Chapter 10 The King's Arrival
A week later...
It was early in the morning when the huge palace gates slid open. Sebastian rode in with Levi right behind him along with ten thousand troops of Clawshire warriors, some of which were still in their wolf form.
The blue flags of Clawshire Kingdom, which had a bold imprint of a fiercely looking white wolf, the kingdom's sigil, were seen raised high amongst the troops as they all marched uniformly into the palace gates.
The werewolves collectively howled in triumph along with the drums that were being powerfully beaten as an indication of victory. All the noise and commotion roused Fernanda up from her deep slumber, she was still wondering what was going on when her Yolanda rushed in to inform her about the arrival of the King.
"He's back?" Fernanda's eyes were as wide as saucers when she asked. Yolanda fiercely nodded her head, her face also mirroring the same expression Fernanda had on.
Fernanda rushed to the window to see for herself and let out a small gasp when she saw everything that was going on down below. The large amount of soldiers, werewolves and wielders was too much for Fernanda to comprehend.
Her heart skipped a bit when she found Sebastian, he was still on his horse wearing a hard expression as he watched everyone bow to him. He still looked regal and intimidating despite the tiredness in his eyes. "Our kingdom won the war again, all thanks to the King." Yolanda said in a cheerful tone. Fernanda shrugged, It was pretty obvious from the way the soldiers jubilated.
She noticed three men with shackles around their wrists being roughly dragged away by some tough looking soldiers. The men were soldiers too but they didn't seem like they were from Clawshire. "Looks like they took some prisoners." She said to Yolanda.
"What for?" Fernanda asked again, "Probably because they are not just ordinary soldiers. Warriors of higher ranks don't just get killed off on the battlefield like any other soldier, they are taken as prisoners to get informations out of them." Yolanda explained.
Fernanda gulped before asking again, "And how do they plan on doing that? What are they going to do to them?" The maidservant let out a small sigh, "Let me guess, Torture?" Fernanda answered herself before shaking her head vigorously.
"I do not see the sense in any of this. Why must all the kingdoms wage war against each other to prove a point!" Fernanda asked although this time, it was rhetorical.
Then suddenly, as she was still observing the movement of soldiers going on, her eyes got locked against Sebastian's. It was far down below but Fernanda could tell he sees her just by the intensity of his gaze towards the window where she was peeping from.
Fernanda sharply drew the curtains back together and sucked in a deep breath that was equally as sharp. Her whole body was practically frozen as she tried to decipher what had just happened.
His piercing glare and brooding face was all the reminder that she needed, Sebastian Kozlov, her worst nightmare was back from war.
The corner of Sebastian's mouth lifted into a vague smile as he watched her immediately hide behind her curtains. "What is she trying to do, hide from me?" His head lowered slightly as he tried to contain his amusement.
It had been an excruciatingly long week for him fighting against a kingdom that had soldiers with more audacity than brains. The prisoners they took were the generals in charge of the Askor troops sent to attack Clawshire.
Sebastian alighted down from his horse and patiently waited for his armor to be taken off by the standby servants.
He turned and steadily gazed at his troops of warriors who were all still chanting war cries and victory songs, allowing them their moment of exhilaration before giving his Commander a nod of approval.
Levi raised a clenched fist up in the air and everywhere automatically went silent. The prisoners were aggressively made to kneel, their face had already been bruised from their previous tortures at the battle camp.
"You have all done well!" Sebastian's voice boomed across the great walls surrounding his palace, "Each of you fought hard for your Kingdom and held your own against the enemy," His eyes met with the Askor prisoners who stared at him with utmost spite, and smirked.
"Clawshire is proud. But the war is not over yet, we must stay ready against any confrontation."
"You will never win!" One of the prisoners spat, his eyes bloodshot with rage and hatred. "Askor will come for us and when they do, your kingdom will be trampled upon. None will be spared!"
A ghost smirk played at the corner of Sebastian's lips. "Askorians and arrogance," he thought as he moved closer to them, thin sheets of ice spreading from the base of his boots and rising into sharp spikes, the Askorian general quivered in fear when he saw what was happening.
"I do not think your Kingdom will be coming for you anytime soon considering the amount of loss it suffered from this battle. Your king I'm sure, will be too busy dealing with his casualties to care even the least about you." Sebastian voice was dangerously calm. The type of calm that usually comes before a destructive storm.
"But since you want to act all tough," the icy spikes were now pointing directly into their eyes. "How about you show me how exactly your Kingdom is going to trample mine." Pure mischief flashed across Sebastian's eyes when he said that.
"A fight to death match between the Askorians and Clawshireans will be held tonight." Sebastian stated, his smirk now visible and taunting. On hearing that, the Clawshirean warriors began their victory chants again and it was louder than before.
The Askorian general wanted to torch himself at that moment because he knew what that meant for them, the ability for werewolves to wield and shift are enhanced by the environments they find themselves.
Flame wielders in the north, an icy territory, it was already obvious they weren't going to win. It wouldn't be a fight but an execution.
"It's good to have you back and stronger, Your Majesty." Anderson told Sebastian as they both walked into his court, "How is my wife?" Was the response Sebastian gave to his advisor instead. Anderson had been ordered by Sebastian to watch over Fernanda while he was away at war.
"She has taken a liking to her maidservants, they are practically friends now." Anderson informed him with an unsure smile. Sebastian sighed softly, "I read from your letters that she felt lonely. I shouldn't have left."
"No, you did the right thing going to fight the war Your Majesty, Thanks to that we now have an advantage over Askor." Anderson started talking about the other kingdoms and the moves they might make now that Askor is weak but Sebastian was already getting tired of the conversations about wars, the only thing he needed at the moment was to see Fernanda.
"Save me the lecture for today, Anderson. I need to go see my wife." He stated, cutting the advisor short. "Of course your highness," He said, excusing himself out.
Sebastian exhaled once he was all alone, he strolled towards his office where he usually dealt with critical matters requiring critical thinking on his own. But this time around the only critical matter that he needed to sort out was how he hasn't been able to get Fernanda off his mind for a minute.
He knew something was wrong when even on the battlefield as he slaughtered the enemies, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He kept seeing her at the back of his mind. Her eyes, hair, her scent... All her perfect features.
"I must be going insane. Or rather, I have gone insane." He exclaimed as he stared hard at the stone desk he was leaning against which had the map of the four kingdoms ingrained on it.
"I might as well be damned." He continued berating himself while he kept trying to force her image out of his mind. Sweat formed at his forehead and his knuckles where beginning to turn white from how hard he was clenching his fists against the desk.
"Don't! Stay calm." He gnashed his teeth, silently warning his beast who angrily threatened to unleash itself. A moment later after the tension inside him eased up, Sebastian went to wash off the bloodstains from his body, some of which weren't his.
He didn't want Fernanda seeing him covered in blood just like the day they got married.
Sebastian was dressing up and was about buttoning up his shirt when he suddenly froze. His nose caught a familiar sweet scent of lavender, one that had been distracting him for days now. "Get a grip Sebastian, she can't possibly be in here." He told himself while continuing with the buttons of his shirt.
Her scent was stronger this time around, different from it's usual faintness when he thinks of her. His brows shot up in realization that she might actually be in his chambers. He almost couldn't keep it together as he traced her scent.
He finally saw her. She was standing all by herself with her back to him, uncertainty enveloping her as she glanced sideways.
"Mine." Was the only thought on Sebastian's mind as her glared at her possessively.