It was midnight and there was no moon in the sky. Everywhere was dark, except for a few lamps that were lighted to provide light for the guards to patrol. It felt a bit eerie.
Leland had just entered Riga's territory and went to the palace to check whether Sophie and her children were at Nicholas' palace or not. In addition, he also wanted to find information about the witches and wizards in the palace.
Sophie had told him that Nicholas and his family had a very complete library and they had a collection of books from ancient times in a special section. That's where Nicholas got the book that had information about how to cure lycanthropy using wolfsbane.
Leland darted around and searched every part of the palace. His movements were swift and he went up and down the palace to search for the library. Finally, he found the place he was looking for after he quickly studied the layout of the property.
The only person who could possibly hear his movement was the king, and Leland was sure Nicholas was asleep at this hour. Also, it helped that Leland could mask his scent so that he wouldn't leave a trace once he left tomorrow. Nobody would ever know what went on.
No guards noticed his presence. There was nobody around when he slid inside the library. This part of the palace was not a place that received special security. Unlike the king's and queen's quarters. Leland could easily explore the library to find the books he needed.
For a moment he was silent looking at the entire shelf containing hundreds of books, maybe even thousands. He had to go through the books one by one.
Actually, he could have saved time by asking and having the librarian who was sleeping nearby tell him about the book containing information about witches. However, he couldn't take the risk of letting Nicholas or Sophie know he came here.
If he threatened the librarian then the guard would report after he left. If he killed the guard after the guard had given him the information he needed, then the case of his death would be investigated.
Leland approached a shelf and began to examine the books that were there. He chose a book which cover and appearance looked very old.
After two hours of searching, he finally found some books about witches. Leland then brought the books to the table and read them there carefully.
In the first book, he read the history of the great war between the kingdom of Riga and the werewolves several decades ago. The book mentioned that the kingdom got help from a powerful wizard named Radomir to defeat the werewolves in war.
In the second book, Radomir's name was also mentioned but this time he was referred to as the culprit of the long war that caused many casualties in the human and werewolf camps.
Radomir was a very powerful wizard who provided support to those who pay for them. He created and gave various magical artifacts to both parties who were willing to pay the price and by using these items both parties knock each other down.
Leland's eyes opened a little wider when he read a paragraph that told about the time when Radomir gave a stone to an Alpha and told him to break the stone if he wanted to win the war. Right after the Alpha broke the stone, the enemy king who was winning the war was suddenly killed.
Leland turned to the next page but there was no further information about the stone even though his hunch told him that the stone that the Alpha had broken was a soul stone. Perhaps, Radomir stole the king's soul, put it in the soul stone, and gave it to the Alpha who paid the price.
This meant Radomir was a wizard who was more powerful than Eloise because he could steal a powerful warrior's soul and keep it in the soul stone. The king was not a weak man. He led his knights and soldiers in battles to fight werewolves and they could defend themselves against the lycan's aggression for years.
So, the king was definitely quite formidable. Yet... Radomir could touch him and steal his soul to sell it to his enemy. Thinking about this made Leland shudder. Radomir must be a really powerful wizard. He wondered if Radomir was still alive, could the wizard do the same thing to him?
Leland remembered Eloise admitted that the reason she touched the babies and not Sophie was because it was really difficult to do and she was not powerful enough to steal other people's souls.
Reading about this wizard made Leland feel a glimmer of hope. Eloise was not the stronger magic user on this continent. Decades ago, a person called Radomir was around he was so much more powerful than Eloise, and his affiliation was only money.
If Leland could find him and ask his help to subdue Eloise and take back Anne's soul stone, he would pay whatever price Radomir asked. He was very wealthy. He would give Radomir all his worldly possession in exchange for his help. And if it's not enough, he would work hard and obtain more wealth. He would do anything for his dear Anne.
He looked for more information about Radomir but couldn't find it in the same book. The man seemed to disappear mysteriously after the war ended between the lycans and humans which ended up with the death of the werewolf king, King Malachi, the king of Riga.
"King Malachi was..." Leland narrowed his eyes. "Anne's father."
The lycans's royalty crumbled after the last great war between their race and humans. The tribes were divided into several big packs after the king died and Anne, who was the werewolf king's daughter who was a little girl at that time was taken in by an Alpha who raised her together with his own son who later became the next Alpha of Blood River Pack.
Reading history from a human's perspective like this made Leland think about their own history. Lycans passed down their stories and history through oral.
They shared them through stories and songs. Maybe facts were not conveyed properly because the people didn't have good enough memory to retain all the information. Leland didn't even know the detail about the last great war and how Sophie's grandfather died. It didn't even mention her grandmother.
Ahh... he realized maybe humans knew better how they could preserve history accuracy by writing the facts in books, like what he was reading now. Leland was determined to pay more attention to literature when he became the supreme leader of all the lycans in Riga.
At the moment, he had no time to think about those things. He only needed to find more information about magic users around here that he could ask for help.
His priority was Sophie and their children. Right now, Anne was in danger. Leland must make sure he could save her no matter what price he must pay. If Radomir was still alive, he would make Radomir help him.
If Radomir was dead, Leland must find his descendants who must have inherited his power or his knowledge.
There was no more information about Radomir, except that he originated from a port city on the south end of the continent. So, maybe he could go there to look for clues?
Leland paused for a moment near a big marble pillar and recalled all the information he had read in the books earlier. He had made up his mind to pursue this lead to find Radomir or his descendants.
So, what about Eloise? It's true that she threatened him with his daughter's safety, but if Leland was not around, how could she threaten him? As she had stated, it was in her best interest to keep Anne alive.
She would probably wait until Leland show up before she would proceed with her threat, and if she did that, she could be sure that she was as good as dead. Leland would never forgive her.
So, Leland would make her wait.
The Alpha walked with light steps toward the guest bedroom where Sophie was sleeping with their children. He could smell her scent from that place. He couldn't wait to see her.
Before leaving to look for Radomir, Leland wanted to meet and see his children up close. He also wanted to feed little Jack with the soul stone to get him to recover.
The sound of night insects filled the silence of the night. Leland made very careful steps to approach Anne and Jack's baby box. Every now and then his eyes glanced at Sophie who was sleeping on the bed with Luciel and Jan.
When he arrived near the baby box, Leland saw Jack and Anne sleeping under the warm blue blanket.
The two pups slept very soundly because of the effect of the medicine given by the doctor.
Leland lifted Anne slowly and then kissed her gently. He hugged her and hummed a lullaby for her without a sound.
He had been waiting for the birth of his two children for years. He never imagined that after they came, he would have to leave them like this. Leland took a deep breath.
"This won't be long," he told himself. "I will be back as soon as possible."
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.
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From Missrealitybites:
Do you prefer Sophie to live in the royal palace with the kids and Nicholas, or should she insist to open her tavern and be independent?
1. No, give Nicholas a chance to get close to her and make up for everything that happened in the past.
2. It's about time Sophie live her dream to open her own tavern.
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