THE MOON'S FALL

Chapter sixteen

Adriana's POV

The week has been normal. I serve the king his meal and sleep in my free time. He has been behaving weird since the day I brought his dinner late.

Our plan is coming together nicely. The necessary information has been acquired. The only part remaining is the execution.

Throughout this week, I've retired from duty earlier than everyone else. I waited at the dinner table for the others to join.

" Hey, how was your day? " Mira asked as she joined me at the table. " it's been alright. fortunately, nothing out of the normal happened " I answer honestly.

" where are the guys. they didn't eat dinner with us yesterday ", Mira asked concerned. I didn't think too much of it because I thought they saw each other during their rounds.

" I haven't seen them either " I tell her confused and worried about their whereabouts. If there's one thing I know that Jeremy loves more than women, it's his food. 'I hope they are just busy with work ' I say in an inaudible tone.

After dinner I stroll into the courtyard. I see a bench in front of the flowers I love to view. I sit on the bench and wait for the boys. A part of me feels like there's something wrong but I pray that I am the one that is wrong.

The flowers capture my senses and am lost in them. I didn't even notice someone standing behind me. " You still love them, don't you " my brother asks from behind me, bringing me back to reality.

Roses have always been my favourite kind of flower. I love the white breed but they were really scarce where we lived. Dad gave me my first white rose when I was 10. It shows how something can be so beautiful but very dangerous and delicate to touch, A deadly combination.

" Dad sends his greetings. How is Mira? " he asks. I notice something off about him. He is trying to hide something, emphasis on the ' trying '. " Mira is fine. Is everything alright ?" I ask him with concern obvious from my tone.

" Everything is fine. Why wouldn't things be? " he states with a fake smile. The smile confirms my suspicion. Something is definitely wrong. Luis never smiles and the only exception is 'Mira' or a happy family event.

" Where is Jeremy? I haven't seen him all week". I ask. He turned his face away then said " he's alright, he was tired so he decided to head straight to bed ". He was obviously lying. Turning his face gave him away. Dad taught us never to lie to the face of family.

" Lying doesn't really fit you. Firstly, Jeremy would never go to bed without eating. Secondly, He wouldn't stand me up on a meeting so are you going to tell me the truth or should I tell Mira that you do not know where her brother is ? " I ask him with a stern voice.

" I didn't want you to worry. Dad and I are handling it " he said as he turned to walk away. I reach for his and pull him back by his shirt. He turned back to face me. " you guys are not handling ( I say with an air quote gesture ) my friend without me " I say to him calmly.

I pull him towards the bench and signal for him to sit. We both sit down and he stares at me with evident confusion.

" When last did you see him ? " I ask trying to get details about his disappearance.

" After ground duty about three days ago, we came back to the room to clean up and get a change of clothes. All of a sudden some guards barged in and picked Jeremy up. I don't know what he did wrong because we are basically always together. we work and eat together so there's nothing he could have done without me knowing but please don't tell dad or Mira anything about this. I don't want them to worry or do something crazy. Don't do anything crazy, I am begging you " he says while holding my hands.

My thoughts are all over the place. " Why would Jeremy get arrested? " I ask myself. I keep trying to come up with a reason but nothing was coming to mind.

Then it hit me, If the guards arrested Jeremy that type of order can come from only one person, The king. Immediately a voice in my head repeated " Who the f**k were you with? ".

I abruptly stand up from the bench " I'll see you later " I say to Luis not having the strength to explain further. " Where are you going to" my brother asks with worry clear in hid tone.

" To find my best friend " I answer then walk straight back in to the house. I make sure Luis isn't following behind before walking down to his office. I am f*****g pissed at him. If he hurts Jeremy in any way, I'll go on a f*****g killing spree and murder a good number of his guards before they get to me.

Anger coursing through me as I bolt down the corridor. I get to his door then throw all caution through the window as I barge in.

" Where is he ? " I ask angrily. He looks up at me. I can see the smirk growing on his face. What I would give to smack that smirk off his face.

" He is somewhere close yet very far from you. Far enough to never leave his scent on anything I own ever again " He said calmly while adjusting in his chair.

" Firstly you do not own me, I'm not some piece of property you can claim ownership of. I'm a person, a whole f*****g human being and that boy you locked up is my brother. He did nothing wrong so there was no need to lock him up or do you have some sort of reason that no one is aware of " I ask him livid.

" Oh little human, you are the one unaware of a lot of things. You and that lad have no idea what is coming. There is no blood relationship between you both. I smelt him and tasted his blood. The texture and taste are clearly different. I wanted to snap his neck and watch him bleed out after I tasted the blood but then I thought to myself 'what is the fun in that'. No one touches what's mine. The next time you see your so-called brother, he would be without his two arms" he said with a smug look. He was clearly enjoying seeing me distressed.

Anger is coursing through me, my control is thinning out. My anger management classes are about to be thrown out of the window. " where the f**k did you keep him, you vile creature " I scream at him but get no answer. He is still sitting in his chair with a stupid smile plastered on his face. I am walking on thin ice and I know but I don't f*****g care.

I am tired of him tampering with things that do not concern my work here. For the first time in my life, I let a man command me but this is too much, my family is off limits.