75

75

Maverick’s POV

(A few hours earlier than present)

It had been a while since someone had gotten me tired enough to sit on the bare floor, but I guess Master Henry was not just someone anyway.

I sat on the floor and looked up to the ceiling of the training room, a smile plastered across my face. If anything, I was more than happy that I had these kinds of strong men around me. I looked over to the elders as they split their wager over our fight. There was evidence of a bit of joy and excitement in the chatter.

I felt a flutter in my heart as I looked at them settle their bets and wagers. This was the kind of kingdom I had always wanted for my people, a place of peace and a land that thrived in peace and unity of heart and spirit.

But now there was war upon us…

I was” n't one to sacrifice the peace of my people for selfish reasons, but I felt this war was a necessary evil. I could only think of how best to protect my people and my Luna.

My face formed into a bit of a grimace as I thought of the impending future continued to dawn on me. I knew somewhere in my heart that Ryder would not want to go down so easily, there was no way in hell that he was going to allow us to live happily ever after as I would want it.

I heard footsteps heading in my direction and drawing me out of my thoughts. It was Master Henry, he offered me a smile and motioned at the spot right next to me. “May I sit with you, my lord?”

I nodded at his request rather than saying anything at all; at this point, I didn't even know why I did that.

“What troubles you, my king?” his face was turned away from me and looking straight ahead, but his voice was saturated with concern for me. For some reason just knowing that gave me a level of peace.

“I can't help but worry for the future and that of my people, Henry,” I began explaining.

“What if I am not able to bring him to justice? What if I am not able to win this battle and keep my kingdom and Celine safe?” He sat quietly beside me turning towards me after I had finished expressing my fears.

“Normally…” he began.

“This war is indeed unprecedented, and its outcome is not set in stone, but at the same time, I see no reason for you to fear” he had his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it only slightly. I looked at his hand and then looked forward at the elders where they were across the room.

“They all trust you, my lord. And so do I,” he assured as he got up from the ground.

“I believe that you know what you are fighting for, and so far, it is the right thing. Then we will be with you every step of the way, Your Highness” he had his right arm stretched towards me as he stood over me to help me up to my feet.

I smiled a bit and grabbed onto his arm pulling myself to my feet at the same time. We walked towards them with steam emanating from my body due to the healing that was going on in my body at that moment.

Healing has always worked differently for me since I was made king. It was always faster, but now it was also more draining than usual. We got to the elders where they stood for about a moment.

“Excellent performance, my lord”, Master Blake complimented with his head slightly bowed. “Indeed, Your Highness, that was a stellar performance”, another commented.

“I believe at this point it's safe to say that we are in safe hands with you as our king”, Frederick said, with the rest agreeing to his words. I only nodded in response to the compliments, not truly satisfied with my performance.

A mantra continued to resonate in my head constantly. “I need to get stronger to protect my woman and my kingdom”

I didn't care how I had to go about it, all I knew was that I had to get stronger than I was right now.

As they continued to chatter, we were interrupted by the sound of the training room door opening and closing in what seemed like an attempt to muffle the usual creaking sounds that came from them.

We turned to the door to see one of the maids rushing into the training room. My whole body came to be on high alert as I observed her running towards us. I could hear her heartbeat from where I was, and it was just racing at this point; she had one hand on her mouth as though she was trying to be as silent as possible.

“What is this?” Master Blake started walking forward towards her.

“What are you doing in the training room? You know it is forbidden to….” I held up my clenched fist to signal him to silence and walked towards her quietly.

The moment she was within arms range, I gripped her two shoulders. “What's going on, talk to me…”

She was panting and her eyes seemed to be moving left and right in utter panic. I shook her slightly to calm her down; her anxiety was starting to stop in my skin, and that was only making me unsettled.

“There's…there's …there's someone in the castle…and …he's taking…he's taking her”

Her words were shrouded in her rapid breathing and panting but I could still make out what she was saying.

My mind scrambled as I thought of its interpretation and implications.

Someone was in the castle and it seemed that he had managed to kidnap Celine.

“What??” A voice from behind me rang out. “How did he manage to get past all the guards and into the castle?”

“How did you even get to know about this?” Hoffman asked, most likely directing the question at the maid but she still wasn't in the right state of mind to answer his questions.

“That's not what matters right now. We have gotten a head start through this information, and there's no way he can move her out so quickly,” Henry spoke up, resonating with my thoughts.

“We need to set an ambush and quickly as well”, he suggested, turning to me to get the final word.

I had a boiling rage within me, my aura began to displace the air in the room, shaking its walls everywhere so slightly.

I knew Ryder was full of dirty and underhanded tricks but I never expected him to take it this far.

“Tell all the guards to pull out of their post and to meet up here as stealthily as possible.”

The elders murmured a bit at the instruction, unsure of what to make out of it. There was a bigger picture to this plan that I was yet to reveal to them but I wouldn't do that now.

The maid nodded and headed out with some of the masters leaving only Frederick, Blake and Henry with me.

“Whoever this scum is, I will cut him down for you, my king, with everything that I have”, Frederick pledged with his right fist against his chest.

I took cognisance of his promise but said nothing in response. I was plotting in my head, and at this, I was confident that I had gotten the perfect plan.

It was only a matter of time before all the guards were gathered and standing before me with their arms in hand and their armour dawned.

There was noise from their murmurings, the majority of them seemed oblivious to the fact that my queen was taken from right under their nose.

“Tonight….” I shouted, causing them to fall into silence upon them all like a magic spell.

“Someone has broken into the castle and has kidnapped my Luna…” there was a bit of an uproar in the crowd. I gave them time before I continued with what I was saying.

“But the person is still within the premises and, at this point, is making his escape with my queen as his captive. I don't know who this person is, but it's safe to assume that if he could get into the castle without being spotted, then he is a professional and probably very dangerous.”

“But we have the element of surprise. He doesn't know we are aware he's here, and we are going to use that to our advantage” I walked amidst them, pacing my steps.

“Now I want everyone to move to the courtyard right before the main gate and lay in ambush. we are going to catch this person and we are going to retrieve my Luna by all means necessary, do you understand?” My men resonated with a roar and proceeded out as planned.

Fast forward to the present and I was standing outside the circle with Master Blake, Frederick and Henry.

I had my sights fixed on the assassin and all I could see was blood…

But it wasn't going to be mine