Wolves of War

The Kings Decision

It’s only been three weeks since the battle with the fire god Rahjah. Asai, after being stabbed in the throat, survived, barely. It took what remained of my magic and all of my knowledge of healing just to get him stabilized. The prognosis I gave him was grim, but he pulled through to the surprise of everyone. I have nurses around the clock feeding him, bathing him, watching over him. His vitals are fine, his heart beat is steady. Despite all the care given to him, Asai refused to wake up. But that doesn’t mean that he won’t. He just needs time. He had a near death experience. He needed time.

Sanna, being Asai’s official consort, has decided to perform Dimitte. She means to kill Asai to release him into the hands of Serberus. Her testimony is that she has watched over Asai and cared for him for days and days and has not witnessed any improvement or change in his status. She believes that it is cruel to keep the third prince in the state that he is in.

I bit my lower lip in anger. She has not, at any point, taken care of Asai. She arrived in The Golden City a week after everything happened. She never offered once to help with the princes' care nor did she even visit the man. She knows nothing about Asai’s situation, yet she wants to sacrifice him to Serberus?

“This is total bullshit!” I yelled out loud “It’s only been three weeks. She hasn’t lifted a finger to care for Asai, she hasn’t even visited him! Now she believes that she can make this executive decision because she signed some sort of stupid contract?”

“How long till he gets here?” I asked.

“The king is only 2 hours behind me. He is using the tunnels”, Keylyn said.

“What can we do? There has to be something!” I sighed tiredly.

“We can argue that the two of you are bonded”, Thea says, “It’s a long shot, but there are many witnesses to your’s and Asai’s feelings for each other. You guys weren’t exactly secretive. Plus, everyone can see your dedication, they are witnesses to that as well.”

Keylyn nodded “I’ll start a petition”

“This is complete nonsense. This is obviously a fake!” Sanna yelled when Keylyn produced a petition of nearly 20,000 signatures.

The document stretched the length of the table, three columns full of names of people who are witnesses to the bond Asai and I share and my dedication to him.

“It has to be a fake.” Sanna accused

“How?” the king asked her. “My guard had to part the crowd to get here.”

Sanna gritted her teeth, “I am the Official Consort!”

“I have rank, a lot more than you” I said.

The king sat at the head of the table deep in thought.

“It's selfish to keep him in that state he is suffering”, Sanna said, continuing to plead her case.

“He is not,” I argued.

“How could I believe you? You wouldn’t let me see him.”

“You never came to see him, don’t play victim!” I yelled at her.

“The room is always locked” Sanna fired back. “Why do I need your permission to see my prince?"

“You had plenty of time and opportunities to come and see him before making a decision like Demitte. You haven’t laid eyes on Asai since you got here. He is fighting his way back to us! But because he isn’t doing it quickly enough, you want to go ahead and end him!”

“Silence both of you” The king stood up, exerting his will towards us.

After a few moments, the king turned to me with a sad expression on his face. He opened his mouth to give the order to detain me, but I was already out of the room.

“Stop her!” The king yelled.

No one moved. The majority of people in the house are bat shifters and, fortunately, are unwaveringly loyal to me. Even so, they would not interfere in the affairs of the nobles and would instead just stand and wait for the storm to pass. I made it to Asai’s room and locked us in.

The prince slept on his bed unaware that his life was on the verge of ending. I knelt beside him and held his hand.

“If you can hear me, now is the time to wake up. Your official consort has given the order of Demitti and is on her way with a priest to send you to sanctuary. I have bought you all the time I could, so please wake up!”

The doors began to shudder. The locks are enchanted and there is a barrier to keep people out. I even activated a permission order but that could all be taken down by a witch more powerful and with more experience than me, and right now there is only one. It won’t take Minthe long to make short work of them.

“Asai please!” I begged.

It wasn’t until an hour later when Minthe finally managed to break through the doors. I stood up from the bed and turned to face the crowd.

“Stand down, witch” Minthe said, holding up her Trident.

“You got your trident back” I said.

“I found it on the way. Did you know that it was in the temple?”

“No” I lied

Minthe smirked and pointed her Trident at me. “Stand down, The king can forgive so much insolence.”

Minthe wanted Asai dead. She probably gave Sanna the idea of Demitti. I summoned my magical object to me. A weapon once held by The Witch Lumina, the silver bow, manifested in my hands, frightening both the King and the Queen.

“New trick?” She sneered

“I’ve been practicing,” I retorted.

“Duchess Talia Noor, as your King, I order you to…”

The king didn’t finish his statement. He stared behind me in awe and with a bit of guilt. I turned to see Asai sitting up right looking at all of us in confusion.

I smiled at him relieved, but something was not quite right. His eyes, the way he was looking at me felt different.

“My son?” The king stepped forward.

I took a step back and decided to melt into the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Thea asked.

I looked up at her tears in my eyes. “He does not know me.”