Asking the Obvious!!

**Nora’s POV**

“Let’s go before a search and rescue operation is called for us,” Ronin said, kissing my forehead while giving me a soft shoulder squeeze. I opened my eyes and looked around and was surprised to see dawn had fallen upon us so sooner. I gave a slight smile, and he helped me on my feet.

“I love you”, He whispered through my ears with his lips brushing my cheek. The heat rushed to put some colour in my cheeks, making them ten shades redder. He gave a bad boy grin as if reading my mind.

“Come,” He extended his hand to grab mine and led me to the cave.

“What the hell is this!? What is she doing with you?” Sypha pounced on us as soon as she saw me with Ronin. She grabbed my hand and yanked me away from him before pushing me on the opposite side. Luckily Meghan was there to catch me before I hit the rough wall of the cave and bruised my side or maybe, worse, bump my head.

“Sypha! Are you out of your mind? We both have solved our misunderstandings and won’t appreciate the interference of others. Please leave us alone,” Ronin warned her, looking over at me with concern in his eyes.

I blinked my eyes and mouthed him; I am okay. He calmed down and looked over to search Zach to avoid talking to Sypha. She grabbed Ronin’s hand and spat back at him, ‘I am not done yet! Listen to me! This bloody witch is playing with your emotions. If losing your power is not bad enough, you lost your mind as well. If your memory is so weak, then let me remind you that yesterday night she slept with your brother!” She screamed, and the echo of her voice vibrated through the cave.

“Bam…” A tight slap landed on her face. It was a head-turning slap as her jaw bounced in the other direction, whereas her eyes widened in shock. She almost lost her footing and was about to fall. We all stood frozen, not because of that slap that landed on her face; of course, she deserved it, but what shocked us all was the person from whom she received the slap. I thought it would be Ronin, as he is always notorious for losing his patience, but to my surprise, it was Rorik. Sypha covered her mouth with her hand, and a wave of disbelief swept through her eyes. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, and she angrily ran away from there.

“Rorik! Why would you do that? I was handling her. She is our little sister,” Ronin shouted at him.

“I saw how successful you were in handling her. And get this in your mind, she may be our little sister, but she is not little anymore. If she doesn’t mend her ways, then I will handle her,” Rorik snapped back at him and went on to help Liam in preparing the food.

Meghan dragged me near her, “Something has been wrong with Rorik since yesterday. He is not himself. I never saw him losing patience”, she muttered in my ear. I looked at Rorik, searching for any hint of a yellowish glint in his eyes, but there was none. He was not under the influence of Dark Prince, then what could be wrong with him.

“Re!” Vena rushed from the opposite side and halted near me, “So wanna share about last night?” She clicked her tongue and giggled like a teenage girl. She thumped on my shoulder and gave me a teasing smile. I blushed, nodding my head for a no.

Her face falls instantly in disappointment, “You have become so boring!” She snapped at me. Ronin was amused by her antics and tried to move away from her as she deliberately blocked his way. But before he could do that, she again stepped in front of him. Ronin moved sideways to escape from her, but she crossed her limits this time. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her.

“Can you please stop doing this?” Ronin warned her in frustration, jerking her hand off his. She gave him an intense look that was totally out of her flirty and giggling character. I was shocked by the sudden turn in her attitude, but I still didn’t know much about her and this place, and she was the only option if I wanted to know more details, so I had to be careful with her.

“Come on, Vena. Let him go. I wanna talk to you,” I interfered much to the relief of Ronin. Vena frowned a bit but then decided to let him go. Ronin gave me a warning look before joining Zach.

I, Meghan and Vena sat at the far end of the cave, away from the prying ears, as I wanted to keep our conversation a secret. Vena was still seductively gazing at Ronin from a distance as if she would eat him raw.

“Vena! Please stop doing this. He is not a flirtatious kind of guy. Stay away from him and tell me more about Dasan and Ornith,” I snapped at her, almost hanging on the edge of my patience, showing my annoyance at the way she was looking at my Ronin. I don’t know why, and maybe I am wrong, but this thought is constantly creeping into my mind like the wild flames that Vena has forbidden desires for Ronin. She is pretending in front of everyone that it is just innocent flirting, but I cannot accept this, as deep down, I know that she has some sinful thoughts for him. She may not be an enemy now but can soon turn to be a fatal one. I had to keep my eyes open and my senses on alert around her. To add to my frustration and annoyance, she was still drinking at the sight of Ronin. I looked at Meghan with shocking expressions. She was also thinking the same as me.

“Vena! I asked you something?” I told her again, but this time in a slightly raised voice.

“I am not deaf. I heard it the first time. Stop shouting at me!” She screamed, looking my way with a deathly glare. There was a threat in her tone and wildness in her unsettling demeanour, as if she loathes me and won’t blink an eye if she had a chance to kill me. The shock and frown on mine and Meghan’s eyes made her realize her mistake. She instantly calmed down and wore a widened smile on her face, but I swear she was faking it, and I know Meghan also noticed it, but before she decided to give Vena piece of mind, I blinked my eyes twice at her as a signal to keep quiet. Meghan bit her lip in response.

“Okay! So, you want to know about your ex-boyfriend! Oh, sorry, your boyfriends in a previous life. Uh Well! They both were rugged-faced, cold-hearted bastards, more like warrior types than romantic ones. Well! They were romantic in the bedroom, you know what I mean, but didn’t show in front of others. They hardly trusted anyone, mostly keeping to themselves. They both were possessive of you and didn’t like the closeness we shared. I hated them, and the same can be said for them as well. Both were involved in your death!” she told us with an anger-filled tone. She paused for a few seconds before continuing, “By the way, where is that smugly bastard Dasan? Is he alive or died like a swine he was?” She asked.

“He is alive and on Crixus!” I replied. “So selfish of him! Bastard and a filthy creature, he is!” She muttered in a rough tone.

“Vena! Okay, let me rephrase the question. Can you tell me about Dasan’s plan that Rebekah told you? I don’t want their character certification as my dreams feed me enough information about their bedroom and battle-field talents,” I directly threw my question at her in the same tone she was replying to me. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to check whether she was trustworthy or not.

She flinched a bit on my upfront question. She pretends to look dumb for a few moments, and she grazes here and there, and the reason can be either she is avoiding giving me an answer, or she is stalling the time to create some fake story. I was beginning to feel that she was not on our side. Even after a long pause, she didn’t start answering. And again, her eyes locked at Ronin, like a hungry bear eyeing the pot of honey.

“Was the plan to lure Ornith here? So that Dark Prince can take over his body?” I initiated the conversation when she failed to do so.

“Yes, maybe, I don’t remember exactly. That was too many years back. My memory is not as sharp as it was before. I tend to forget a lot!” She replied, and she knew it well, that we didn’t buy her story, but she was completely unfazed and refused to turn away from looking at Ronin.

“But what motive did this plan serve to Dasan? He loved Rebekah! So why was he helping Dark Prince?” I asked her.

“Oh, now I remember! That was only a part of the plan. The other part was to kill both Dark Prince and Ornith. Dark Prince can be killed only if he is in someone’s body. In this case, the host was Ornith. So Dasan planned to kill Dark Prince along with Ornith. You know that saying, kill two birds with one stone!” She replied with a smirk on her face. Okay, so she passed this test. But I have to pretend that I know nothing.

“Oh! That’s a shocker. I mean, not the plan, but how was Dasan going to kill Ornith? Isn’t three-head serpent the most dreaded creature?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. Maybe, he was nuts even to think that he will be able to kill Dark Prince and Ornith,” Vena smirked.

“So, then? I understand that Dasan’s plan failed as both Dark Prince and Ornith lived after that. Did Dark Prince take over Ornith’s body and go back to Crixus?” I asked.

“No! Dark prince was not able to get into Ornith’s body,” she said.

“Why?” I asked, and now this was a genuine question, raising my curiosity.

“Dark Prince can only control the host if it’s vulnerable. Ornith was too strong; his mental walls were almost impossible to control, so Dark Prince’s plan also failed.” She said, trying to sound happy.

“But why did Ornith kill Rebekah?” I asked, as the mystery of this question is still lurking like a hungry spider crawling my brains.

“Nobody knows that, except for Ornith, Rebekah and Ozarius. Maybe, your dreams or visions can answer that,” She answered smartly. I was unsure whether she was lying or didn’t know because her face was neutral while answering that question.

“Okay, one last question. How is Ornith related to Dark Prince?”