Gertrude poured tea into Zemira's cup while the other servants served the others wine.
"That was quite a lovely game of pall mall, if you ask me" Gertrude gave a slight smile then she held Zemira's shoulder, "Well done, my lady" she said and Zemira smiled, "His majesty and I make a very good team" she said and Soteria smiled, then she turned to Noelle, "I have her majesty to thank for that. If she had not suggested a partner switch, I would have lost".
Noelle looked at her, "How do you know I suggested it?" "His majesty will not suggest something that will take him away from his queen. He wanted to play with you, but you wanted to play with Cassian" Zemira smirked. "So you ended up on the losing team. I believe our game has taught us all a very valuable lesson".
Soteria looked at Cassian who was looking at Noelle. Zemira had started a topic she should have never started. Noelle got up, "Please excuse me, I have to use the powder room" she and left.
Soteria was about to follow her, but Cassian beat him to it. Zemira sighed and continued eating.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Noelle pushed down some books in the library, as tears rolled down her face. Cassian strolled in, "Your highness" he sighed as he held her hand before she could push down anymore books.
"She is mocking me! She is laughing at me that she got you while I am left with nothing" Noelle cried. "Your highness, you have everything. You have a man who adores you so much, you have a son who loves to show you what he has learnt everyday. What more could you ask for?" Cassian asked and she gently placed her hand on his chest, "But I want you".
"I want you" Cassian remembered Nola had said those exact words the first time they slept with each other. He moved back and Noelle cleaned her eyes.
"I apologize, your highness, but I am a married man" he said as he bowed. Noelle pushed down more books, "Can you please stop calling me that?!" she screamed. Some of the books hit him but he kept his head down. "Can you stop acting polite around me?"
"You are the queen, I must respect you" "Do not respect me!" "I can not do that" "I order you to not respect me! I want you to call me by my name and shout at me just like the times we were friends and betrothed". "Those times are gone".
She walked up to him and raised his head up, "We can bring them back! You and I, we can run away and be together" she said and he sighed, "Your highness, I do not love you" he said softly.
She let go of his face and moved back then she wiped the tear which had slipped from my eye, "Is it her that you love now?" she asked "I do not know whom you speak of" "Zemira! Do you love her or not?" she asked and he looked away.
"You know I have only loved one woman...and that is Nola" he said. Noelle walked closer to him then she threw herself into his arms, "Your highness?!" Cassian wrapped his hands around her waist to keep her from falling.
"This is wrong!" "Kiss me!" she said and he was taken aback, "You are married to my friend! I can not betray him!" "Kiss me if you are not in love with that pregnant woman!" she said and pursed her lips, "If you do not kiss me, I will know that you have fallen out of love for Nola".
Cassian tried to push her away but she kept her body pressed to his, "Kiss me!" she said as she moved her lips up to his. Before she could kiss him, he pushed her.
"Noelle stop!" he yelled and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath to control the anger that was almost out in him. He opened his eyes, "Why do you have to make everything so difficult?" he cocked his head at her. "I love you" she whimpered.
"Well stop loving me! Love your son! Love your husband! Do you know how much Soteria loves you?" "I do not care! You are the one I love!" "You better stop this madness before you create a scandal! Do not be in love with me. If you can not control yourself around me, stay away from me! I have a wife who is with my unborn baby" he said and walked out of the study.
Noelle covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Tears fell out uncontrollably from her eyes as she held the scream bubbling in her throat.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Zemira and Cassian bowed, "Have a safe trip, your majesties" Cassian sighed and Soteria smiled, "Thank you for being such a sport at our game" he said and looked at Noelle, "Shall we go, my queen?" he asked. Noelle's light blues moved to Cassian's grey ones then she looked at Soteria who had stretched out the crook of his elbow to her.
"Of course" she gave a fake smile and slipped her arm in. Soteria smiled at Zemira, "I wish you a safe delivery, Lady Cobain" she smiled, "I have been meaning to correct you, your majesty, it is Lady Monterey. I am the viscountess of Damodar, I should bear the family name".
Soteria smiled, "I shall keep that in mind and try my best to prevent future mistakes" he said and she nodded.
Soteria caressed Noelle's hand and she forced a smile, then they started walking. Soteria had told the horseman to wait for them at the gate. He wanted to have a stroll with his queen.
"Why did you tell the rider to wait at the gate? My legs are quite sore from today's game" Noelle looked at Soteria. "I am sorry, I just wanted to walk with you" he smiled and she shrugged.
"When I am bold enough, I will tell him every single day that I love him" Soteria remembered Zemira's words. He clenched his fist and cleared his throat, "I love you" he said and her hand slipped out of his crook and she stopped walking while he continued but then he noticed her hand was not in his crook.
He stopped and turned back, "What is the matter, my queen?" he asked and she looked at him, "What?" Soteria cleared his throat again, "I said I love you". "I know what you said. Why are you saying it?" she asked and he walked to her then he took her hand in his, "Because I love you, Noelle. I love you and you must know that" he said and his hands went to her shoulders.
"I have loved you from the very first day that we met and I have never stopped loving you. You may not love me..." he chuckled and her eyes widened. He found that attractive. "I am not much of a fool, as you think" he smiled and cleared his throat, "As I was saying, you may not love me, but I will keep on loving you till my last breath" his hands moved up to her face.
"Even in death, I will keep on loving you" his hands traced her jawline and she shuddered. "That being said, I will tell you everytime I see you in the morning, everytime I see you looking beautiful----and you always look beautiful----before you sleep at night, I will tell you. I will tell you that I love you" he tilted his head to get closer to her lips which were slightly parted.
His nose gently teased hers and he let out soft breaths against her face. She sucked in a breath and subconsciously closed her eyes. "And after I tell you that I love you...I will do this" he leaned closer and their lips jammed.
Their lips stood firm under each other's, but then Soteria started moving his lips against Noelle's, slowly. He pulled her closer till there was no space between them. He gently bit her lower lip and a pleasurable sigh escaped her lips. He used that opportunity and slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Tongues grinded against each other. Noelle's hands went to his elbow, pulling him closer...if that was possible. Soteria bent his head more to get a deeper taste of the woman in his arms.
Zemira smiled as she watched them from her window. "What is it that is making you smile so much?" Cassian asked as he walked to her, then he saw what she was looking at.
"Do you love Nola as much as the king loves the queen?" Zemira asked and Cassian looked at her, "More than you could imagine" he turned back to the couple kissing passionately on his pavement.
Soteria slightly raised his lips from Noelle's and when he felt her lips hitting his several times, he knew she was craving more and that she was also standing on her toes to kiss him.
He chuckled and opened his eyes then she opened hers. He fell in love with her again as she opened her eyes. It was her eyes that first drew him to her.
"What amuses you?" she asked as she tried to steady her breathing. He shook his head and smiled, "Nothing, my queen" then he let go of her face and slipped her arm in the crook of his elbow, "Shall we continue our walk?" he asked and she nodded.
Noelle's hand subconsciously made its way to her lips and she slightly rubbed them. Soteria caught her and his eyes darkened. If she kept on doing that, he might not care if they were in Cassian's compound, he will take her on the wall closest to him.
"Reminiscing about the kiss, are we?" he chuckled and she looked at him then she looked away, her hand on her pink cheek.
Cassian sighed and was walking away but Zemira turned and said, "I do not believe them". He stopped and turned, "You do not believe what?" he asked and she looked outside the window, Soteria and Noelle were out of sight.
She turned back to him, "The rumours, I do not believe them" she said and he smirked, "I do not have rumours about me, Zemira. I have facts" she ignored his statement, "I do not believe that you killed Nola. I believe there was a mistake".
The memory of blood seeping out of Nola's belly and she coughing out blood and her distraught eyes staring at him, flashed through his head.
"I killed her...there was no mistake!" he said "If you loved her as much as you claimed, why did you kill her?" she asked and he clenched his fists. "Because I was mad!" he yelled as he moved closer to her, "No you were not! You were just misunderstood!" she looked down at his clenched fists, then she slowly held his hands.
"You know you did not kill her, so why do you want to believe that nonsense?" she asked softly. "The way you talk about her, and the way you look at her portrait everytime you pass, shows how much you love her. The fact that you slept in a cold, wet room, just because you did not want to sleep on your matrimonial bed with me, shows how much you love her" she said softly. She grew bold and her hands moved up to cup his face.
"Cassian Monterey...you did not kill your former wife". Cassian's fists loosened. Oh how long he had longed for someone to say those words to him. He had longed for someone to believe him because he did not believe in himself.
When he had stabbed Nola, he knew it was a mistake. That sword was meant for Isander but after he had left her to rot in the battlefield, he was certain that he had killed her. His dreams were plagued by her bluish-green eyes going wide with fear and distraught.
Tears fell out of his eyes and Zemira gasped. He had never been so vulnerable before her. She started crying too. Her thumbs slowly brushed away his tears. Her eyes flicked down to his lips and she tilted her head to kiss him.
Cassian regained himself and pushed her away then he took out his sword from its sheath, and he held it up, "This was the sword I used to kill Nola! It was not a mistake! I killed her!" he yelled. "Cassian, put down the sword" Zemira said as she took a step towards him but he pressed the cold blade to her throat, "I am a mad man, Zemira! I am mad! You are not safe around me!"
"You are wrong! I feel so safe when I am with you, and not just because you always carry a weapon with you, but because I know you will do anything to protect me. You are not mad!" "I am! You should go away before I kill you the same way I killed Nola" he said and took away his sword from her neck then he kept it back in its sheath and he left her room.
Zemira slid down the wall as tears spewed out of her eyes uncontrollably. She felt a small kick in her belly and she looked down. It was as if the baby in her womb was asking her if she was alright. This was not the first time the kicking had happened. When the baby had first kicked, Zemira felt an overwhelming sense of joy and protectiveness but she did not know why. Was her joy coming from the little thing in her womb? She wanted to tell Cassian but there had been no appropriate time.
She smiled painfully, "I am alright, little one. Your father is not a bad man, he is just confused" she said and pressed a kiss to her palm then she placed it on her belly.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Isander rechecked the map while Nola stared at him. Cassian looked so much like him. When she had found out that Isander was Cassian's older brother, she was surprised. Cassian was kind, a little bit arrogant, but she loved him, and Isander...his heart was as black as his shifty and unkind eyes.
"Do I have something on my face?" Isander looked up from his map and Nola shook her head, "No, my lord" she bowed and he looked back at his map, "I look like him, do I not?" he chuckled and she nodded.
"I hate that I look like him!" he yelled and flung down the map angrily. "I hate that you think of him when you look at me. I hate when one minute you are looking at me with so much hatred and the next, you are looking at me with such love that it makes me sick!" he looked at her and held her face roughly, "Do not look at me with that sickening love look on your face! Glare at me like you want to kill me the minute I turn my back" he squeezed her face, "I am not my brother" then he threw her face away.
Nola rearranged her jaw and glared at Isander, "There it is, you look ravishing with that glare" he smiled and she picked up the map and kept it on the table.
Cato ran in and whispered something in Isander's ear. "Bring her in" he muttered to Cato who nodded to the soldier at the door to open it.
She came in and got on her knee then she bowed. "Speak!" Isander growled as he continued looking at the map.
"The king is now focused on the queen. She seems to be responding to his ridiculous love advances so he will be putting more effort" she said and Nola looked at her, "What about Cassian and his new wife?" she said the wife with so much contempt. "I believe they had an argument which resulted in Cassian drawing out his sword at the wife". Nola smirked.
"It will be hard to scar Cassian since he is not focused on anything but we make our big move tonight" Isander said and Nola held her sword, "Shall I go, my lord?" "No! You are my secret weapon, which means, you are a surprise to your dear Cassian...and surprises always comes at the end" he chuckled then he turned to Cato, "Get them ready, we strike at midnight" he walked out with everyone bowing their heads at him.
Nola looked at the woman whose face was hidden behind her hooded cloak. Nola walked to her, "Who are you?" she asked and was about to throw the hood off her head but the woman held it, "Lord Isander had forbidden me to show my face to anyone else but him and Cato".
Nola let go of the hood and the woman bowed and left. Nola watched her as she left hurriedly. She had seen that old and wrinkly hand somewhere, she just could not place who had it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The whole kingdom woke up with wailing. In every household, the first born son was killed. Both rich and poor.
Aza held the blood-stained sheets and wept uncontrollably, while the duke of Leorda, Mace held her shoulder and tried to hold back his tears. His first and only son was gone. He was gone before he could even get married.
More tears spewed out of Aza's eyes and Mace squeezed her shoulder. Suddenly, the door opened and a drunken Stern staggered into the room.
"Brother!" Aza gasped and hugged him. Stern rubbed his eyes, "What is going on? Why are you in my room?" he slurred and Aza covered her nose, "You reek!" she said and moved away from him.
Mace looked at his son then at the person under the sheets, "If you are here, then who is under there?" he asked and a servant raised up the sheets and they gasped.
It was a servant. Mace let out a sigh of relief, "This is the first time I am glad you went to a brothel" he said and walked out of the room. Aza smiled at her brother and was about to hug him but she stopped, "But who did this?" she asked to no one in particular and Stern collapsed on the blood-stained bed.
"Ugh!" Aza rolled her eyes and went to get a closer look at the corpse. She saw something like an inscription peeking out of the shirt. She ripped the shirt opened and saw a huge bleeding dark eye crested into the man's abdomen.
She screamed and fell then she covered her mouth with her hand.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Soteria stormed into Sorin's room and saw Noelle weeping. Soteria ran and tripped, "Your majesty!" the servants tried to hold him but Soteria got up and ran to his son's bed.
Sorin laid on the bed with his eyes shut. Soteria looked at the doctor who was rubbing an ointment on Sorin's arm. The doctor bowed, "How is my son, doctor?" Soteria asked and the doctor sighed, "The poison they used is not strong enough to kill him" he said and Noelle breathed a sigh of relief.
"But it is strong enough to put him in a vegetative state" the doctor completed and a tear slipped out of Noelle's eyes. "Elaborate more, doctor" Soteria said and the doctor sighed, "The prince is not going to wake up anytime soon".
Noelle gathered herself together and stood, "Can you not do anything about it?" she asked "There is an antidote" the doctor said and the parents looked at themselves with a look of relief on their faces.
"But the plant went extinct long ago" the doctor looked at them. Noelle was about to fall down but a maid held her. Soteria grabbed the doctor's hands, "Please save my son, doctor" he begged. The doctor looked at the young prince on the bed then he looked at the devastated king---no, father, before him.
"I am not promising but I will try my utmost best" "Thank you doctor!" Soteria hugged the doctor.
When the doctor had gone, Soteria looked at his butler, Aslan, "Send a message to Lord Monterey immediately tell him that the kingdom of Oculus is back! And I want the leader's head" Soteria growled then he stormed off.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Cassian clenched his fists as the doctor left. He looked at Gerta writhing in pain. Her tail had been cut off and he had seen it on his table when he had gone to have breakfast. Zemira had screamed and fainted.
After he had sent for a doctor to check on her, he had gone to check on Gerta. That was when he had lost it. Inscribed on Gerta's belly, was a bleeding dark eye. "Isander" he growled through gritted teeth.
A servant came in and bowed then she handed him the king's letter. After he had read it, he crumbled the paper, "I also want his head! Nailed to my wall!" he handed the paper to the servant then he stormed out of the stables.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Isander smiled and Nola looked at him, "What amuses you, my lord?" she asked and he looked at her, "My younger brother wants my head...nailed to his wall" he laughed.