Chapter 96 Cup bearer
"Don't bother calling your mate. He is miles away and there is no one to save you so just be quiet and enjoy the moment" he leaned down and began trailing wet slobbery kisses down the skin he had exposed making me jolt against him in protest.
"Darius! Please" I continued to cry out in the walls of my mind.
~
DARIUS
I tried to sit as still as I possibly could. I hated being here without Audrey. It had been hours and still Vandal had not shown up. Ryker and I had been told to wait in the meeting room and we have been here ever since.
We arrived earlier than expected and they seemed a bit startled to see us but non the less welcomed us. Vandal was not a man that stayed away so when I hadn't seen him in the welcome crowd I had gotten the feeling that there was something off. His cup bearer Isaiah had said he was with his men and would be with us shortly but till now we still had not seen him.
Against my better judgement I had listened to Ryker when he said we should wait. I held onto the white glove Audrey had given me tightly, inhaling her intoxicating scent from time to time to calm me down. I had been away from her for long enough, I couldn't stay any second longer.
I pushed myself off where I sat, walking over to the door I felt Rykers arm stop me before I could grab unto the handle.
I turned around to face Ryker, "I refuse to stay here any second longer. We have been here for hours Ryker and there has been no sign of Vandal. There is something wrong"
"I agree. It's unprofessional to keep the King waiting and Vandal seemed too eager to have us here to just not show up" Ryker agreed. "Even his second command has not been seen"
"It's enough of this" I pushed the doors open, my men marching up to meet us.
"Your Highness" they greeted in unison.
"Where is Isaiah" as if on cue Isaiah emerged walking up to us hastily. He looked a bit panicked and unsettled by our presence.
"Your Highness" he bowed and I glared at him, watching his every move. "Y-you're out. Vandal will be-"
"Enough" I stopped him. My patience was running so thin I felt my blood begin to boil, they had made a fool out of me. I came here and I hadn't gained anything, nothing but excuses. I could have been with my little one instead I was here being made to look like a damn fool. I balled my fists, my brows set in a firm frown.
"Where is Vandal" I stressed each word through gritted teeth.
"H-"
A guard walked in cutting him right off. He walked up to me, whispering into my ear and the words that left his lips had the last specs of my patience and self control dissolving into thin air.
"Vandal, Griffon and half of his guards are not in their stations. They are not here"
My eyes snatched back to Isaiah's now wide panicked ones. He began to shake furiously, his hands gripping onto the end of his shirt. I took slow calculatice steps towards him, my fingers tracing over the white glove in my one hand while the other twitched with the urge to grip his throat and tear his skin with my nails.
"You have been fooling your king" I spoke calmly, the look in my eyes and the promise in my tone the exact opposite. My eyes began to darken and I could feel myself loosing it. My hand trailed up to his neck where I slowly gripped him hard, forcing him to his knees. He began to cry and it only made me even angrier.
"P-please have mercy My Lord" he pleaded, crying like a banshee. His voice scraped my ears and all I wanted to do was snap his neck like a twig and throw him to the side but I needed to draw as much information as I could from him.
"I don't like repeating myself" I leaned down so my face was only a few inches away from his and he could see all the things I wanted to do to him in the golden rims of my eyes. Just then I heard a loud familiar voice in my mind crying out my name. I stilled, my blood running cold when the owner of the voice registered in my mind.
"Darius please! Please help me!"
"Vandal g-get off me please"
Her voice begged, so much pain underneath her tone. Her cries filled my mind making Phoenix stir, getting restless by the second.
Audrey, she needed help. My eye twitched and I squeezed Isaiah's neck harder, my eyes now full with rage burning holes into his.
"You have five seconds to answer me or else I will rip your throat right out and make sure you live long enough to experience every painful thing I will do to you"
"H-he set out for the palace sometime after he had gotten w-word you had left" he stammered out, managing to anger me the more with his persistent whimpering.
"He went to the castle" Ryker spoke out, making me turn to him. His gaze s
taring into the distance as worry set on his features. "For revenge"
At that moment the loud cry came again this time it was louder and it made my heart squeeze and I felt an overwhelming feeling of pain and anguish wash over me, almost knocking me over. Ryker and I gave each other a knowing look.
"How did he get there so fast?" Ryker asked, his eyes drifting to the now bleeding Isaiah.
"He cut through the forest. T-there's a faster route there but it's d-dense and dangerous" he coughed out, blood dribbling to his jaw. Without hesitation I flung his body to the side, willing my body to not give up to the pain I felt weighing heavy on my chest. Images flashed behind my eye lids, images of Audrey in danger and Vandal that bastard was on top of her. Putting his hands on mine.