The Blood King's Bride
Chapter Seventy Seven

The Allikan warriors were confused at the screaming that suffocated the air in the

kingdom they surrounded. They even became more confused at the abrupt quiet that followed it. The quiet lasted for hours. Not a sight could be seen on the roads of the city. Their general was in meditation and could not be disturbed.

"What is going on?" a warrior placed outside the castle walls asked. The guards who

were supposed to have assisted them haven't resumed with them for a long time. "Let's go and check it out."

"I'll stay here. You go." The other said. Nodding, he picked up his staff and left. He

entered the castle grounds and roamed the castle halls. The sun had begun to set, preparing for the night. The day was strange. He didn't like the lisp of fear that caressed his skin as he strolled down the halls.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He arrived at the servants' quarters, and there was not a soul in sight. It was unusually empty and silent for a place that was usually bustling with people. He went to a door and paused, hesitating, then immediately swallowed the fear that overcame him and burst into the room.

He was an Allikan warrior, the best of his kind. He would not be subjected to the fear of people he could easily crush by hand.

Unfortunately for him, that would be the last thought he ever had.

The other guard looked at the sky again. The sun had set, and the night had come. Just

where was the general when you needed him? He had always been against general Slovic's method of leading. To think he had been part of the opposition that ousted Daruki. That man was a better leader than they would ever have.

Annoyed, he took off to find his colleague on his own. He didn't like what was

happening. Something was very wrong somewhere, and he didn't like it. Not a single person had roamed the streets that day. Strangely, they hadn't even heard from their queen. He followed the same path as his friend and went straight to the servants' quarters. The hall was quiet. The unusual scene caused him to be on alert. That part of the palace was usually bustling with servants. It was strange to see the place as empty and quiet as a graveyard.

He was too late. He didn't see it. Couldn't have avoided it.

Just when he was about to open the first room door in the hallway, he felt a cold, sharp object pierce into and through his skin. And from the way his powers drastically left his body, he

knew immediately that it had been dipped into ash.

The last feeling as he collapsed to the floor would be of regret.

"My lord! My lord! We have a problem!"

Slovic sat up as the female soldier he was betrothed to barge into his room.

"How many times have I warned you not to enter unnecessarily?" he said, lazily covering

himself. He had been meditating for a while, an action that required him to be totally naked.

Though he didn't mind showcasing the strength of his body, he didn't like it when people disturbed his peace in the process.

"I'm sorry my lord, but this is a matter that cannot wait. Our men are missing." She blurted. Slovic paused in his action of dressing and turned to look at her.

"What do you mean, missing?"

She gulped. "Several of our warriors haven't been found in their post. From the look of it,

it has been for a long time. Another thing..." she paused.

"What is it? Speak up!" Slovic shouted, getting increasingly annoyed.

"T-The citizens of the kingdom. Something happened recently. They all screamed and

started shouting at once, all howling in extreme agony. Then they abruptly stopped. Since then,

we haven't seen nor heard from them."

Slovic's face fell slack, quickly turning pale. "They all screamed?" he questioned.

"Yes my lord." The female warrior replied, slowly getting scared. This was the first time

she had seen him react like that. She had never seen him feel so lost.

"No. no." he stammered, putting on his white robe. He remained quiet after that, quickly changing and taking a small dagger he hid in his robes.

The female had so many questions, but she had learned not to ask them in his case. Once

he stepped out of the room, she quickly followed him.

His room was in another wing of the castle but closer to his sister's branch. Once he

reached the hallways leading to her room, he immediately perceived the scent that accompanied

death. Still, he chose not to believe what his reasoning had concluded.

His sister couldn't be dead. He arrived there and didn't see a body but the pool of blood

that was right in front of his sister's room. He rushed into her room and found it empty.

"My lord," his female companion said. "There is a trail. Do you wish for me to follow

it?"

She wisely asked the question that way. She was not willing to admit that the queen, who would one day become her sister-in-law, was dead.

Once he nodded his head, she quickly started on her role. They walked down the empty hallways past the servant quarters for the high and low levels. The trail led them outside the castle, and if they were shocked that no guard or warrior stood in front of the gate, they didn't show it. They kept on following the trail till it led them straight to the forest entrance in the kingdom. Slovic was getting annoyed by the amount of time he was wasting, but hidden behind that annoyance, was fear. Fear that something terrible had happened to his sister. Still, he refused to believe it. All this was just a sick joke played by someone, and when he gets a hold of who the person is, that person will cry out to death like it's his saviour.

His dream was immediately squashed at the sight of the body on the ground, atop the

dirty earth and dead leaves. The scent of blood was overpowering, and the smell of slight decay accompanied it. He rushed to his sister's corpse and crouched next to her. She was white and pale, washed of blood, and her skin was cold. On her neck was a long line which he surmised was caused by a knife. His poor sister had died trying to stop the blood flow from her neck, as seen by her bloodied hands. Her eyes were wide open, and with simmering anger boiling inside him, he gently closed it.

He stood up and studied the environment she died in. His precious sister had been killed like a commoner, some even more degrading than that.

"Who did this?" he asked, his anger overpowering.

"I don't know, my Lord." His female soldier replied, her face pale. He studied his sister one final time before using his power to light her up. They watched as she burnt, their silence shimmering through the air. Once they were done, they started back to the castle.

"I want you to find out who did this. Make sure the person is still alive once you do. I would personally skin him off and see to his death." He declared, his eyes flaming with anger. They had finally reached the castle, and Slovic started heading towards his niece's room. The daughter of his late sister would need to be told what had happened to her mother. They arrived at her wing and were also greeted by the overpowering scent of death that followed them around. Shocked, Slovic quickly ran to his niece's room and barged inside, but it was too late.

She was killed in the same manner as her mother.

Outraged, he began to scream, kicking everything in his path before he became reasonable enough to walk to where his dead niece lay.

She was pure, he thought, so full of dreams. Who would be so evil to take the life of a pure being like her?

"Find me who did this." He said, pausing to close the eyes of the corpse." There would be

no peace till I find who had done this to them. Where is that bastard king?" he screamed.

His companion was about to answer when they both heard it.

It was unmistakably the angry sound of war.

They rushed to the window in the princess's room yet couldn't see anything except for the outside gardens.

Slovic came back to his niece's side, silently promising to come back and giving her a befitting burial. He then rushed out of the room, gently closing the door.

They ran to the enormous balcony in his niece's wing. There they were able to see what

was happening a bit clearer, and even then, the sight was enough to shock both of them to their

core.

Men, women, commoners, royals, soldiers all rallied the street to the castle. Some were

already inside the castle. He watched as his soldiers fell without a fight, as each died in bafflement. The last set was wise enough to know that it wasn't a moment of thinking and immediately began to attack, but even they couldn't stand against the power of a thousand

arrows.

"My Lord, do you smell that?" his companion asked. He immediately sniffed the air and smelt what he had been missing all along since the spectacle began.

"Ash. They are using ash to fight." He said, his voice grave. How were they able to know their weaknesses? They might be a new and improved version of their past sleeves, but even they couldn't stand a chance against a thousand arrows tipped with ash. The Pres citizens had gotten them cornered.

"How did they find out our weakness? Who would be so dumb to give it out!?" his companion asked, her fear finally visible in her voice. He didn't think it was one of his men who outed them. The coincidence was just too much for that. Someone who knew them well helped plan this. Immediately, he remembered when his sister told him that Darukï was alive. Frowning, he left the balcony and headed down to the battlefield. He didn't know what he was going up against, but he would find out.

He put on the hood that came with his white attire and headed straight for war.

The kingdom of Neba.

The King's Castle...

The people of Neba could all hear the cry of outrage from their neighbour. They could already scent that they were out of blood, and fortunately for them, it wasn't theirs. The ground vibrated in Neba as a result of their neighbour's walk.

The king and his son, Wazir, along with Daruki, Svetlana and her shirt spy partner, stood

in the king's study. The king wasn't behind his desk as he always was in most cases, yet he stood next to the window, watching the night sky and thinking about what he had caused and what he had uncovered in the process.

He had finally found out that the death of his daughter was a result of the devious queen. But still, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't get himself to forgive the king of Pres for what he had done to his daughter. He was sure that he could kill the man without blinking where the king of Pres would stand right in front of him. Looking at the night sky one final time, he turned back to face the people who stood in the room, each with an essential role for them to play. With his face grave, he walked a bit forward to his seat and took it, exuding a position of power.

With his face grave, he declared,

"Now, it's time for phase two."