King

CHAPTER XXXI

The coronation day finally arrived and we’ve also announced that Josefina would be the new Queen. There was confusion at first but in the end, they all settled in accepting her. We also freed everyone who was imprisoned by Felicia and that includes Josefina’s husband. The merchants who were siding with Felicia were forcefully sent back to their own countries. The castle was fixed thanks to the citizens of the kingdom.

“All hail Queen Josefina of Maharlika!” Danilo announced once the crown was placed on Josefina’s head.

We clapped out hands and the people cheered for her. I could hear the crowd chanting her name.

“Look at that!” Danilo said in excitement as he looked behind us.

My eyes went wide when I saw the walls around the city fell. Everything that Felicia had destroyed was repaired. Even the people who looked poor suddenly had a change of clothes. The difference in the appearance of people changed.

“So, this is the true beauty of Maharlika,” I heard Zynrick whisper beside me as we watch the trees grow.

The animals even started showing up. Birds were chirping, wolves were howling, bears were releasing a purr-like sound, the wind maidens were dancing freely, fauns were playing their harmonicas, the bakunawas and manananggal were flying in the air, the diwatas (fairies) were all dancing in the flowers, the encantadas (fairies that has a human appearance) we singing.

“They’re all coming back,” I heard Josefina whisper.

The tears in her eyes showed me how much she cared for this country.

I walked towards her and held her hand. “You’ll make a great Queen,” I whispered making her look at me.

“Thank you,” She said and squeezed my hand.

“Do you hear that Josefina, Isabel,” Danilo called out as we heard the sirenas’ (female mermaids) sirens.

As we listen to the sirens Zynrick called out our attention and pointed towards a cloud of dust. Aside from the dust, there was also a sound of galloping which gave away who they were.

“Your highness,” We heard a voice say when the galloping stopped.

The dust vanished and we saw the anggitas (female centaurs) and tikbalang (male centaurs) they were all bowing their heads.

“You may lift your heads,” Josefina said and they did as they were told.

“It seems that the horrible queen was finally overthrown,” One of them said and Josefina smiled.

“She wasn’t that bad. Remember that she is the reason why Maharlika has grown in its economy,” Josefina defended.

“I’m sorry for speaking ill of the previous queen,” The anggitay apologized and bowed but Josefina shook her head.

“She did treat our people poorly and she’s done horrible things. We cannot deny that fact. You spoke what you felt so there’s no need to apologize. Lift you head Anggita,” She said and the anggita lifted her head.

The day continued with the different mythical beings showing themselves. It seems that during the reign of Felicia, they hid in order to not be involved in her evil deeds.

“This has been an exhausting day,” Josefina said and plopped on my bed.

“It must be,” I said and looked at her. “Anyway, why are you here when you’re husband’s alone in your room?” I asked.

“I can spend the rest of my life with him but I don’t know when you’ll visit again,” She said while lying there.

I sat on the bed and looked at her. There are things that I wanted to ask but seeing her tired made me back out.

I can ask her some other time.

I went out of the room and went to the kitchen and that’s when I saw Danilo drinking tapey (rice wine).

“You’re not going to rest Danilo?” I asked when he seemed spaced out.

“I’ll go to bed later,” He answered and drank the wine straight.

“What’s keeping you awake? You don’t usually drink tapey,” I said and sat in front of him with a cup of coffee in front of me.

“It’s just that, this day has been beautiful. It’s been a millennium since I’ve seen Maharlika this beautiful,” He said with a smile on his face.

“That’s true. This is surely an event that will go down in history,” I whispered and took a dip of my coffee.

“That’s all thanks to you, Isabel,” He said making me look at him.

There’s something off in the way he speaks.

“Is there something wrong Danilo?” I asked while looking at him.

He looked so sad while looking at his cup of tapey (rice wine).

“I feel like my time is about to come,” He said and got off of the chair to get more.

“Don’t say that,” I said but he just turned and smiled at me.

“I’m already old, Isabel. You didn’t even notice that it was me when you first came here,” He said and went to the chair.

I carried him and helped his sit. “Thank you,”

“I know that you’re old but don’t say that,” I said because it didn’t feel good hearing him say it.

“Okay,” He said and chuckled. “Anyway, what’s bothering you?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Well, how did the whole Kingdom suddenly change that much when Josefina became queen?” I asked. “I remember that Maharlika is a kingdom that doesn’t change much. So, how did it change so fast?”

“Your mother told me that the Kingdom relies on the ruler, may it be a queen or a king. Since our kingdom is a kingdom of purity, the purity in the hearts of the ruler is what keeps the kingdom blossoming.” He started.

“What do you mean?” I asked because I was confused.

“If a true royals sits on the throne the Kingdom will immediately cleanse its heart and rebuke it if it senses even the tiniest bit of impurity. If someone without a royal blood conquers our kingdom and overthrows the current ruler while the ruler is still alive the kingdom will fall. Let’s take what happened with Felicia. The Kingdom didn’t obey her, that’s why the mythical creatures in our kingdom went to hiding. In an attempt to make Felicia leave the Kingdom made the air toxic for mythical beings.” He explained and looked at me to see if I was following.

“What about you? Why aren’t you and the others affected?” I asked.

“That’s because dugong bughaw (royal blood) flows in you and Josefina. As for your companions, Al and Zynrick, they were acknowledged by the kingdom as your friends. For me, I have been your mother’s advisor and your cousin’s guardian. That’s why we’re unaffected.” He answered and looked at me as if he was asking if I had more questions.

“What about Felicia?” I asked and he smiled bitterly.

“I think she was affected by the toxicity in the air. However, in order to survive as the ruler of Maharlika she stabbed herself with her sword. Her soul was sealed in the sword when she did that. In order to retain her physical form she manipulated her own corpse by using spirits that can’t be seen by the naked eyes.” He answered and took a dip of his tapey.

“Is that all?” He asked and I nodded.

“Thanks for your time,” I said because he looked like he was drowsy.

“Alright,” He said and got down from his seat.

We placed out cups in the sink and walked through the hall.

“Let me walk you to your room,” He said but I shook my head.

“Let me walk you to yours,” I said.

He looked like he was about to protest but I smiled at him and said, “I know you’re tired so I want to walk you to your room,” I said so he sighed and let me.

As we walked down the hall, I kept on asking him about things they did while I was away.

He told me everything and that includes the good and bad memories he had.

“Thanks, Isabel,” He said and went inside, “Hove a good night’s sleep,” He said and motioned me to kneel down.

I did as told and he kissed my forehead before I left.

I couldn’t help but smile as I walk along the hall. This day is amazing.

“Ellesmiere?” I heard Zynrick call out so I turned and saw him walking towards my direction.

“Hey,” I said and walked up to him.

“Why are you still up?” He asked while looking down at me.

“I was chatting with Danilo,” I answered and he nodded. “What about you?” I asked.

“I just went to the garden to have a breath of fresh air,” He answered and smiled at me.

“Is everything alright?” I asked and he nodded.

“Everything’s fine. I’m probably just overwhelmed with everything that happened today,” He said and held his head.

“You haven’t drunk any blood have you?” I asked when he stumbled forward.

“Where’s your room?” I asked and assisted him in standing up.

“It’s at the end of the hall,” He answered and held his head.

I assisted him as we arrived in his room. I let him lie down on the bed and closed the door before walking up to him.

“Why are you sweating?” I asked while looking at him.

I held his forehead and he was burning up.

“Did something happen to you?” I asked because this happened before.

This happened to him when he battled it out with the animal carcass when we were at the fairy realm.

“Nothing,” He said but after he said that he clutched his chest and curled into a fetus position.

Something definitely happened while they were running away.

I gently pulled him and raised his shirt. That’s when I saw that the huge cut on his chest.

“Don’t look,” He said and pulled his shirt down.

His face was flushed and his breathing was ragged which made me feel irritated.

“How long have you been hiding this from me?” I asked.

It seems like the wound didn’t close properly. If it was just an ordinary wound then it should’ve closed but this one seems like it started as a small wound before it expanded.

“I-I…” He started but he couldn’t finish.

I held my hand out on his chest and pulled his shirt up.

“Don’t look,” He said and attempted to pull it again but I slapped his hand away.

“I won’t be able to see if it’s healing if you keep your shirt down,” I said through clenched teeth.

It seems like he understood that I was getting annoyed so he stopped.

I started to heal his wound but he started screaming in pain when I did.

“Just bear with it for a while,” I said and continued but when at least five minutes have passed and there was no improvement I decided to stop.

“If you drink blood, you heal,” I whispered while looking at him.

I looked for something sharp and attempted to cut my neck so he could drink but it seems like he couldn’t do that because of the pain.

I gulped and cut my bottom lip from the inside.

I pinned him against his bed and got on top of him. “I’m sorry,” I whispered when I saw how his eyes went wide.

“Elle,” He whispered but I kissed him.

I could feel his sucking on my bottom lip when he tasted the blood.

“Just a little more,” He whispered and changed our position.

He got on top of me and bit my neck.

It was painful but I held the scream that wanted to escape my lips.

He bit me too hard and it was painful. Even the way he sucked was too hard that I feel like it will leave a scar.

“Hurry up,” I whispered and clutched his shirt.

He didn’t answer but he kept on drinking my blood until I lost consciousness.

I woke up the next morning and saw Zynrick sleeping soundly beside me.

“My neck hurts,” I whispered and held my neck.

I felt my face heat up when I remembered what happened last night.

“You’re awake,” Zynrick whispered and sat down.

He was rubbing his eyes while I started at him.

“What happened to your shirt?” I asked when I saw that he was topless.

He looked down and saw that he wasn’t wearing a shirt so he pulled the blanket to cover his chest.

“I don’t know,” He answered and looked at me.

“What happened last night?” He asked while staring at me. “Did we?” He asked which made me punch him.

“W-We didn’t y-you i***t!” I yelled.

“s**t! Let me remember,” He said and tightly closed his eyes.

He let go of the blanket and clutched his hair.

I looked at his chest and saw that there wasn’t a wound anymore but a scar was left.

I held it which made Zynrick panic and fall.

“W-Why are you touching me?” He asked while on the floor.

“The wound is gone,” I said which made him look down.

“It is,” He said and touched the scar. “I remember,” He whispered and pulled me to him.

“Don’t do that again,” He whispered in my ear while his left hand held my hand and his right hand was holding my waist.

“What the-“ I screamed but I was cut when we heard the door creak open.

“Oh my, is this why you didn’t sleep in your room?” Josefina asked while looking down at us.

I immediately got up and so did Zynrick.

“You’re getting the wrong idea,” I said and furiously shook my head.

“I didn’t think that both of you would be this wild,” Al commented and walked away.

“We’ll take our leave since it looks like we’re interrupting something,” Josefina said and winked at me.

I was about to chase them when I felt a murderous aura coming from Danilo.

“Danilo, I can explain,” I said but he just glared at me.

“You know that as a Maharlikan, a royal at that, you shouldn’t have s*x outside of marriage,” He said while glaring at me.

My jaw dropped at what he said.

“You’ve got the wrong idea, Danilo,” I said but he just turned his back at me.

“I was expecting more from you,” He said and walked towards Zynrick.

“You, I didn’t know you had the audacity to do that in this castle,” He said and kicked Zynrick.

“We didn’t do it,” Zynrick said but Danilo raised his eyebrow.

“If you didn’t then why don’t you have a shirt and why is that standing up?” Danilo asked which me wonder.

“What’s standing up?” I asked making both of them look at me.

“I guess you’re speaking the truth,” Danilo said after my question.

“Let’s go, it’s not safe for you to be here,” He said and pulled me out of the room.