78__Reviving hope

King Kendrick eyed his eldest daughter with unhidden triumph from his throne. “Well then? Come running back, have you?”

Natalia tilted her head with an expressionless face, her hands held behind her back and her feet shoulder width apart like a soldier. “I haven’t come running back at all. There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding.”

Her father laughed heartily, stroking his giant beard. “Nonsense! The day you requested to visit us, I knew it was only a matter of time before you came crawling on hands and knees to beg for forgiveness!”

“I didn’t ask to visit you,” Natalia started irately. Trailing off, she sighed. Of course. Her father wouldn’t have sent her that summoning she’d received.

The realization was just another bitter thing she would be forced to accept, on top of everything else. Her and Raiden’s visit to Gadon had been a setup. Whoever had sent her the summons and sent her father the request for visitation had set it up with the intention of killing them in the accident.

A particular blue-eyed face filled her mind and Natalia’s hands clenched into fists behind her back.

“Forget it,” she muttered. “I have a few things to discuss.”

“I will not forgive you easily!” declared her father with a deep frown. “You will have to pay dearly for all your crimes before I can—"

“Save it,” Natalia bit out. “I couldn’t give a damn if you forgave me or not.”

The king blinked. “What?”

“I’m going to the kingdom of Cassius, I’m not sure how long my quest will take me, but I’m hoping its only a day. When I return, Amethyst will be well and then I will take my sisters and my mother and we will leave.”

King Kendrick’s face blanched. “How dare you? You have not yet discarded those foolish and childish goals?”

“Not at all,” she said flatly. “I will take them to the furthest kingdom I can find and you’ll never see them again.”

“Leave me your mother.”

“I’m taking *everyone* and if I feel they’re safe enough in our new home, perhaps I’ll come back and snatch that throne away from you.” Her father’s eyes widened then and Natalia was convinced that he knew she could do it. He’d seen how much she’d grown and changed, how strong she’d become. He wouldn’t risk kindling her anger. She smiled. “You know very well what I’m capable of, Father.”

“What are your demands?” he murmured quietly.

Natalia's smile widened. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out an aged scroll and stretched it out to look at the writing with disdain. “This entire list of possible marriage arrangement. Burn it.”

He scoffed. “What?! Have you any idea what power can be gained from union with any one of those kingdoms?!”

“Burn it! Or I’ll burn your crown and take your throne!”

At that, he visibly tensed, lowering his furious gaze. She had him caught in a corner, forcing him to choose between two things he could not abandon.

Natalia waited patiently. He had no choice.

With a rough clearing of his throat, he glared down at her. “Very well… you brat. I will forfeit my plans for your sisters’ marriages and thereby accept to lead a kingdom of no power and no allies. Stay away from my throne and… leave them with me.”

“Only mother,” said Natalia. “She chooses to stay. Her pity for your pathetic existence must override her need for freedom.” He stared deeply at her, but Natalia was not sorry for her words. They were true after all. He was pathetic and somewhere along the lines, her mother’s love for him had turned into pity. She sighed. “But my sisters go with me, as soon as I return from Cassius. I will not take them far away from our mother so I will purchased a large castle under the jurisdiction of Gadon so that they can see her whenever they wish. If any of your henchmen appear on my property, I’ll cut their heads off and make you eat them. Are we clear?”

King Kendrick stared at her, dumbfounded.

This girl. She was his descendant? By what stroke of bad luck?

When he only stared at her with wide eyes and pale, sunken cheeks, Natalia noted his agreement to her terms and excused herself from his presence.

Without wasting anymore time, she exited her parent’s home. Her mother and sisters had made her lose a day with their insistence that she rest for a day before going to Cassius and now she was even more anxious about the whole trip.

It didn’t help that she knew within herself that, once this was taken care of and Amie was okay, she would be having a giant mental breakdown over Raiden.

Raiden.

Natalia’s marching feet began to slow down and then they stopped, just at the bottom of the front stairs.

It was only a few days ago that she’d seen him, held him. In a few days, she would be coming to terms with the fact that she probably would never do so again.

“What are you doing? I haven’t got all day.”

Blinking, Natalia looked up. Her brows rose at the horse and rider who lingered beside Pepper. “What the heck are you doing here, you bozo?”

Aspen scoffed and glared at her. “Guess where I’ve just come from? That’s right. Zaire.”

She pressed her lips together, avoiding his gaze.

“Exactly,” said Aspen. “You’ve been keeping me out of your life lately and not telling me anything, so I thought I’d be the example of a good friend before I decide to cut you off for good!”

She blinked at his little outburst and then smiled. “Aw, you’re accompanying me to Cassius?”

“Hush and get on the horse, Natalia.”

With a nod, she jogged over and mounted Pepper, lightly shoving Aspen in the arm. She knew he would want to discuss what happened in Zaire and whether she was okay, but Natalia didn’t think she could handle discussing that right now. How could she, when she hadn’t even come to terms with it herself? “How long do you think it’ll take us?”

Turning his own horse, Aspen shrugged a shoulder. “Half a day to arrive, probably the same amount of time to find and see someone powerful enough for what you need.”

He looked over at her and met her gaze. Natalia nodded. They’d get it done, no matter what. Luckily, she wouldn’t have to be alone. Aspen was here and Natalia was grateful for it, but she didn’t need to tell him. She smiled her at her best friend. He already knew.

************

Arroe handed Cyrus the file, lowering his head in a bow as he did so.

Awkwardly, the Beta Prince took the folder, opening it up to the first page.

Arroe and Eroz stood in his personal office and he didn’t know how to feel about it. They had asked for permission to enter his castle and Cyrus had ordered his servants to let them in. However, now that they stood here before him, he had the odd urge to kick them out. He wasn't used to having people in his castle.

The respect they now treated him with didn’t ease his discomfort. On the contrary. The only thing that made him okay with it all was the ghastly bruising on their faces.

It might be a little twisted, but their bruises reminded Cyrus that Raiden had damn nearly killed them for what had happened in the past and that meant Raiden was on his side. That was enough to make Cyrus happy enough to look the Alphas in their faces with no fear whatsoever.

“I’m not sure what to do with this?” he said, glancing up at Arroe.

The alpha exchanged looks with Eroz and they hesitated.

“You see,” began Arroe. “Raiden has signed off on some stuff. Right there, that’s his signature.”

“And?” said Cyrus. “Isn’t that one of his responsibilities? To sign off on big decisions?”

“He signed the wrong thing,” clarified Eroz. “The file contains the method we’ve chosen and all the others we’ve rejected due to certain reasons that endanger the kingdom. Alpha Raiden has signed off on one of the rejected methods.”

Cyrus double checked the documents and raised a brow. “Oh.”

“It’s happened a lot, in the past few days,” said Arroe. “Mistakes like these are dangerous and it’s really not typical of Raiden to make them. Perhaps… he isn’t okay since Natalia left…”

“That’s obviously the reason,” said Eroz. “Raiden is too stubborn to admit it. He locks himself in his office and signs off on things that could burn his kingdom to the ground without even knowing it. Had Arroe’s Beta not pointed this out to him, these plans could have been carried out, endangering the entire kingdom.”

It was all Cyrus needed to hear. With a sigh, he stood and looked at the men. “I’ll see him, correct this error and then let you know if he’s sane or if we need a new Alpha King.”

Both guys froze, staring at him with wide eyes.

Cyrus blinked. “I’m joking.”

“Oh…” said Arroe.

Escaping the awkward atmosphere, Cyrus nodded and left the office. Raiden needed a talking to and he needed one now.

When he reached the main castle and went up to Raiden’s office, he found a furious Veronica pounding on the door.

“I’ll have my vengeance!” she shouted.

“What on earth?”

Nicki spun around at the sound of her other brother’s voice. “Oh. You’re here? Please go in there and tell our brother that he has succeeded in turning me into a ball of vengeful misery!”

Cyrus pushed a blonde strand out of his eye with a sigh. “What are you talking about?”

Her eyes filled with tears and her lips pressed together with sadness. “Just… just tell him to give me permission to go and travel the world before I die in this lonely castle.”

Deciding to not draw out the conversation any longer, Cyrus nodded and pet her on the head. “Okay, I shall. Anything else?”

“Tell him I’ll give him five days to return to me either Natalia, Milana or Evelynn. Preferably Milana. Also, I demand an explanation for their disappearances!”

Cyrus nodded. “I’ll let him know. Go on and rest now.”

Sniffling and wiping away a tear, she stomped away with angry mumbles.

Pursing his lips, Cyrus stepped forward and knocked twice on the door.

There was a sharp “click” as the door unlocked.

Taking the handle, he slowly turned it and pushed the door open. The dark energy in the room washed out and nearly choked him to death.

Coughing, Cyrus opened the door wider and stepped into the dimly lit office.

Turning to the left, he looked all the way to Raiden’s table and the awful looking man who sat there.

“Excuse me?” said Cyrus. “I’m not certain if I’m familiar with the bearded tyrant before me, but have you seen my brother?”

Raising his tired gaze from the work before him and looked across his office. “Cyrus.”

Cyrus made a face. “Shouldn’t I be the one wallowing about in darkness, given what transpired recently?”

Sighing, Raiden shook his head and ran a hand down his face and through the beard that had grown miraculously fast. “Come in before Nicki comes back. Are you okay?”

Cyrus closed and locked the door and then gingerly made his way through the shattered glass and broken furniture scattered about the floor. “I’m perfectly fine, worry about yourself.” With a huff, he stopped walking and looked at Raiden. “If you miss her so much, go and get her? Don’t Alphas haunt their mates till their dying day?”

Raiden’s jaw clenched and his hand paused over the book he held. “I… have work to do. For the sake of Zaire, I must work through these—"

“For the sake of Zaire, stop working,” said Cyrus. He put the folder on Raiden’s table and slid it over. “If you sign off on one more wrong thing, there won’t be a Kingdom to work for. I, personally, don’t fancy the idea of being homeless, even if Nicki suddenly wants to be a Nomad.”

“Are you certain you’re okay?” asked Raiden, double checking what he’d signed.

“I’m fine,” said Cyrus. “And I plan to get even better from now on, so stop avoiding the point.”

“Let Arroe draft new ones,” said Raiden about the documents. “I’ll be careful signing next time.”

“You haven’t told us why Natalia left.”

Raiden pressed his lips tightly together. “There is no point.”

“So I guess you’ll just die?”

Pausing, Raiden looked up and met his gaze, dead serious. “I guess so too.”

Cyrus blinked, surprised that he agreed. He looked at his brother’s haggard state, the wrecked state of the room in and the stench of alcohol in the room.

“It’s only been two weeks. Look at you. You think you can live without her?”

“I know I can’t.”

“And?” demanded Cyrus. “Why do Nicki and I have to suffer with your murderous aura filling the castle when you could just end your misery and get her back?”

“I’ll stay out of your way.”

“And lock yourself up here to die, perfect plan.” Leaning forward, Cyrus reached over and knocked his knuckles against Raiden’s table until his brother met his gaze. “Go… and get her… back.”

“No.”

“Raiden-”

“I won’t do it, Cyrus! There is very little that is more painful than losing your mate. One of those is having your mate and being the source of their pain. I will not hurt my Natalia, I refuse to. Unless she took me back, unless she accepted me… I will not bother her. I’m not worthy of her.”

Cyrus raised a brow. "Oh, yeah? So you're staying away from her no matter what?"

"Yes."

"Even if she's in danger?"

"Ye-" Raiden paused. Looking up, he stared at Cyrus. "What? What do you mean? What happened to Natalia?"

Cyrus cleared his throat and studied his nails. "I reached out to Prince Aspen of Edon. I was told he wasn't home. He had to rush to Natalia's rescue because she was ccornered."

Raiden stood up so fast, his chair fell over. "What? By who?"

Cyrus looked at him. "The fallen alphas."

*********************

Jade had already packed all her bags, much to her mother’s shock. “I thought my lovely Jade would like to stay with mummy.”

Jade glanced at her mother as she heaved her last suitcase to the centre of her and Amie’s bedroom. “Not a chance, Mother! I love you, but being with Natalia means sweet freedom!”

“Watch your tongue,” scolded Milana, glaring at her sister while she brushed Amie’s hair.

Monica shook her head with a soft smile. “No, Lana, it’s alright. Let her be happy.”

“Is Natalia nearly back?” asked Amethyst.

Milana looked down into her clear green eyes and nodded. “She should be home soon. It took far longer than expected, but she finally got it done. As soon as she arrives, you’ll be healed.”

Jade squealed with excitement and danced a graceful twirl in the centre of the room as their mother chuckled.

A sudden melody filled the entire house and the girls looked up in expectation.

Milana gasped. “The doorbell!”

“Talia is back!” said their mother, getting up and rushing out of the room.

Excitement fuelled her rapid steps as she descended the stairs and ran across the front hall. Oh, finally. Finally Amie would be well!

“Talia!” cried Monica happily. Grabbing the handles, she wrenched open the front doors.

The Queen paused, her smile freezing on her face. There was a nasty storm today, rain pouring in sheets from the sky.

That wasn’t what got her attention, however. What had the Queen of Gadon staring in shock was the giant man who stood on her doorstep, towering over her and staring at her. He dripped wet from the rain and yet stared calmly at her with silver eyes framed by wet, black lashes.

“A… Alpha Raiden…”