Chapter 18
Rhydian
"You need to think this through, it would be dangerous to attack now, we haven't yet secured the complete trust from the witches," my Commander edmund, who was also my best friend said to me after I had dismissed the other councilors from the meeting, we now sat alone in the quiet palace hall.
"Till when do I have to wait, they have her ed, she could be killed at anytime, they know she is my only weakness. Besides, I don't see that witch princess trusting me anytime soon, she is literally looking for every means possible to kill me," i vented, my jaw clenching as I grabbed a fist full of my hair, tugging gently.
My mother told me not to worry about her, and no matter what, I shouldn't surrender our kingdom to the dragon empire, even if they threatened me with her life. She told me to wait for the perfect moment, and that fate would reveal a solution, but there was no way I was going to leave everything to Fate.
Our diviner said that with the help of the witches, we would be able to secure victory and end this war, from the moment I proposed a truce to the witches, i knew it wasn't going to be easy to completely gain their trust, after all, vampires have preyed on their kind for centuries.
"Are you even trying?" Edmund asked, raising a brow
"Trying what?" I asked, confused.
"Are you trying to gain her trust? You need to treat her differently if you really want her to trust you." Edmund proposed, but I just stared at him, confused. What did he mean by differently? I wasn't treating her badly so...
"Can you clarify what you mean by differently?" I asked, my brows furrowed.
"You need to show her care, love and affection. If you can make her fall in love with you, she will definitely trust you.
No that I think about it, he was right. But, wait...can I actually do that. That witch, I could tell she is extremely cold hearted, from those eyes of her's, i knew she had killed countless people, which turned her cold and emotionless, just like me. It like telling someone to make me fall in love with them, it's definitely something impossible to accomplish.
But now, it's going to be the other way round, I have to make her fall in love with me, could i really pull this off. But to do this, it means I would have to fake love and affection, I have never been in love, so how could i fake something i have never felt or shown.
"Did you hear what I said?" Edmund called out, breaking my thoughts.
"I heard you, but how do I go about this?" I asked further, Edmund groaned, clearly frustrated by my question.
"It's nothing hard, just imagine she is someone dear to you, someone you can't do without, someone you're willing to give everything in the world, someone you love the most." My eyes twitched as he explained, that sounded like a lot of work, so all I had to do was imagine huh.
But first, I needed to know things about her, firstly her name, things she liked and disliked, favourite food, places she liked to go, I needed to know everything.
"How do I know when she is actually in love with me?" I asked, I was already getting invested in his idea.
"I can't say for sure, but if a woman is in love with a man, the way she looks at him will change from the way she looks at other men, you'll definitely be able to tell, do don't worry too much about it." Edmund assured me, nudging my shoulder.
"But what if she tries to kill me again?"
"Just pretend you didn't notice. You're immune to poison right? So that's out of the question, if she comes at you with any physical attacks, defend yourself, but don't make a big deal out of it, she might even feel guilty about it if you react differently from what she expected." I scoffed as Edmund explained, there was no way she would feel guilty for trying to kill me, I could sense her blood lust everytime i was near her, she hated my guts, and that was a fact.
Which was why it sounded even more impossible. Could I really pull this off?
"Are you even listening?" Edmund asked, interrupting my thoughts again.
"And one more thing, don't ever force yourself on her, it would only make her hate you more," Edmund warned,
"Do I look like a rapist?" I glared at him, clearly offended by what he just said, I have never forced myself on any woman, and I never would. Only a very few women have picked my interest throughout my centuries of existence, and she was the only one that has ever pushed me to the edge, awakening something in me I never knew existed. Maybe that was why I was offended by what Edmund just said.
My control almost snapped last night, but I was able to pull away quickly, i just hope such a situation would never occur again. She might have given me a go ahead to take her, but I knew for certain that her heart wasn't willing, and knowing how badly she must hate me to actually sacrifice something so important made my blood boil.
"I didn't mean it like that, I just..."
"It fine," I cut him off, "I understand what you mean." I added, my fist clenching at my sides.
Just then, a knock interrupted our discussion, I granted them permittion and the person walked in soon after, i recognized her as the maid working in the queens quarter.
"Your majesty, her highness is missing. We didn't see her walk out of the room so we have no idea where she went," An amused smile curled on my lips, so that little witch actually managed to escape the guards i placed to watch and follow her.
"I'll find her," I said firmly, standing up and heading out of the palace to find my wife.