Chapter 36 - 36

All the soldiers, including Robin, Victor, and Liam were traveling towards Capital City through the rough terrain at night. The road was rocky, narrow, and full of obstacles but it was the best way to infiltrate the palace. The previous batches of soldiers had split into smaller groups and were attacking the Palace from a more obvious direction. Marcella's guards were focused on defending themselves and they weren't expecting the attack from the rocky side of the mountain."Sit in the pod," Victor said to Robin when he saw him walking alongside the soldiers."I am fine," Robin said, without looking at him."I don't care if you are fine. You will not travel on these rocky paths on your feet," Victor growled.Robin snapped his head at him and glared. He couldn't believe Victor had the audacity of being bossy with him again. Victor must have sensed Robin's anger. He lowered his voice and whispered. "Please, Robin. This is not safe.""I need to show your people the right way. I can't do that if I am in the pod," Robin said."My men will figure out the pathway on their own. You don't have to put your life at risk. Moreover, you have already carved out the path on the map. You don't need to walk in this icy cold to show us the path.""Yes, I do," Robin said with an ultimatum.Victor muttered 'Crazy brat' under his breath but thankfully he kept his mouth shut for the rest of the way. They reached the palace a few hours from dawn. Robin was stuck with a wave of nostalgia at the sight of his home. He paused, staring at the tall stone wall, and wondered how for years he had tried to get out of these walls, to experience the world beyond, and today he was the one infiltrating it."What's next?" Liam asked, jolting him from his thoughts.Robin directed the soldiers towards a section of the wall that would least likely be guarded. Victor asked Robin to climb on his back as he got up the Twelve-foot tall stone wall. In a different circumstance, Robin would have appreciated the sheer strength of Victor's arms as he climbed the wall with an extra weight of one hundred fourteen pounds on his back. They made their way through the animal sheds towards Robin's father's Artillery Storage. Most of the Marcella soldiers were appointed at the front, fighting the first batch of Dhasur soldiers infiltrating from the front. Many of these soldiers had taken shelter in the valley and were slowly making their way into the palace.The area around the Artillary storage was heavily guarded. Victor's soldiers were smarter, they distracted the guards so some of them could slip in. All the security alarms went off when someone disturbed the sensors."You need to take shelter," Victor announced to Robin when the Marcella guard started to swarm them."I need you to take my sisters and mother to a safe palace. I don't want any harm to them," Robin demanded."I promised you...I will not harm them. They are my responsibility."Victor's soldier had infiltrated part of the artillery unit. They took over some tanks and mussels.Dhasur soldiers were now coming in from all directions overwhelming Marcella Palace. Robin was escorted to a part of the palace that was fully in control of the Dhasurs. Robin waited in the room impatiently, pacing around, feeling nervous. A few hours later his sisters and mother were brought into the room as well."Robin!" His mother exclaimed, hugging him tightly. She ran her hand on his body, looking at it frantically. "Did they hurt you?""No, mom, I am fine." Robin said, holding his mother's arms to stop her."We were worried mad for you," Robin's mother exclaimed."You are helping the enemy, aren't you?" Gloria yelled with a look of hurt evident on her face."They are not enemies. They are here to help our people. Father needed to be stopped," Robin replied."You are helping the enemy nation to take over our kingdom," she denounced."It is not what you think. You have to know how our people have been suffering. Our people want this, Gloria," Robin said, trying to make her understand."I helped you escape, Robin. And this is how you repay me," Joyce accused, looking disappointed as well. "I didn't expect you to help him conquer Capital City."Robin felt defeated. He didn't know how to make his sisters understand why he did what he did."You have got it all wrong. You have to understand why I did it. Try talking to the civilians and they will tell you how pathetic their lives have been under Father's rule. I had to take Dhasur's help to dethrone him," Robin said, turning to his mother, and looking at her desperately.His mother shook her head. "Your intentions might be right but you took the wrong path. You helped the wrong people. They are not any better than your father."Robin's heart sank. "Why would you say that mother?""Being an Alpha comes with a cruelty no Alpha can escape from. You might be looking for an ideal King but they don't exist. The King of Dhasur, that commander, your father, and your Alpha brother are all made from the same cloth.""We didn't expect you to backstab us, Robin," Gloria said, interrupting her mother.Robin knew his family would disapprove of his ways but he didn't expect it to affect him so much. He had been the ideal son and brother for his whole life, and now that he was doing something different, something big and meaningful, it was turning out to be a disaster.The door swished open and hundreds of Marcella soldiers rushed inside. The Dhasur soldiers appointed outside tried to block them but they had High Intensity Beam Guns that killed anyone who tried to come near it. They took hold of Robin and dragged him outside the room. His mother and sister screamed in panic but the Marcella soldiers didn't give them any heed. They left them, not bothering to take them to safety as they took Robin.They took him to the courtyard and sat him down on his knees. A swamp of soldiers came through the south wing and when they moved aside his father and brother were standing in the middle.He marched towards Robin before slapping him so hard Robin fell on the ground."You disgrace my family, my legacy. Is this why I raised you?""Father," Robin whimpered."Where is that fucking King of yours. Call him. Ask him to save you," his father said, shoving a microphone towards his mouth.Robin kept his mouth shut. He couldn't let Victor be captured or this whole war plan would fail."You whore," Marco, his brother, spat before kicking him on the shoulder, throwing him down once again. Robin sat up and hardened himself. He knew this day would come. He never thought it was going to be easy."Victor Thrall," his Father said on the Microphone. "You have exactly one minute to show up unarmed at the courtyard if you don't want Robin to die. You do know how cruel I can be. Do not test me."Time stood still as everyone waited, holding their breaths. Robin prayed for some miracle to happen. He knew if Victor heard the echoing warning of his Father Victor would show up but Robin didn't want him to. He had bigger things to worry about. His people needed him. His life was much more important than Robin's."Only Thirty more seconds. Come out," his father called.Robin closed his eyes, accepting death. Every moment he spent with Victor, all the fights, all the tender loving, flashed through his head. His heart ached for the child he would never see. He almost felt it's heartbeat in his stomach."If you touch him I will give each one of you a very slow and painful death," the voice boomed across the courtyard.Robin opened his eyes to see Victor standing at the entrance of the courtyard, looking murderous."The king is finally here," Robin's father mocked. "Tie him down," his father instructed.The soldiers took hold of Victor. He didn't resist as they tied him down and plopped him on the floor. Robin saw the gash on the side of his stomach as he bled everywhere."I should have killed you when I had the chance," The King gritted."Take a good look at him for the last time," The King said to Robin, gripping his hair and pulling his head back."Do not touch him," Victor growled."You are not in a position to make demands," His father said, slapping Victor hard. "What did you see my son? If you asked nicely I would have gifted him to you.""He is not a thing to be gifted," Victor growled. Robin wished he would shut up. There was no point angering his father further. Robin didn't want him to make any moves that could get them killed."You know the punishment for a traitor, don't you, Robin?" his father asked, tugging on his hair harder.Robin gulped."You will be stoned to death.""Father, no!" Joyce screamed as she came running through the main door. "Please forgive him. He was blindsided by love.""Anyone who defends him will face the same consequences," his father announced. The yard became eerily quiet."No one touches me. You asked for me, and I came. Now let him go," Victor said. He was hit on the head with the butt of a gun by Marco."Shut the fuck up," Marco growled.Robin's father brought the microphone to his lips again. "Your King, Victor Thrall, is in my possession. If you want to see your King live, drop your weapons and surrender yourself."Robin cursed inwardly. This was bad. Very bad.Marcella's soldiers took Victor and Robin to the holding cells while his father planned their public stoning.