Blood Moon

The Blood Moon has Damien

Chapter Three Lucas` POV

I feel so bad for Selena, but if I want to keep my head and let the people respect me as the heir apparent, I need to remain tough, we all need to. Father does not tolerate weakness in his lineage, he never backs down on a quest even at the detriment of his health. He would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, he is ruthless, heartless, crude and raw, rules with an iron fist and does not tolerate other people`s opinions. His word is the final say. I speak to my brothers, their keen eyes observing me

“If we wish for David to rest eternally, knowing who father is, we`ll need to cremate his ashes and without father`s notice, we`ll send the ashes to Imelia to be blessed but we`ll need a plan.”

“We`ll need a plan to bury our brother, our own blood?” Derrick asks

“Yes, if we bury him where Father suspects or find out, I`m afraid his corpse would be a victim of the next blood moon”, I let the words sink in digesting their facial expression.

“Are we good?”, they give no reply and I go ahead narrating the plan,

“We depart at noonday, to the river, we must be as discrete as possible else Father thinks we`ve played on his intelligence, we`ll take one of the horses, I think we`ll donate the horse to the villagers, David`s body would be wrapped in rafia along with other things wrapped when we arrive at the river bank, we find a secluded place and put our brother to eternal rest," I scan their faces.

"Selena, you have always been one to disobey father, you`ll ride the horse to Imelia`s temple to bless the ash, return it to the palace, I will store it myself,we have less than four hours before the blood moon sets."

We rush past the palace maids hurrying to go home to their families, on the day of the blood moon, guards, maids, cooks and personal servants are permitted to leave. I quickly rush to the store room carrying rafia mats, fruits and handwoven baskets. I rush back hoping that we wait for no one, I rush to my room and I see Damien and Derrick, I look around and I see no trace of Selena, I was just about to panic when he came in with scented candles, containers and preservatives.

I bestow Selena the privilege of cleaning David`s body, I embalm it and we start wrapping him, we wrap him like a “mummy”, and it attracts the attention, finally after so many trials and errors, we succeeded in hiding him perfectly in a pile of fruits and blankets, I inform Father through a letter that we have chosen the next day for a picnic as we all needed to grief, to which he reluctantly gives his consent.

After many discussions, we agree to keep David`s body in my room as that would be the last place Father would ever suspect. We stylishly carry the bags to my room and tuck him under the bed. The moment they all leave, I quickly bolt the door and tell my guards to block everyone, except my father.

I wait patiently for his arrival and click,

“Your Highness”,

“Call me Father”,

“Father”,

He nods and I fill him in on all the details from how they planned to hide David`s body from him, to the cremation to how Selena plans on seeing the Priestess for her blessings.

“Foolish girl, she thinks she can deceive me, she is a curse, a disgrace to me, I sincerely question your mother`s faithfulness and her origin.”

I grit my teeth and curl my toes in desperation.

“She thinks the Priestess would bless her, Imelia bless one that is not the alpha of his pack, Impossible!”

“Father, please do not stress, the villagers would make ridicule of her before she sets foot in the royal temple, if the gates will even be opened to her.”

“Keep your eyes on your brothers and report back to me as frequently as possible,”

“Yes father”

He leaves stealthily blending into the darkness just like his dark deeds. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep waiting for the next day to play out as planned.

The next day, I wake up startled to find an empty bed, I try to be as discreet as possible, trying not to alarm my brothers, I heighten my hearing skills, listening carefully for footsteps, I hear none and I rush to father`s room trying not to alert my brothers in the process. I spot him basking in the golden sun, and using my eyes, I search the room and eventually I saw it behind the curtain, the rafia mat torn away, David now wrapped in a white silky material.

“This was not part of the plan, Father, now how do I explain this to them? They would forever doubt me,”

I dig my fingernails deep into my flesh, the room is deathly silent until he smiles, that smile that sends shivers down my spine every single time.

“Tell them I gave my consent."

“Father, they are fully aware you gave your consent. If you didn`t, we wouldn`t be doing this in the first place!”

I almost scream, trying to get him to see my point. I am so frustrated, I lose focus of my environment and neither of us seems to notice Selena until she barges in, anxiety written all over him.

“Lucas, where is he and why are you with father ?”,I gulp afraid of anything that would deem me suspicious.

“Father offered to embalm him properly."

I could hear myself break with each lie, I try not to swallow as her gaze lingers scrutinizing my every move, I can sense her werewolf instincts heightened to an impossible degree searching me, one plan fails, and everything falls down, mission failed. I try not to budge, locking her stare head on, while a palace maid ran in, panting and gasping for breath.

“Pardon me your highness, it seems the Blood Moon decided to take Prince Damien”,

my heart stops for a fleet second, my legs go limp, I struggle gasping for breathe, my lungs retract and it takes a long time for them to expand back to their original size.

I shiver as I can only imagine the pain he`s going through, we all sprint off to the dungeon where victims of the Blood Moon are kept.

Damien is in his werewolf form trashing and howling, he is bound by silver chains and my blood turns cold. Silver chains drains the power of a lycan turning us to mere humans in seconds, worse still, the damage may be permanent.

If Damien turns into a human, he becomes useless and Dad will kill him just like David.

“What should we do?”

“Call Imelia right now! “

The palace maid hurries off in the direction of the royal temple, rings the bell at the beginning of the step.

“Great Lady Imelia, your presence is needed at the palace, the king has ordered your presence at the palace.”