139. A Tale of Azure: Part Two
Licking his lips, his eyes shifted as he kept gathering what he knew. “The king was told of the incident and banished the queen deep into the outskirt palace where no one was allowed to ever enter or leave out of. The queen was forced to spend her remaining days in the outskirt palace. The night of her first full moon, as she was going through the trails of her very first shift, she had gone into a forced labor, bringing forth the Crown Prince.”
“She never got to fully shift as the blood loss was too great and she died before she was ever to hold her child. Crown Prince Azure was born. He was just nineteen years old when Moon Goddess Selene asked for his help, for dealing with Lycaon once and for all.”
Oh. Somehow, I had a feeling that was who he was. But there was more to this story and prince Z wasn’t finished.
“When Azure came back from his study abroad and learning to accept who he was, he discovered a new skill that he wasn’t aware of.” Z smiles then, making us widen our eyes at his sudden change of mood.
“The Mate Bond.” He softly says happily.
“He had found a human mate?” Nami asks in disbelief.
Z nods. “The very first Mate Bond of our kind.” He says with pride, but then his demeanor changes once more. “Azure wasn’t fully aware of what that bond represented however, and although he was completely in love, there was one fatal flaw.”
His eyes became sad then. “His mate just so happened to be one of the soon to be Crown Princess’s palace maids.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t help saying aloud.
“Is that bad?”
We all jump at the young voice and swing our bodies and eyes to Jonah, who was wide awake and lying on his stomach just a few feet away.
“Jonah!” I whisper yell at him.
He slightly shrinks back at my reprimanding tone. “What? You guys woke me up and I couldn’t fall back to sleep.” He shrugs.
More like he overheard what the prince was saying and got a little too curious. I was just about to tell him to scram when Z smiles once again and urges him to come join us.
“No point in sending him away. He’s heard most of it anyways.” He shrugs as well.
Wait a minute, did he know Jonah was eavesdropping this entire time? Geeze the two of them were really alike.
“The reason its bad that the Crown Prince’s mate is a royal palace maid is because, just that. She is way beneath his station and in those ancient times it was blasphemy against the Crown and against the religious temples.” Rufus suddenly speaks up, looking at the young boy, who quickly sat next to Z’s side with wide curious eyes.
“What happens if they were ever found out?” He asks next.
We all look to Z again, who shifts in his position, highly uncomfortable. “Well, that was the problem actually. They were found out and by his tyrant of a father no less. She was banished from their land. The king sold her off into slavery and sent her very far away all without Azure knowing.”
He looks ahead at the fire again. “Upon learning what his father had done, he went into a rage and disregarded his position, his people, and his kingdom to rescue her. But it was years before he could find her whereabouts, and once he did…”
He sighs deeply, looking back up at us again. “No one actually knows what had happened to her. Some say she starved to death, being mistreated by the ones who bought her, others say she just simply disappeared to never be seen again. But according to the handwritten book in the secret royal chamber, Azure grew angry, bitter, and completely insane. He slaughtered every man that dealt with the slavery, slaughtered them and their families, whether they were women or children.”
“He went back to his kingdom and killed his father, his intended, her maids. Goddess Selene knew she had to intervene before his soul was any more damaged for what he was doing. So, she gathered four humans who were the closest to Azure. Four individuals who would consider his closest companions before his rage took over.”
“With their help, Goddess Selene was able to corner Azure and strip him of the abilities he was born with and had abused. The powers were too great for one single person to hold alone, which is why she asked for four. One for each ability Azure had acquired. Azure didn’t die however and together they agreed the White wolf, who was another prince from a different realm, our realm, to safeguard Azure deep underneath his castle where he could never be revived again.”
Once he was done none of us said a word. The story seemed…well. Just a story. It almost sounded make believe. But the way he spoke the words, I knew deep in my heart they were true. Looking at everyone else I could sense they all felt the same way.
For a long while we just sat there, each of us in our own thoughts.
“So then, what exactly does the Ambassador hope to accomplish by waking up this out of control werewolf?” A very strong, groggy voice reverberates through the tunnels and off the walls.
We once again look right back to the section we had found Jonah. I gasp, scrambling to get up with relief overthrowing my entire being.
“Shane!” I run straight to him, wrapping my arms around his torso.
He clutches me to him, looking down at me in the oddest way. It was a strange look, but not one that made me feel uncomfortable. He gently smiles at me and I could tell he was still quite exhausted and weak. His legs wobbled just a bit.
“Glad to see you’re doing much better.” Derek breathes a sigh of relief as well.
Derek, Benji, and Trevor all quickly come up to us to check him over. “How are you feeling?” Trevor asks with concern in his eyes.
“Different. But…I think I’ll be okay.” He looks away from him and straight back at the young prince. “Please answer my question your highness. What happens when this Azure awakens and how does this benefit Ambassador Victor?”
I look back at Z, who was now standing with his Elite men, all looking to Shane now. Standing to his full height he doesn’t hesitate.
“Victor plans to steal our abilities and give them back to Azure as a bargaining deal to help him become the new King of the werewolves.”