Chapter 46: The first test set by the council of elders!

“What nonsense is this? Do you really need a test to figure out who the stronger of the two is? My daughter has the alliance of the Blood sword and the Falak dragon. The blood sword has only pledged itself to the strongest of all mythical creatures throughout history and you dare question my daughter’s strength? And let’s not forget the fac that she had survived the Labyrinth of death which none of you here had even dared to enter. She is undefeatable.”, The Queen yelled out in indignation, frustrated that the council of elders wasn’t treating her daughter seriously enough. They still eyed her as the weakling in the wheelchair who was afraid of her own goddamn shadow.

“This is our order and our order is the rule. There will be a test of strength between the two potential candidates at dawn today and that is final.”, the ancient vampire yelled out loud in defiance of the Queen, stating his intentions clearly and enunciating each word, his tone had a pinch of authority and finality to it which made it clear that he wasn’t open to suggestions nor was the rest of the members of the council. It seemed as if they had already made up their minds and nothing could deter them from it.


As the ancient vampires left one by one, the Queen cursed herself, blaming herself for being caught so off guard. Now she could do nothing but watch helplessly from the sidelines, as her daughter was already taken in to the starting position by the council without a heads up.

Her daughter had been separated before she could even figure out what the council’s plan was.
Her instincts told her that the council was up to something. It wasn’t that they were underestimating her abilities. After all they had witnessed her trainings sessions with the General with their own eyes. No! This was something else entirely. They always kept a keen eye on anyone who was more powerful than they were and the first princess certainly fit the bill.
She sucked in a sharp breath utterly terrorized, as she realized that this definitely was one of the council’s infamous traps. They were starting to view her daughter as more of a threat than an asset to the kingdom of Valyria. Selena had caught their attention when she had flown above the Labyrinth of death with her dragon, holding none other than the blood sword in her hand. And there were now rumors going on that she had defeated her fiancé, the original vampire, Caro Silva in a hand to hand duel.

Her sudden rise to power was irking the lot of them and putting them on the defensive, being wary of the unknown. The council hated everything out of their control and Selena was defiantly a person who can’t be controlled. The Queen herself had leant that valuable lesson the hard way.
The Queen pranced nervously backward and forward, her mind reeling, trying desperately to come up with a plan as she had to inform Selena not to use her rather marvelous powers, whatever the need be.

She was already in the council’s eyes and god forbid, if they were to find out about her powers too, they will make sure that she never sits in the throne of Valyria as she would be one such ruler that they never will have on their puny finger tips.
But the problem was that there was no way to contact her daughter as even they weren’t told were the two of them were taken into.

She could only know when the competition officially begins but by then it would have been too late to warn Selena to not use her powers. For better or for worse, it would do her more good if she were to hide her powers, at least for now.

The Queen tilted her head as she saw Caro enter her chambers anxiously, looking lost as a kitten.
“The royal guards have taken Selena somewhere and they won’t let me go after them. Is there something going on that I am not aware of?”, he asked anxiously, still bitter that they had been broken apart the minute the both of them stepped back into the royal palace grounds, just minutes after their little moment of pleasure and paradise.


The Queen rolled her eyes at him and said, “The council had set its first test……They intend to test the candidates strength, agility, courage and willpower”

Caro yelped out loud and raised his fist in the air in triumph, suddenly feeling light hearted and confident. Upon seeing the Queen’s dubious look, he however stopped halfway and murmured softly, sounding unsure all of a sudden, “Why are you not happy about it? Isn’t this a good thing? We definitely got this round in the bag. After all, this is right up Selena’s alley. Andrew would never be able to beat her when it comes to matters of strength……She will definitely overshadow him.”
“Hopefully, not too much”, The Queen muttered under her breath and Caro raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, unsure is he had heard her correctly.

“And yet she has to lose this round for her own good”, The Queen stated and Caro frowned at her, realization dawning on him and finally getting the inference behind her words.
“You think it is a trap set up by the council to check out her powers?”, he stated the obvious and the Queen reluctantly nodded at him.

“And now there is no way to get in touch with her till the first round is finished. Let’s just hope that she has the sense of mind to see through their crafty plans and act accordingly”, Caro murmured to himself, having full belief in the abilities of his future bride to be.
The Queen however, looked not so sure about this predicament of theirs. After all, she was well aware of her daughter’s little temper.
“Don’t get me wrong, Selena is smart and manipulating, but the council of elders have experience which she never will have.”, The Queen stated, being fully aware of the council’s true abilities and not making the mistake twice of underestimating them.
Caro, suddenly on a hinge asked the Queen deliriously, suddenly nervous and worried about the aftermath of what may happen today, “What happens if Selena was to show her real powers today?”

The Queen slumped her shoulders resignedly and replied in a small voice, “Then the council will make sure that she will never be the Empress of Valyria, no matter what happens and it would take an absolute miracle to make them change their mind after they have made that decision.”