Chapter 159 Chapter 158
Recovering from her shock, Rayena followed Morvan as he marched ahead. As she walked down the hallway, she noticed other members of the harem walking out of their rooms and watching her. Perhaps they must have overheard her conversation with Morvan, or they were just plain curious. They murmured among themselves, throwing her snide glances.
But only one person’s glare stood out to her out of all, and that was Lady Ysolde. She stood in a corner near one of the pillar columns, watching her with those haughty eyes of hers, anger radiating off her in waves. Rayena was baffled by the expression and immediately averted her gaze, wondering what was wrong with her.
Morvan guided her through the gardens, past the demarcation of trees where she was almost attacked by a wolf weeks past, and towards the main palace. His strides were long and fast, and occasionally she had to run to catch up with him, but soon the main palace building came into view. Rayena’s mouth widened in a gasp as she stared at the large building in front of her, stunned by its grandness, especially from this angle. She really hadn’t appreciated it much when she first arrived at the castle, but now, she took out time to admire its beauty.
They finally entered its walls, and just as Rayena had expected, the interior was even more breathtaking than the outside.
“Wow...” she gasped, awed.
Red velvet curtains lined the grand floor-to-ceiling windows, and the huge hall situated on the ground floor had a pristine chandelier hanging over it, glittering like a million crystals. The rug felt soft and smooth, and Rayena wanted to run her bare legs through it, but Morvan was already walking ahead, directing her to one of the many corridors. Shoving away her need to sightsee, she immediately followed after him.
He led her through so many winding corridors she was forced to speak up, already out of breath with how fast he was taking her. “Where is the tour beginning, exactly?” she asked, and he stopped, turning to look at her.
Morvan seemed conflicted, but then his face hardened. “Wait here, I’ll be back,” he said, and before she could protest, sped away.
Rayena watched him go, puzzled. She looked around her, noticing how strange it was that there were no other palace workers around. Everywhere was just too silent and empty, and it made her uncomfortable.
When Morvan didn’t return as quickly as she would like him to, she began to wander, looking at the decorations used to line the large corridors. Occasionally checking for passersby, she studied the details of the flower pots, subconsciously humming a tune to herself.
Eventually, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. She looked up and, to her surprise, saw Lylall coming her direction. A smile hit her lips.
“Lylall!” she called out excitedly, waving her hands. Closing the rest of the distance, she glanced at him, a huge grin on her face. “How are you?”
“Fine...” he answered, his voice strained. Rayena caught the cut above his brows and froze.
“What happened? Did you hurt yourself?” she asked, reaching to touch it. Xenon stiffened when her fingers made contact with his skin, feeling like cool water on a hot summer breeze. Suppressing a satisfied grunt, he touched the area her fingers had brushed and noticed the cut. That definitely happened while he was trying to resist a shift.
“Oh... it must have happened while I was working,” he lied, sneakily drowning his lungs with her scent.
“Really? You should be more careful next time,” she mumbled, a displeased expression on her face.
“I will...” he muttered, a part of him glad she was concerned. “What are you doing here?” he asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know either," she answered with a chuckle. Moving closer, she spoke as if trying to reveal a secret. "General Mavron just called on me and said he wanted to take me on a tour of the palace and ordered me to follow him. Now I'm here, and he's nowhere to be seen."
Xenon held back a scoff, rolling his eyes. Trust his right-hand man to be completely clueless when it came to matters like this.
"Well, I don't know where he is, but do you want me to take you around?"
"I would love it if you can do that!" she exclaimed, her eyes glittering with happiness.
"Where should we start?" he asked, falling into step with her.
"Anywhere you'd like," she answered, smiling up at him. Then her brows furrowed. "Actually, how about you tell me all about the weretigers and werewolves and how they came to be? I went to the market today with Soraya and noticed a lot of things. Why don't we start with that?"
Xenon paused, thinking through what she had just said. "We can start with that..." he muttered slowly, his voice deepened with thought. Looking around him, he let out a breath. "Come with me," he said.
Rayena followed him as he led her through another set of winding corridors, but unlike Mavron, his pace was much slower, and it was easier to walk with him. They kept walking till they reached the end of a huge hallway, covered completely with a large curtain.
Rayena held back from asking why they stopped there, watching as Lylall pulled back the curtain, revealing a huge portrait that covered the entirety of the wall. Rayena looked up, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she stared at the painting of what had to be the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen.
"She's beautiful... Who is this?" Rayena asked, glancing at Lylall, who stood beside her.
Xenon stared at the picture in front of him, feeling emotions clog his throat. But he swallowed them down, willing himself to sound as impersonal as possible. "This is Princess Annette Valtherion, the current king's mother," he announced, his voice surprisingly firm despite the storm in his heart.
"Wow, she's beautiful," Rayena muttered, still gawking at the painting. "But what has she got to do with the history of the werewolves and weretigers?"
"Well, because she's the reason all of this came to be." He answered, glancing at her.
He answered, glancing at her. "When she was much younger, she lived here with her brothers and father, King Rowan, in the palace. Being his favorite, he always doted on her and was very secretive about her too. Since she was a werewolf, it was expected that once she turned eighteen, she would experience her first shift and now be eligible to find a mate, but none of those things happened."
"Really?" Rayena asked, moving closer to study the portrait.
Xenon nodded. "Well, none of those things happened. Her family didn't think it strange; they accepted her the way she was and let her live freely until she caught the eye of the weretiger king, Aeron."
"What did he do?" Rayena asked, engrossed in his tale.
"It is believed he caught a glimpse of her when he came visiting and decided he wanted her for himself. So he kidnapped her."
"What!?"