213 Chapter 213 : Suspicion
Damien jolted upright and glared at the woman whose wrist was secured in his hand. Who was she? Where was he? What had happened?! The last thing Damien could remember was him being captured by the mages, searing pain and his mother.. his mother!
“Who or what are you?” Damien asked in a strained tone. He looked physically tired and drained, his body being possessed had taken a huge tow on him but his grip was iron clad.
Aiden rushed to Damien and tried to pull his arm away from Melissa but he was pushed away and Melissa pulled into a chokehold, her back on his chest and his hand around her neck. “Stay away! Who the hell are you people?! Where is my mother?!”
“Damien wait! Please listen!” Aiden tried to plead with his son
The hybrid growled and tightened his grip on Melissa’s neck making her squeal. “Stay back or she dies!”
Aiden put his hands in front of him urging his son to calm down, “now now Damien, you don’t want to do that. This is all big misunderstanding, we’re your allies, your family..”
The nosferatu prince understood why his son was acting so erratic, he had experienced an out of body experience and then woke up in some strange place with people he didn’t know. He was probably scared and confused.
“Damien please, you were hurt we’re only trying to-”
“Enough! I asked you a question, where is my mother?! Are you working with the mages?! Are you trying to take over my body?!”
.....
Estel who had been on her way to the tent to bring Aiden some food heard the ruckus from within and rushed towards the tent. When she pried the flap open, her breath hitched seeing Damien holding Melissa hostage.
“Damien! What on earth are you doing?!” Estel shrieked in horror.
The young hybrid looked up at his mother and sighed in relief, he was so afraid that she had been captured or hurt by the mages and he had failed her, seeing her standing there brought peace to his heart.
“Let her go Damien she’s pregnant!” Estel rushed to her son and pried his hand away from Melissa’s throat and helped her move away from the delirious man. She inspected her neck worriedly and was glad that she had not sustained any serious injuries.
“Mother what’s going on?..” now he felt even more confused than before, who were these people? And what in the world was going on here?!
*
Prince Clovis woke up with a start and was surprised to find himself on his furs in his tent, the last thing he remembered was having a blade against his throat and then suddenly everything went black.
He turned his head to the side, wincing at the pain he was feeling at the back of his skull, and noticed king Dvalin sitting on the floor beside him with his legs crisscrossed. He must have been the one who knocked him over the head, but why would he do that?
“If you think I will apologize for almost bashing your head in you’re mistaken,” Dvalin spoke in an intimidating tone. It was clear that he was a stubborn man who heeded to no one, Clovis understand where Julia.. umm Darla got her stubbornness from.
Clovis pushed himself upward and turned to face the man completely, his hand went to the back of his head and he hissed in pain, what in the world had this old dwarve hit him with?
“Now about my daughter..” Dvalin began to speak, he had an irrited almost angry look on his face. “What did you mean when you said you loved her? Who gives you the right lycan?”
In as much as Clovis knew that pushing this man would earn him another knock upside the head, he had to stand his ground around him. Being governor, the silver haired prince had dealt with people of different character and knew how to handle them all, including people like Dvalin. Give this man a chance to walk all over you and he would turn you into a floor rag.
“I meant exactly that,” Clovis responded. His voice was subtle but firm, this was a game of male dominance, and his lycan instincts were itching to assert it. This was his mate they were talking about, and no one could pull her from his side, not even her father. “You were worried she would be harmed or she was being kept prisoner right? Well I’m assuring you that your daughter is living like a princess, as she should.”
Dvalin furrowed his think bushy eyebrows at the silver haired lycan, how dare this boy talk about his daughter in such a demeaning way? Darla only deserved the best man, someone from their own kind, a strong dwarvish warrior who would protect her and care for her, not some pretty boy prince.
“As a matter of fact, she will be treated like a queen once I return to Meria,” Clovis explained further, “she is after all going to be the wife of the next in line for the throne.”
The slight growl that escaped Dvalin’s lips made Clovis smile, when the dwarve king rose to his feet, Clovis quickly moved from his furs and placed his claws against the man’s neck. “Now now my dear future father in law, we don’t want to do anything hasty now do we? Do you know how heartbroken your daughter will be if you harm me? She will absolutely loathe you.”
Dvalin gulped and drew in a breath, this lycan was quick, and to his utter surprise, he seemed not to be intimidated by him. Maybe this lycan was not just another pretty face.
“Now if you please..” Clovis retracted his claws and took a step back. “Can we sit down and talk like civilized men? You may not believe it now, but I would love for you to meet your beautiful daughter.” The prince sat down on his furs and reached for the jag of wine and cups beside him. “Let us speak about traveling back to Meria together, I’m sure you want to reunite with her as soon as possible.”
*
Damien cupped his now throbbing head in his hands and groaned. All this information that was being offloaded to him at the same time was so overwhelming it was giving him a headache. So the woman he had almost taken as a hostage was his aunt, and the man beside her was his father Aiden... and apparently, his mother had two younger brothers of which one was the father to the child his aunt was carrying... so his aunt and his uncle were in love? Damien groaned a second time.
“And the mages?” He asked in a tired voice, “what did you say happened to them?”
“After their leader possessed your body he attacked us,” Aiden responded, “obviously in a pathetic attempt to see the extent to which he could harness your power, but he failed and all the allies he came with were slaughtered.”
Damien nodded slowly, “and you’re sure non of the mages remain?”
“That we are not sure of.” Gareth was the one who had responded, he was sitting next to Melissa and was giving Damien a murderous glare from the moment he had arrived in the tent. Sure this young man was his nephew, but he had tried to harm Melissa and it would take Gareth some time to get over that without an apology. When he had sensed Melissa was in danger, something that had surprised him of course, he had rushed to the tent and found the beautiful redhead coughing hysterically, he had seen Aiden and Estel trying to hold Damien down and immediately knew who had hurt her.
Long story short, Gareth had tried to knock Damien back into a state of unconsciousness, luckily Finwe and Aiden had managed to calm him down... for now.
“Do you think the mages will try something again?” Finwe asked again while relentlessly starting his sister down. He was completely shaken by how she resembled their mother, and to think he thought he would never get the chance to see her again.
Finwe took another sip of his wine before finally being able to pull his gaze away from Estel, “I mean aren’t they practically just fleamsy humans without their so called master?”
“I’m not sure but we can never be too careful,” Damien responded. He looked to Gareth who was still staring daggers at him before clearing his throat nervously, gods, the outside world was so unsettling.
“Maybe you can consult with Renly?” Gareth asked the nosferatu prince, “we worked as one of the mages before this didn’t he? And from what the mysterious mage of the rocks said, Renly could be the son of this so called master.”
“Do you think he can be dangerous?” Finwe asked, “I mean if he is the son of the man who wanted our kind dead, could there be a possibility that he would follow his footsteps?”
A silence filled the room while all eyes fell on Aiden. The nosferatu prince sighed, they did have a reason for concern, but Renly wasn’t like that, well at the least he didn’t seem like the type... right?
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om