Chapter 72: The Holies.
~Raphael’s POV~
“Your Highness?” It was Caleb. He looked scared. He wasn't the only one. As I looked around the room, the murmuring had become hushed.
Nobody wanted to be singled out by the mad king, as they rightly called me.
As if they couldn’t take it anymore, one of the elders that Grey had recently attacked stood up. I could smell his fear, just like I could smell the fear of the others, and it made me nauseous. Why do they even try if they are so scared?
“Greetings to the sun and moon of Lystra.” He bowed his head, a little too deeply. He had hidden his fear perfectly, though it was all a mask, a huge difference from how he actually felt. I could read his mind as well.
‘Why am I doing this? Yet, if I don't, who will? That’s why I have to do it. I am, after all, the leader of the seven councils of this empire.’
It was cute how he was giving himself a pep talk, yet he wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“Do you want me to take care of him?” Grey growled.
I couldn't hold it in. I snapped at him.
“Shut up, Grey!” I snarled.
The collective gasps and the sharp increase of fear swirling through the air made me pause.
When I looked up and saw the ashen faces of my ministers and council, I knew instantly, I had said that out loud.
Just great. I don't know who to blame between the goddess and Grey. I was just so tired.
“You were saying, Councilor Amor?” I turned my gaze to the trembling elder, who looked like he might fall at any moment.
“N-nothing, Your Highness,” he stuttered, his eyes darting around the hall for help, but never looking at me.
“That’s disrespectful. Let me take care of him,” Grey moved within me.
I sat still, using every bit of strength and mental focus I had to stop him.
‘This is my council, and you will respect yourself, or I swear by the goddess, Grey, I will summon the moon goddess and have you sealed.’
Fighting against Grey wasn’t an easy battle.
“You’re threatening me with that blue ball again?!”
‘Yes, I am.’
And as usual, he stopped being rebellious.
“For now, Vessel, I will let you handle things however you want, but I won’t be helping unless our mate is in trouble.” He went quiet.
The splitting ache in my skull eased instantly. Having such peace was almost overwhelming, until I noticed my scared Beta bowing his head.
I sighed, drained.
“Elder Amor, if you have nothing to say, sit back.”
My voice sounded more like an order than a suggestion.
“Th-thank you, Your Highness.” He hurriedly sat down.
I checked his mind and saw that he was thanking the goddess, as were the other ministers.
“Caleb, bring in the envoys from the Netherlands.”
Caleb bowed before walking out.
I wondered how they would look now. It had been a long time since I last visited the Netherlands. I suppose one could say I was a little curious, and competitive. If they looked better, it means, I needed to work more.
The temple priests filed in with Caleb behind them, standing in a perfect line, unmoving. Their white robes flowed around their feet.
Unlike the mages I knew, who carried themselves with arrogance and secrecy, the Holies gave off something far worse, calm.
Not the calm that came from peace, but the kind that came from knowing they were untouchable. Unshaken.
It irritated me more than the shouting ministers had.
Their robes bore silver embroidery, the symbols of their gods glowing faintly even in the dim light of the hall. Ten of them. Far more than I had requested.
And yet, here they stood, hands folded before them. Waiting. Watching. Judging.
They dare?
“You can always give them to me,” Grey suggested. I thought you said you wouldn't help me.
I wanted to fling that back at him, but instead, I said, ‘We can't. Ava needs them.’ Which was true. If not, I would have let Grey have his way.
“Your Highness,” one of them,.
likely the leader finally spoke, his voice betraying nothing. “We have come as you requested.”
Such arrogance.
I studied him. His head was shaved completely, leaving only a faint mark of their deity glowing at the center of his forehead.
His eyes, silver. Not white. Not gray. Silver. As if the moon itself had taken root inside his irises.
Their eyes reminded me of Ava’s hair.
“Hades no, Vessel. You have bad eyes. Their eyes are ugly, not even close to our mate’s brilliant hair color.”
I wished I could shut this beast of mine up.
Ignoring him, I turned my gaze back to the people before me. At least they had some guts looking me in the eye.
One caught my eye. He was wearing a cap, and his build was noticeably different compared to the rest.
However, the others were the same. Their features were almost identical, making it impossible to distinguish one from another, as though they had abandoned all Independence to serve their faith.
It was unnatural.
“You brought more than I asked for.” My voice was harsh, yet, I couldn’t help it, their arrogant stature grated on my nerves more and more.
Breaking the silence, I asked the question on my mind.
“Why?”
The priest’s lips barely curved, as if amused by my question.
“The task you have given us is not a light one. We come as ten because we do not take failure lightly.”
A scoff left me before I could stop it.
“Failure?”
I was acting more like my beast, but I couldn't help it. I leaned forward, fingers wrapping over the arms of my throne.
“You will not fail. You do not have that choice. It's either you win, or you will die.”
A shift. A glint of something in those silver eyes. They knew I was serious.
Fear.
I could smell it now.
Good. That was more like it.
“Of course,” the lead priest murmured. “But power demands a price, oh king. I hope you know this.”
I already expected that. Nothing was free. No power. No cure. No salvation.
And yet, the way he said it made something dark crawl through my chest.
A glance at Caleb told me he was thinking the same thing.
“I will pay whatever price is required,” I said flatly. “As long as my mate wakes up.”
Murmurs broke out in the hall, growing louder. Fueled by joint agreement.
“Your Highness, do you intend to sell off your people because of a slave?!”
It was Wan.
The second he said those words, Grey was already before him.
I didn’t fight him on this. Anyone who dared to stand in the way of Ava’s recovery, I would gladly allow to die.
I picked Wan up by his robes and wrapped my hands around his neck, claws digging into his skin.
A bubble of excitement trickled through me as more blood slowly poured out.
And the more fun fact? I didn’t stab as he would have expected.
No.
It was a slow stab as my hands sank into his flesh.
The murmurs in the hall instantly stopped when they saw I wasn’t letting go.
Wan’s expression was one of pure horror as he saw his life slowly being drained by me.
“I-I a-am s-sorry, Y-your M-majesty. H-have m-mercy,” he stuttered.
He looked pitiful, spit dripping from the corner of his mouth.
And then, I smelled it.
The pungent scent.
I threw Wan away, irritated by his cowardly behavior. The bubbly fool had urinated on himself.
The stench of urine penetrated the hall.
The Lycans, Werecats, and every shifter that could change into another being could smell it.
“This is much better, Vessel,” Grey murmured.
How?
“You won’t be hearing of Wan for a while,” he guided my eyes to the ministers.
They were pointing fingers at him, their fear now intertwined with disgust.
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