"The king is dead," Artemis alerted Alexander just as she got the news from one of her pets. She was summoning Chaos back to the forest for him to give her a better run down of what had exactly happened. She was planning to be the one to kill him but Chaos had done it himself. She wasn't sure she should applaud or punish him for the alterations he made in her plans.
Alexander on the other hand was stunned to hear that Darius had died. He had not left Artemis's side so who had been the one brave enough to kill the king? "How did he die?" Alexander questioned Artemis. Did she have a hand in this or had the other people he plotted with gone ahead without him and killed the king?
"Would you believe me if I say it was his own flesh and blood who had to strike him down? Your future wife is quite the liar," Artemis revealed the king's killer to Alexander.
"Catherine killed her brother?" Alexander replied in disbelief. Out of everyone he would have expected to be the king's killer, Catherine was not one of the suspects. "Are you certain it was Catherine who killed him?"
Artemis felt a little annoyed Alexander didn't believe her word and was not believing the princess could have evil intentions toward her brother. She knew plenty of stories of siblings killing one another to get what they want. "Yes, I am certain it was the princess who technically killed the king but the guards are thinking it was only a creature who did it. They are technically being deceived."
"What do you mean technically? Did she have some help in it?" Artemis made it sound like there was a loophole in the king's death to Alexander.
"I told you, I had someone close to the king. The lovely princess that you think can do no wrong made a deal with them. Family means nothing a lot of times when the person is desperate to obtain something. Chaos will tell you," Artemis stated as she saw Chaos appear out of the corner of her eye. "Chaos, who was the person to last make a deal with you to get something they desired?"
"That would be the princess, mistress," Chaos replied.
"And who was the one to harm the king?" Artemis continued to ask since Alexander doubted what she said.
"That would be the princess, mistress," Chaos replied again.
"What was the reason she made the deal with you?" Artemis asked, keeping direct eye contact with Alexander.
"She wanted to become queen and the man before you is the one she wanted to become her king," Chaos answered with a smirk. Now that he had killed the king, there was no use for Artemis to keep this human man here. Chaos would have fun torturing Alexander or perhaps making him be the one to kill the princess. Such a perfect ending to the girl's love life.
"He follows you which means you ordered him to use the princess-"
"Actually," Chaos interrupted Alexander before he could give all the credit to Artemis for messing with the princess and the king's death. "I was the one to decide to use the princess after I noticed the desire to be queen growing inside of her. Just like I told the princess, I only used the emotions she already built up and helped her act upon them. Artemis had nothing to do with that."
"No need to explain anything Chaos. I will always be the one to blame in the eyes of humans. Did you not agree to help me kill the king because it was something you were planning all along? Why are you not satisfied with the outcome? The king is dead just like we wanted. Is it because the princess is involved that you are upset?" Artemis asked. Many times he made it sound like he did not care for the princess. Why now was he suddenly coming to her defense?
"I am not upset Artemis, just in disbelief that Catherine would want to kill her brother to become queen. There were no signs that she could do such a thing. What is the story she told the guards who found the king?" Alexander was still trying to process that Catherine killed Darius but he had to move on. Since Catherine was the one to kill her brother, if anyone were to ever find out, she would be imprisoned and the kingdom would be left without a ruler.
In the plan Alexander had with some of the people in the palace when the king died, Catherine would have taken on the position of queen until one of the young boys from a relative of the Harlow family came of age. It was to ensure that the kingdom would still belong to a member of the Harlow family instead of taking Catherine's husband's last name who would be a prince of another kingdom to build alliances.
"Are you going to expose the princess or allow her to become queen? She'll have the power to make you her husband?" Artemis reminded Alexander of the marriage he didn't want.
"How can I get married if I am here with you? Are you planning to take the bracelet off of me now that the king is dead?" Alexander asked since the purpose of her bringing him her was for her to get closer to the king to kill him.
"No, I don't plan on taking it off but I will allow you to return to the palace."