Leon's eyes sharpened and his jaw hardened as he looked at Melina. The one servant he had been trying to protect was now standing in a lion's den- a man's room.
But that was not what provoked him the most. It was their closeness and how Melina didn't bother to move away from Albert.
Instead, she just stood there wet...
Wet? Did that mean she had bathed with him or...
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked Melina in a condescending tone, completely ignoring Albert whom he had initially come to see.
He waited patiently for an answer as he stared at her, doing his best to control whatever weird emotion he was feeling currently.
Albert saw how he looked angry but he didn't peg it to be because Leon was not happy seeing her with another man. Instead, he believed he was angry with the maid because she may not have attended to him properly, especially when they looked like this now.
In an attempt to protect her so Leon may not punish her for not doing her job well, Albert tried to divert his attention,
"King Regaleon..." Leon turned to look at him, his eyes still blazing like an inferno. "Forgive my rudeness, I had forgotten we were meant to have a conversation tonight. I hope it isn't too late to do so as there are important things I need to let you know," he said with a smile that reminded Leon of the reason why he was here.
Even at that, his eyes still fell on Melina with curiosity, wondering what she was indeed doing here.
As if understanding what she needed to do, Melina bowed to the two kings before she slowly walked out of the room, feeling Leon's prying gaze still on her.
When she had left, he turned to Albert, "What was she doing here?" he wasn't stupid to not know that Albert didn't entertain having other servants attend to him.
If Melina was in his room, it could mean he had sent for her.
"Attending to me." his answer was curt like it was evident.
Even though Leon didn't know Albert to be the type to take advantage of women, it didn't mean he was fully convinced that the latter had not meant to send Melina here to do his bidding.
Curious, he asked, "I thought you weren't fond of-"
"Shall we head to the courtroom now? I do have a pressing issue to discuss with you." His words only provoked Leon as he believed Albert was hiding something from him because why else would he bring a maid alone to his room?
The Savannah king stretched his hand outward, "Shall we?" he repeated and Leon knowing that matters concerning the war were more important at the moment, sucked in his curiosity and nodded discontentedly, his suspicion towards Albert not mellowing down.
"Fine," he spoke and a few minutes later, they had headed to the courtroom.
Matthew, Leon's second-in-command who had been discussing a few things with the chieftains saw Albert and Leon come in and he immediately dismissed the meeting with the chieftains.
Seeing Matthew's serious expression, Leon tilted his head questioningly at the blond man.
"Your Highness, we've caught some of the villagers who had disobeyed your orders. They were not present at the village square during your coronation." Matthew informed.
It was considered bad luck for such people to exist as they only proved they were not in support of the new king's reign.
"How many of them?"
"Sixteen," Matthew replied.
That was a lot, Leon could not deny. Matthew patiently waited for the king to pass down orders and when he said, "You know what to do with them," Matthew nodded his head and walked out of the room with the chieftains following behind.
When it was only Leon and Albert in the room again, both sat on the plush couch and Albert poured wine into the goblet that stood before him.
"What urgent news did you have to give me?" Leon went straight to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush.
It had better be a reasonable thing Albert had to say because he was aware that what this king had done in his room some minutes ago was just to distract him and he was still certain he had an ulterior motive for having Melina in his room.
Albert looked at him for a while before he spoke, "My troops are on their way."
"What?" Leon didn't expect that. He knew he needed to act fast and attack Vagary before they attacked him but he didn't think Albert would have been sending his soldiers here already. "So fast?"
"It appears you are not aware of the type of person you are warring with. Do not underestimate Dasha, Regaleon. You don't think she would send you a letter of conflict to you before she attacks, do you?" Leon shook his head.
Albert was talking about Princess Dasha, the daughter of the king of Vagary. It appeared she was the one basically in charge of warfare.
"She already attacked a district in my kingdom." he pointed.
"And you still think you should waste any time before attacking her?" Albert posed a question as he sipped from the goblet.
The way he spoke was as if it was Dasha who ruled the kingdom.
Noticing Albert's expression, Leon's eyes narrowed at him, "Don't you think it is too quick to just attack? What if they have something up their sleeves?" Leon said, remembering the message the messenger had conveyed that day.
"The only thing they have up their sleeve is Dasha, King Regaleon. She is very dangerous and I have yet to find out what gives her the guts to simply attack a powerful kingdom however she deems fit."
Leon raised a brow at his words, wondering what kind of danger a mere woman would have that even Albert couldn't figure out so easily.
"Have you seen her before?" Leon asked. Maybe seeing her up close could explain why she was risky.
"No, but I have heard of her and the few who managed to see her didn't live to tell the story."
Leon's eyes slightly widened at that statement. What did that mean?
He stood up from where he sat and went to stand in front of a drawer where most of his parchments lay. After searching for a while, he found the one that spoke about Princess Dasha.
It read,
'Princess Dasha.
Daughter of King Daniel Macron of Vagary.
Conqueror of twenty-nine powerful kingdoms.'
"Twenty-nine powerful kingdoms?" he turned to Albert who still sat looking at him. "She conquered twenty-nine powerful kingdoms," he informed and Albert just nodded.
"She would make your kingdom the thirtieth if you don't act fast." It came more like a threat from Albert and all the while they spoke, Leon noted how Albert never spoke of his own kingdom getting attacked.
"You don't fear she might attack your kingdom?" he voiced out his curiosity and Albert laughed.
"Oh...she wouldn't dare. She should be smart enough to know she cannot conquer Savannah." his words sounded so confident like he had nothing to fear for.
Leon didn't think much about it. Whatever happened to his kingdom was thoroughly his business especially since he was the type to never receive help from his allies.
He turned to the parchment again and read through about Dasha again,
'Had never been defeated in any war before.
Never once retreated her army back to their base.'
The more Leon read, the more his eyes narrowed. How had he not heard much about this woman? It seemed like she was only coming to light now.
He rubbed his temples and sweat pulled from his forehead. If Princess Dasha got to attack his kingdom first, then he was certain a lot of villagers would suffer. It would be utterly brutal.
"That reminds me. What about Kilgharrah?" Albert suddenly asked him and he took note of how Leon didn't seem interested in that topic but the man replied anyway.
"She's still six feet below." his words had Albert burst out laughing.
"By that, you mean dead or alive?"
"Alive," he replied and Albert looked stunned.
"Still didn't find a way to kill her?" that thing had been locked down there for years.
"No."
"That's not good," Albert said looking disturbed as he rubbed his chin.
"Since when did you start caring about her?" Leon asked with his eyes still glued to the parchment, reading more about the princess.
Kilgharrah had been down there for years now. And even with the numerous times, Albert had come to visit his kingdom, the man never asked about her. So why now?
"The priest is still working on spells to kill her. My father already assured me she would not be able to escape her confinement and in a few more years from now, she should be dead. She is old already." Albert hummed mockingly at Leon's words.
"That is what all your ancestors kept telling their descendants and still, she is not dead." Albert indicated with a grim expression.
His comment only had Leon sighing in exasperation.
Kilgharrah was the least of Leon's problems at the moment. He had nothing to bother about when it came to the creature as she had been locked up there for years.
"Thank you for your support, King Albert Milan. I am truly grateful." he paused and saw Albert shake his head like it was nothing.
However, Leon was no fool to not know that Albert was going to ask for something in return. It was the normal tradition and he didn't find it awkward if this king wanted something back for his kindness so he asked,
"What do I owe you?" his face now became serious.
Albert smiled at his question. A creepy smile that smelt of mischief and he knew what Albert was going to ask him for could be something he couldn't give.
He raised a brow at him, waiting for his response when he heard,
"Your sister is very attractive." Albert sipped from his goblet as he said those words and he saw Leon glare daggers at him, his eyes turning sharp with barely contained anger.