(Kingdom Of Speldaria)
King Tholarian paced his study rather impatiently. His hands were behind his stiff back as if a rod had been stuck inside it. Lines of worry made his face appear older than it was.
Monarch Drudius had given him an ultimatum. Either he should help him avenge his son Kamyn or they would be nothing but enemies.
According to the rules, Kamyn died in the heat of battle, and he didn’t yield.
That shifter didn’t give him a chance to by squeezing his neck, that was Drudius’s point.
And everything was fair in the arena except to kill the opponent if he or she had yielded.
Siroos broke no rules but according to Drudius he did.
Tholarian couldn’t wage war against an entire pack. As far as he knew, Siroos had magic running through his veins as well. To what extent his powers went, that was unknown to him. The man was a mystery and now he had his daughter as well. Not that he cared, but as long as she was his mate and alive, Siroos would remain in treaty with him.
First, Tholarian needed to bring his daughters in line. One had gone bonkers after her lover was killed in the arena and every passing day was driving her towards insanity. No matter the efforts he was unable to pull her back.
While the other was completely ignoring him after what happened to Cassandra.
Both of his daughters refused to speak with each other and there was a rift in the family. He needed them for the troubled times that were coming. He could sense a bloody war brewing on the horizon.
Pausing in his steps, he summoned Razial and informed him to fetch Lotus.
"Right away, my lord." Razial bowed and exited his king’s study.
His quick steps took him towards Lotus’s haven; her special garden. Razial always knew where she was at every given time. Every step he took in her direction, his heart picked up its pace.
She had stopped speaking to him, entirely, after he refused to stand up for Cassandra. No matter how wholly he tried, she never spared him a second.
At times, he had seen her with puffy eyes, and his heart would ache relentlessly. Knowing he was one of the causes for the tears in her beautiful eyes.
He couldn’t blame her, he hated himself for hurting Cassandra. But he knew he would never be able to love her, his heart only had one name in it.
It was Lotus.
Carefully, entering her breathtaking garden which bustled with life and colour, he made his way to her. Unique flowers in every colour bloomed on vines, trees, bushes and plants.
Flimsy butterflies and colourful hummingbirds danced on them, drinking their nectar.
Lotus was nestled between two stunted trees with flowers like pink cotton.
Her swing, constructed from grass and flowering vine, hung between them, and she was perched on it.
Dressed in a fairy gown of peach shade with frills and laces she appeared like a rosy delicate fairy. With a book in her hand, one of her legs was on the grass and the other was arched on the swing. Her back rested against the suspension of the swing formed from a flowering vine.
She was lost in her book, oblivious to her surroundings. The male lead was about to romance the female lead and she was very invested in finding out how he would be winning her heart.
Her bubble was broken by the irritating voice of the last man she wished to ever see.
"Princess Lotus!" Commander Razial uttered her name with such finesse as if she were his betrothed.
She let out a frustrated sigh and without lifting her eyes to him, she rebuked.
"And I wondered why birds had stopped chirping and why butterflies had hidden away."
She seemed to be like that delicate rose that came with prickly thorns. Her words wounded him but he didn’t care. Pushing away his long black strands from his shoulder, he cleared his throat and respectfully said
"Can we have a word?"
"No, shoo away. You are blocking my sunlight," she answered too sweetly, but her eyes were cold.
Razial’s lips flat-lined hearing her response and lack of attention, but he was a persistent man.
"I understand your apprehensions and they are valid. But my hands were tied..."
Lotus cut him off without even glancing in his direction; she delicately turned the page of her book and mused.
"With invisible ropes? I wish someone would tie your tongue, too."
Razial didn’t know what else to say. Lotus had always been snarky, but lately, all her anger had been diverted towards him, and he always let her vent with hopes that one day she would forgive him.
"I am sorry for disturbing you, but your father would like to have a word," he finally revealed.
"Another complication," she mumbled to herself and closed her eyes for a second, trying to suppress the anger these two men raged inside her.
When she finally opened them, Lotus turned her gaze at the expectant man. He was watching her with such affection that Lotus wished to puke.
"Fine, follow me." Lotus finally put away her book and slipped down from the swing. Deliberately she left a thick vine in Razial’s way and glided to his front. Razial whose eyes were focused on Lotus’s petite figure remained completely ignorant of the vine blocking his way.
His foot collided with it and he flailed and fell face forward onto the grass, landing right in Lotus’s feet. She had turned right in time to witness this epic moment.
A hearty giggle like tiny bells ringing erupted from Lotus’s throat seeing him lying in her feet. He raised his face and awkwardly stared at Lotus.
"Even plants want revenge against you, Commander Razial. Your sins are unforgivable," the flower girl bent down and spat in his face. He could see how her face was contorted in anger.
Before he could speak Lotus straightened up and left for her father’s office. He was another man she didn’t wish to face but had to. She could only imagine what new scheme he was brewing and what he wanted from her.