Chapter 48

'Father—"
'Do not tell me anything, I'm not letting my daughter go out there alone, I already lost your mother, I wouldn't be able to survive if anything bad were to happen to you. I wouldn't live Arcadia." His heart is heavy with emotions and his words are soaked in feelings, she knew it was always this, but now she felt it.
She pulls him into an embrace and they stare there for what felt like eternity, she could feel his hot tears stain her skin, he has never gotten over the death of his wife,
'I understand father, you miss mother a lot, I miss her too," the image of Octavia's dead body flashes in her mind once again but she shakes it off, 'but I make a promise to you, I'll come back alive." She smiles but it does not shake him,
'Your mother made me that promise but she left me eventually. I can't take this risk Arcadia." He holds her firmly but her gentle pets are able to calm him down,
'Relax father, mother left us suddenly and it still hurts but I would never leave you, you need to trust me, I'm not going anywhere." She smiles a little and it's euphoria to him, he smiles slightly and his hands slowly leave her,
'But I will still accompany you, I doubt if Asher would be able to survive five minutes without almost not dying." He rolls his eyes and it makes her laugh,
'I'm a Beta, her Beta, it's my duty to put my life on the line for her." He bows as he stood by the door way, he was in his warrior apparel, 'I'm ready for battle."
'And who said you're coming? You're not fully recovered yet." She pushes him aside and his heart breaks comically,
'My Queen I'm fine!! And besides you need me to track Conan, I know his methods and it would be easier if I were to offer assistance. He can't do much on his own, he would hide behind someone powerful when seeking protection, I have a feeling he has gone to Mace." He explains as he entered the room, 'he would offer his services in exchange for a guard for two, and I heard he has worked for alpha Mace before so I'm not surprised if Mace takes him without blinking."
'Either way it is, I would have my decree and his head, and Mace?" The sound of his name angered her to a dangerous extent, 'I would make sure I take his most precious asset, he started the war and I lost my mother, then I would take something from him too. He would never forget my face." She takes in a heavy breath, 'I hope the soldiers are ready? And the horses?"
'Everything is set my Queen, just waiting for you of course." He bows slightly and she nods, she turns to the king,
'I'm always behind you, Asher, a minute with you." He leads the young wolf out by the hand and it looked rather forced, but who was she to intervene? It was master and student drama.
'I hope you know what you're doing?" He didn't approve of this plan at all, 'what you and Conan decided to do makes zero sense if you ask me. If she finds out that this was all just a prank what do you think would happen to that face of yours?" And a hard hit to his head.
Asher winces and holds his aching skull, 'at this stage the mess doesn't justify it, as long as she takes action then I'm fine with whatever methods I use and what my punishment would be in the end. A least we would have a major part of our kingdom back and we would have felt a significant amount of damage to Mace." He proves his point as he messaged his scalp with an annoyed look.
'And if it backfires?" Xerxes folded his arms, 'do you have a plan B?" He knew he would say no and he was right,
'No, but I would make sure this doesn't fail. We have a spy there, Conan would inform us of whatever is going on there." He has a lot of faith in his half brother, he could trust him this much for something like this.
'It better work, or you both would be having the worst from Arcadia." His statement brings a smirk to his face,
'My plans never fail." He prides in himself.
'His plans always fail!! What was I thinking?!" He as lamenting on listening to him in the first place, this was the dumbest thing he had done in his entire life, the sun was already setting and it was only a matter of time before he met with Orla again.
He heard she had be causing trouble around the palace and even managed to step on Czar's toes, but Loki was there to defend her as usual. The queen knew how to cause trouble alright, but there were more questions than answers.
The door swings open and his train of thoughts are interrupted, he turns to her and she closes the door behind her, her bells giggle with every step she took, she hops on the table and like a light switch, she is Octavia again.
'Any news yet?" She scratches the dust in her hair, she missed her extravagant rose baths, her hair was drying out faster than usual, 'or are you lying to me?" She doesn't hesitate to bring out her fan and this scares the daylight out of the young doctor,
'No my Queen! I would never lie to you!! His face falls quick and this brings a smile to her face, 'it's just that I'm not sure of what my brother has planned, the only way we can call this a success is if the princess decides to do something about it. And lately King Xerxes has been very protective."
'King?" There are tears in her eyes but she wipes them off rather quickly, 'it's only normal for him to want to protect her since he believes I'm dead, but we can't risk this, our people suffer daily and my heart can't take it anymore." Her gaze falls to her feet for a brief period, she loved the bells, but she was going to return them anyway, 'I'm no strong enough to do that yet, it would be hard to fight everyone on my own."
'My Queen I wouldn't advise that at all, you're just one person against thousands of men, there's no—"
'And do you doubt my strength?" A smirk comes to play and he finds himself turning red. No, he didn't count her strength but he didn't want her to take risks,
'It's not that your majesty, it's risky. If they catch you then they won't spare you, you know what Beta Czar and alpha Mace are planning on doing to you, we're only grateful that Beta Loki is the only one with a functional brain." He rolls his eyes, 'the rest are crazy."
His statement made her laugh, it was harmonic and rhythmic,
'He's the only one that listens to me, he gives me whatever I ask for, I would spare his life, but there Is something about him that interests me, he is in love." She tosses the words in her mouth for a while, 'he is in love with Sheila, I believe she works for my daughter?"
Conan's mouth drops, he did suspect that she had been acting all lovey dovey lately, but with Beta Loki?? Mace's first Beta??! No, Arcadia would not find his easy at all.
'I had a feeling something was wrong with her, well maybe not wrong but she has her fair share of secrets, Queen Arcadia had a lot in store for her." He heaves and exasperated sigh and he hands a bottle of mixture to her, 'it would help you regain most of your strength back, take it intermediately, it's a bit bitter but it is very efficient." He warns her, she opens the bottle to take a sniff and she jerks back,
'Thank you for your concern," her nose wrinkles, 'I guess I should answer the remaining questions you have left."
'Yes….how did you meet sage Sativa? And where is she?" He leans in and she takes a very big sigh,
'I met her after I escaped from Beta Azeah, she has done so much for me."