, just grunted. Not only was that kind of attitude scary, Côtan thought

that his king was liable to kill himself. Knowing that the king killed his wife, he knew that he would kill himself. He just didn't know when.

Thinking back to the situation, he sighed, wishing he had brought his nerve balls with him.

"We wait." Côtan said as his reply to the minister. "We all wait."

Somewhere else in the Kingdom of Pres, a woman hid in the forest, alternating from hiding and running. Her goal was the Kingdom of Neba. Though they were also at war as the Kingdom of Pres, they held unto their forte just food enough and haven't allowed any Allikan to step foot into their Kingdom. She planned to find a way to get in and probably start a new life. Beau rage looked no different from the average beggar on the streets for someone who was once known as the queen's niece. Not that she couldn't identify herself with that, as she was once a beggar too. Late Queen Navina had sought her and trained her to be her eyes and ears. She acted as the queen's delegate and spokesperson in situations that called for it. She had enjoyed a fruitful life of wealth and luxury and didn't even care if it was at the expense of the control of her mind. If she ever found herself in the same situation again, she would go for it. She would take the hand Queen Navina had stretched to her- figuratively, as she was too dirty to be touched- again and again.

But this was reality. No one in the Kingdom would want to help her, and with the way the Allikans fought with a vengeance, she doubted they would even listen twice to her plea of having been close to their queen. So she wasn't taking any chance with her life at all.

She heard the sound, and before she could turn to identify what it was, Beau rage was struck with three arrows aimed at her back simultaneously. She fell to the ground in a heap, bleeding over the grassy field and the leaves. She had been shot down by Allikans, who hid in the forest leading to the border Pres shared with Neba. They were placed there and ordered to kill on sight any individual dumb enough to want to seek refuge in their neighbouring kingdom. Beau rage was the first person they had seen and would probably be the last they would see trying to escape.

Before her life drained out of her eyes, her last thought was how she wouldn't see wealth again.

The Kingdom of Neba...

The sounds and cries of war could be heard from the outer walls of the Kingdom. The citizens all cowered in their homes, praying to the heavens that their warriors win the war and that their loved ones who fought came back safely. Since the Kingdom of Pres and Tush were already defeated, the Allikans focused their attention on Neba. They were a bit surprised and a bit annoyed that despite their powers, they were still not able to break into the walls of Neba. It was like the Neba soldiers had somehow found out all the planning techniques they had with how they quickly predicted all their moves. They tried all the attack techniques they had been taught, but the soldiers of Neba always had a counter-attack.

They were a bit fatigued, as most of them had not yet reached the level where tiredness didn't affect them.

But how would they know that one of the people who prepared the battle plan of their enemy was their once formidable leader, Daruki?

The said man stood on a wall in the Kingdom, close to the outer walls where the fight occurred. He knew that the battle was small compared to what awaited them in the future, but they were prepared. The war had been going on for months on end, and each time his soldiers were tired, they were replaced and brought in new ones again. That was easy to accomplish as the fight happened just right before their Kingdom. The Allikan warriors were too occupied trying to break into the city, and they didn't even notice the apparent backup plan that happened right in front of them. Daruki didn't seem surprised about it. He had predicted that the people sent after the kingdoms would be those of the lowest rank in Allika. His prediction turned out to be correct.

"Hey," a voice called out from behind him. Daruki turned back and was a bit surprised to find Wazir with him.

"I thought you were at the war field?"

"I was," Wazir said, standing behind him as he looked out to the field. "I grew tired after

a while. The fight was getting monotonous." He let out a yawn and draped an arm over Daruki.

"I haven't seen Svetlana anywhere." He said.

"She is outside the gate, studying the movements and techniques of the enemy for future references.

"Really?" Wazir exclaimed, looking out to see if he could see her.

"It's futile." Darukï said, stopping his actions. "She blended so well it would be a miracle

should someone see her."

"She is good."

"Hmm." Daruki hummed, pride in his expression.

The both of them looked out at the field in silence. They watched as men fell, blood

flowed, and as people cried and screamed in pain. Some of their men fell, but the same went for

the Allikans. They couldn't react angrily. It was war. People died. But their sacrifices would never be forgotten.

The biggest war that would happen is closer than they ever thought.

"I had a vision." Wazir said, breaking the silence. "The Blood kingdom has mobilized

their army and are headed for the wasteland. They bring with them promises of blood. People would be decapitated. Death would flow like never before. The sky would turn red for days, even after the war, an orgasmic reaction to its favourite dish of bloodshed." Wazir's eyes went hazy as he thought of it. Daruki was staring at him, his eyes sharp.

"Then that means the grand finale is closer than ever." He took in a deep breath and

looked at the sky. "It would all soon be over."

"Yeah, more than you think." Wazir replied, his expression grim. "I have shared this news already with my father. He thinks, no, he knows that we would win this war. I wish I could share the same faith as him though. I can't help my cynical behavior." Daruki chuckled. "I can't blame you. You have visions that show you possible future outcomes. Someone like you is bound to be expecting something bad to happen." "Yeah." Wazir said, smiling. "But even if I do not have faith, I believe in my niece. She has a huge role to play in this war. I just don't know what it is yet."

"I understand you. I also understand your fear." Daruki turned to look out into the field. "Even though my daughter is as powerful as she is, and even though she can defend herself, I still can't stop myself from worrying about her."

Darukï then turned to face Wazir. "But one thing you should know is that your niece has been called for a reason. You have every right to worry, but you should also know there is a particular job only she can do. Only she has the power to turn this war in our favour. Trust her. Believe in Elena, and we will all win this war."