'What the hell is wrong with you people!?'
The sound of breaking glass was heard along with a few heavy metallic clangs. Things were being thrown here and there and with such force that they were apparently breaking. In the darkroom, with only a candle with its dim light, only three people were visible in the room two boys and a girl.
'We're sorry your majesty, we took the wrong kids by mistake.' Kaelan spoke from the darkness, his figure dimmer, with his head held down...
'Sorry? Sorry? Do you think your sorry would actually fix anything? And Renata, how could you do this? You knew how much this actually means to me and yet you make this mistake! How could you be so stupid?'
Renata just stood there in disbelief.
'It's not my fault both the boy and the girl had the mark of the Zia, Kage, and if you don't know the Sangre's blood worked as well.'
The person named Kage ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
'You very well knew children from the kingdom of Licht have the mark of the Zia sometimes and as for the Sangre's blood, any child from our Gardien has the ability to do that. We choose a special child and call him Sangre because he or she is unfit to fulfil his responsibility as a part of the Schatten Gardien!'
'How was I supposed to know that!?' Renata was exasperated.
'You are supposed to know that!' Kage spat back, 'You're the princess for Schatten's sake! It is your responsibility to know that!'
'I can't believe you're pinning this on me when Kaelan was there too.'
'I am not pinning anything on you, Renata, but you were the leader in this mission, and Kaelan was under your orders.' Kage ran a hand through his hair again before turning to Kaelan, 'And Kaelan, I must say I am very much disappointed in you. I specifically ordered you to use your own discretion in case Renata did something stupid. You're the commander of the vampire forces, Kaelan, how could you allow this.'
'I tried, your majesty,' Kaelan explained, his head still held down, 'but her majesty didn't allow me to take charge of the mission. I tried to warn her about the same thing before we appeared here.'
Renata gave Kaelan such a deadly glare Kage was surprised not to see Kaelan recoil.
'Yes, pin everything on the girl, why don't you?' she demanded.
'I'm sorry your majesty, it is never my intention to insult you.'
The things you do for love. Kage sighed internally.
Love was very much the thing that had driven him to do this thing today.
'Kaelan' Kage let out after a long sigh, 'your services are admirable. You may return to your quarters now. I shall summon you when we require your services again. Take some rest for the night now. Besides the vampire army misses their commander.'
'Yeah, get out!' Renata spat.
Kaelan bowed.
'As you wish, your majesties,' Kaelan faded further into the shadows until he had completely disappeared.
Kaelan sank back in a chair beside the fireplace as he held his face in his hands. Renata's eyes softened as she saw her brother's condition and sat opposite him.
'It's alright Kage, we will be able to find your Zia, as Kaelan had told me before, and a Zia comes of age every hundred years. Who knows, maybe your Zia is not born yet?'
'I am not worried about that.' Kage explained as he wiped away his tears.
Renata's eyebrows furrowed.
'What are you talking about? If you are not worried about the Zia then what is the problem?'
'I'm worried about the girl, Renata. Who would have known the girl was worth so much trouble?'
'I don't understand.' Renata frowned.
Kage sighed as he sank back into the chair thinking about the events that had taken place over the last few days. It had been a whole lot of hustle for everyone indeed. Finley was already dead before he had reached the world of Schatten. Damien, the twin with the mark of the Zia who had managed to pass into the kingdom of Schatten was immediately eaten up by wolves in his attempt to run away.
But his worst fear was about Allen.
Someone had told her that she was about to marry Kage, who would have announced the marriage in a ball held in her honour, one week before the marriage would take place. On the evening of the ball, Allen had been found hanging from the ceiling with a note saying that she would rather die than be the bride of her brother's enemy.
And that line was what had got him into trouble.
'You remember her suicide note, right?'
'Of course, I do. I was the one who found it.'
'I did some digging behind that note as to who did she mean by her brother. It was Elior.'
'Elior? You mean Elior, the crown prince of Licht?' Renata managed.
'Yes, Elior the crown prince of Licht. Apparently, Allen was his little sister. He already hates us because he thinks the crown to Schatten is rightfully his as well. I wonder what will happen when he finds out we have murdered his sister.'
'We did not murder his sister,' Renata corrected him, in the hopes of changing the topic, 'she was the one who killed his sister. How in the world did you know about her being Elior's sister?'
'Being the bride of her brother's enemy. As far as I know, the only enemies I have are in the kingdom of Licht. The most formidable of them, Elior.
And then I asked Chrysantha and Ethan to do some digging behind her and voila, the facts spewed out her relation.'
'So have you told him yet?'
Kage shook his head.
'Not yet. But I don't think it will be long before he finds out what happened to his sister. The news has spread all over Schatten. it is only a matter of time before the news reaches Licht.'
Before Renata could say something else to console her brother, a voice rang out.
'I DON'T CARE IF HE IS RESTING, YOU BASTARDS! ASK YOUR MURDERER OF A PRINCE TO COME MEET ME IF HE HAS THE GUTS TO. KAGE SCHATTEN, YOU MOTHERFUCKER, COME FACE ME!'
Kage sighed. He always hated how the voice of someone wanting to meet him would directly reach his room.
Renata just glanced at her brother's tired figure.
'What are you gonna do?'
'Face him, I guess. He deserves a meeting with me after what has happened. It's the least I can do. Otherwise what type of future king am I?'
'You are too good for your own good.' Renata commented as he opened the door.
Kage chuckled half-heartedly.
'I know.'
'KAGE, YOU BASTARD, I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION!' Elior's voice boomed as soon as Kage entered his study. The guards had done a smart job of sending Elior to Kage's office, knowing that he would not back down before talking to him.
'Elior, I can explain.' Kage calmly said, 'Take a seat. We can talk.'
'I am not here to talk, Schatten.' he spat bitterly, 'I want to know how dare you to murder my sister?'
'I did not murder her. She committed suicide.' Kage calmly replied.
It was this calm tone that angered him all the more.
'You were the one who drove her suicide!' Elior accused.
'I did, I must admit, but little did I know she was your sister.' Kage reasoned.
'That is no reason. What if it was some other girl, What if it was me in your place? And your sister instead of mine. What if I had forced Renata to be my bride, just like you had forced my sister to be yours? Don't think I don't know the details, Schatten. The maids know each and every single thing and they love to gossip, no matter which the person listening to them is.'
No sooner had Elior had finished his long monologue than he found himself pinned against the wall with Kage's fingers wrapped around his throat. The fingers were closing in on his throat, cutting off Elior's air supply slowly. Kage was a figure of burning rage now. His shoulders heaved up and down in anger, while his eyes were now the colour of a reddish violet flame with snake-like slits as pupils.
Elior smirked.
'You're so pathetic Schatten. Not gonna lie, you were always this pathetic and selfish. Always thinking of your own self. You couldn't even tolerate me speaking about driving your sister to suicide. Did you even think of what you did to me when I actually found out what you had done to my sister?'
Kage's fingers kept on closing around his throat. Elior struggled to breathe.
'You're a pathetic crown prince, Kage, and you will be a pathetic king. Curse you, Kage Schatten, I curse you and your sister and all those who come after you. If I ever forgive you, may a curse come upon my own family. I will make sure, my curse tortures you to the very core and even more your sister.' He managed to choke out.
Kage's fingers closed completely. Elior stopped speaking.
'Kage, what have you done?'
The voice brought him back to reality. His eyes were now a normal shade of dark violet and his pupils were no longer slits. When he looked around, he saw Renata standing at the door with a horrified look on her face. Her eyes were stuck on the body of Elior that now lay slumped against the wall, his face blue, with the ghost of his smirk still plastered on his face.
Kage stumbled backwards as soon as he had realized he had done. Before he fell down, Renata had caught him.
'I-I'm a murderer Renata.'
'Shhhh, no you're not a murderer, it's alright, I heard everything, it's fine.'
'But Renata.'
'Shut up. You didn't say anything, I didn't hear anything. Come on, I'll ask someone to make some soup for you. You need to rest.'
Renata led Kage out of the room. On the way, she met one of the guards.
'Get rid of the body in the study, and if you speak a word about this to anyone I'll make sure I'll get rid of yours.'
'Yes, your majesty.'