The Blood King's Bride
Chapter Sixty Five

Calhoun looked at Elena, a bit confused.

"Where you are from doesn't change anything for me, love. You might be the daughter of a killer and I would still love you."

"That's the thing," Elena replied, dragging her hands across her hair. "I am the daughter of a killer."

Calhoun faced Elena intensely, a worried look overtaking his face, but he remained quiet. "You asked me why I never wanted to talk of the blood king. Well, it's because of my father. My father wanted to send me to you as a peace offering."

"A peace offering?" Calhoun said, confused.

"Yeah. His wife, my stepmother wanted to get rid of me. Rumours had it that whoever entered your kingdom can never get out..."

"That's not a lie," Calhoun hummed.

"And so she sort to send me to you as a bride, more so for the fact that I wouldn't be able

to escape once I entered your kingdom. Before I knew you, I thought you were a masochist, blood loving, demon."

"Ouch," Calhoun said, pouting. Elena just chuckled. She reached out to pat his cheeks.

"I know better now." She whispered, causing Calhoun to smile.

"I decided to run away from my castle." She continued. "I was carrying out my flight

when the whispered voices of two maids reached my ears, and I heard the details of how my

mother was killed. It was never a natural death."

"Elena," Calhoun whispered, his voice comforting. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through all these alone."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry," Elena said, looking at Calhoun gently. "I would get

stronger, and I would defeat him." Calhoun nodded his head encouragingly. He dragged Elena to

his side and touched her softly. Although he wasn't happy with all the things his bride had gone through, he was pleased that it brought her to him in the end.

"Calhoun, I just realized that you said something about being powerful." Elena slowly

pulled away from him, facing him with curious eyes. "Are the rumours true? About you possessing extraordinary powers?"

Calhoun looked at her softly, though no other emotion betrayed his face. He wondered

just how much he should tell her about the extent of his powers, then he decided to go with the truth.

"Yes, I have powers. In a way, they are similar to Firoza's, in the sense that it makes use

of blood. Firoza controls people by using their blood and I become stronger by absorbing the essence of the blood."

"What does that mean?" Elena looked at him, confused.

"It means that I become more powerful if a person dies and spills his blood. I become

even stronger when the death is caused by me."

"Wow. Do you absorb it often?"

Calhoun nodded his head. "I find it hard to control it. My father had told me that if I don't

find my bride by my twenty-seventh birthday, the blood essence I have absorbed would eat at me

till I die. You have no idea how extremely grateful I am to you for marrying me. Not only do you agree to stay with me because you love me, but you're also literally saving my life." Elena leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. "You saved my life too." She whispered. "So, how would I help you save your life?"

"That's where our wedding comes in. A blood ritual would be done, binding us together. When it happens, I would have full control of my powers. It would also make you stronger in a way. Legend has it that if both of us are on the battleground, my power can assist you by making you stronger than you are. But no one knows how true that is. My mother isn't a fighter and so she never cared to find out."

"Well, we will just have to find out wouldn't we?" Elena said, smiling mischievously.

They lay back down on the bed and snuggled next to the other, remaining in each other's embrace as time flew by.

*****

Elena returned to the room she shared with Elion and Forest. She was greeted by their curious gaze, and once they had a good look at her, they smiled mischievously.

"Wow, rough day," Forest said teasingly, taking in her rough appearance. Elena blushed heavily. She had barely made it out of Calhoun's room in time for her training. Calhoun didn't want her to leave without kissing her, one which slowly turned mind-numbing once it started. She would have forgotten about her practice had a maid not knocked on his door, telling him he had a guest waiting for him. Elena quickly ran out of his room, grateful that there was no one in the hallway when she got out. But she forgot that she was ravaged and was only reminded by Forest and Elion's sly look.

Quickly brushing her hands down her dress, she walked to where she kept her training outfit.

"It was nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing." Elion countered. "You look properly ravaged."

Elena couldn't stop the blush that spread down to her neck.

"Come on, tell us what happened. I was after all the one who helped to bring you guys

back together after all." Forest said, pouting.

Excitement had Elena turning to face the both of them quickly.

"We are getting married!" She blurted out. The mouths of her friends hung open.

"What?" Elion said slowly. Elena went ahead to tell them how he had proposed to her and

how she had said to him that they were moving too fast and his response to it.

"Wow. The blood kingdom men sure move fast." Elion said thoughtfully. Forest and

Elena faced her, suspicion lined on their expressions.

"Is there something you aren't telling us, sis?"

"What do you mean?" Elion asked, almost panicked.

"You're hiding something," Elena noted. "What is it? Come out with it. We are all

sharing after all."

Elion sighed and rested her head on her outstretched palm.

"Aaron asked to court me today. In front of all his companions."

"What?"

"Yes," Elion replied, sighing. "I didn't want to embarrass him, so I accepted his proposal

instead. I was afraid that had I said no, he wouldn't have been coming to practice again. I guess

he was trying to prove a point to his colleagues and gain me at the same time."

Forest laughed loudly, and Elena joined him, chuckling just as loud.

"What?" Elion said, annoyed.

"If I have learnt anything about you so far sis, is that you don't allow anyone or any

situation to make decisions for you. If you seriously had no feelings for Aaron, who wouldn't

have accepted his proposal, damn his colleagues."

"Yeah," Elena backed up. "Don't think that I don't notice the extra glances you give Aaron. For all your hardcore appearance, you are like putty clay when next to Aaron." "Hey!" Elion exclaimed, blushing heavily.

"Let's just get prepared for training," Elena said, mirth clouding her eyes.

"I can't wait to see how it works out."

*****

The training went on strangely as normal. If one excluded the loving gazes Aaron was always passing Elion, the training went fine.

They had made use of their real swords for the practice fight. Aaron wanted them to get used to the feel of their swords when fighting.

"It is very easy to take a life." Aaron had said seriously. "Our swords are heavy. But

when we take the lives of innocent ones, it becomes heavier in our hands. Remember, our swords are an extension of ourselves, our conscience included. So unless we get rid of our conscience,

we would always feel the weight of our actions on our swords. Getting rid of our consciences is the worst option for us too. If we do that, we strip ourselves of our humanity and become plain evil."

What Aaron had said resonated with her. Had her father lost his conscience? She found herself asking. Because no matter how much she looked at it, she couldn't imagine her mother marrying the man she called a father if she knew how he honestly behaved.

She also often wondered about her stepmother. Where had she come from? How did she enter into the mix between her mother and father? Elena shook her head. She didn't want to think

of all those things. Whether her father was once a good man or not didn't change the fact that he had a hand in her mother's death. She was going to get her revenge.

After her training exercise, she was heading to her room when she caught Firoza walking alone in the hallway, looking behind her to check if anyone was following her. Elion hadn't returned with her because she wanted to spend some time with her newly acquired beau. What are you up to, Firoza? Elena thought as she watched her enter a room.

*****

She had a purpose, Firoza thought after safely reaching the meeting room where they waited for her. No matter how much she liked Calhoun, she still had a job to do in his kingdom. Perhaps the unseen being may be kind to her and reward her by sparing his life, but first, she had to bring the kingdom under his control.

"Thank you all for coming here." She said with a smile, facing the advisors of the king's

court who opposed the king's policies.

"My lady," One said, looking at her with suspicion. "Why have you called us?"

Firoza looked at him, smiling broadly.

"You all know of my engagement to the king." She started. "When I first came here, I

was but a shy woman, who had no idea what to do in front of her lover's people. But if I have

learnt anything from the people of the blood kingdom, is that you appreciate boldness. And so I have become bold, for you all."

"Thank you, my lady." The man replied. "But you need not go through all these problems for us. We would have accepted you anyways."

"I have come to notice and understand a few things." Firoza's face became serious.

"You see, I love my king, but we disagree on so many things. Like his policies for example. He just simply shunned me away when I gave him my advice. Now you might be wondering why I am annoyed with that, but where I am from, I am royalty. My forefathers have rule like him and failed. The only way to gain full respect of the people is through the method I appraised, the policies you push for." She said, looking at them suggestively. The politicians all looked at themselves, gauging each other's expressions.

"What are you trying to say, my lady?" Another man boldly asked from behind. Firoza merely smiled.

"I am saying that I was hurt my lover picked his politicians over me. If no one can help him to see the light, what else is my use to him then?"

"What do you propose to do?" Someone asked from the back. Elena studied him. His eyes held wisdom beyond his years and a cunningness she was yet to see in the eyes of anyone in the blood kingdom. But despite his appearance, Elena knew that he would fall in the face of true power. She smiled as she faced him. He was the smart one, the true leader of the group. Only he was able to quickly state his mind after getting the hidden meanings behind her words. If she can get to him, she can control his whole faction.

"My husband works well with force. If we can get rid of the faction he so embraces, he

would be forced to listen to you."

The silence was deafening.

"My lady," The leader said. "I know you probably know about this, but our king isn't just

any man. He possesses powers beyond our comprehension. If we dare to go against him, no

matter how tempting your offer, we all lose our heads."

Firoza smiled brightly, mischief and evilness suddenly surrounding her.

"Who said I can't make you powerful?" She asked. "I can make your strength rival that of the blood king. Do you want me to prove it to you?"