Chapter 71: The betrayal of the century!

Selena was seated comfortably upon on a tree branch which was strong and steady enough to support her weight while the small battalion of guards which had followed her had promptly hidden themselves on the bushes surrounding the river while some others climbed the tress like her to get a better view of what was happening on the other side of the river.
She had been waiting in here for hours and hours for the Vanhuesan army to invade but there was nothing at all in the air except for the birds chirping pleasantly and Selena found herself wondering whether the tip off received by the General that the army was intending to surround and ambush the Valyrians by entering from the river side was indeed correct because there was no sign of movement at all.

There seemed to be some sort of error as no one else was there in the forest except for Selena and her masked soldiers who the General had dispersed for her protection. There was no sign at all of the Vanhuesan family and the eerie calmness in the air was starting to irk her out.

After a moment of hesitation, sensing something to be wrong, Selena climbed down the very tree she had climbed up several hours ago and frowned at her eerie surroundings, finally catching on and sensing that something was terribly amiss and way beyond their initial calculations.

The soldiers who had followed her up to the tree climbed down as well and the soldiers who were hiding in the bushes too emerged out confidently, straightening out their shoulders as if preparing for something when there was clearly no one around. They raised their swords in her direction, surrounding her form all sides and Selena expectantly turned back, expecting the Vanhuesan army to arrive any second as the soldiers were all ready with their swords drawn out.

However, the river remained as calm and serenely undisturbed as ever. She turned back and shot a curious, odd look at her soldiers wondering why the hell they were suddenly acting up when there was no sign at all of the Vanhuesan army. She pursed her lips disapprovingly wondering why the hell had all of them jumped out of their hiding spot following her movements when they were supposed to staying firmly hidden.
If it was anyone else, she would have believed it was their naiveness that prompted to step out of their hiding spot when she did but her foster father was a rather strict General and the royal army of Valyria was very well and strictly trained, so she suspected some sort of foul play which was beyond her imagination.
She raised an eyebrow at the whole lot of them while eyeing their swords warily but there were nonplussed about everything and they weren’t lowering their sword, instead, they were getting into an attacking stance and locking on their target…..her.

Her face paled as she realized their intentions and felt like her whole world had been swept away from under her feet. She tensed up. Her own men were betraying her? This further grounded her earlier theory that giving the Vanhuesan’s adequate time to roam around the royal palace and the training grounds and Valyria as a whole was a very big mistake, as they had taken advantage of the hospitability of the Valyrians and taking it for granted and misusing it had brainwashed their own citizens against them. Selena stared at the lot of them in shock as she realized that the Vanhuesans had been successful in buying out of her own men. They were really despicable, conniving, manipulative vampires to have been able to pull this off within just few months of staying in Valyria under the guise of the King’s duel. They had poisoned the minds of her own men in that very short span of time and her foolishly had fallen in love with their king when her mother had warned her relentlessly that a Queen should never fall in love.

She stared down her soldiers, upset and furious that her own men had the nerve to sell themselves and betray their own kingdom.

The vein on her forehead bulged furiously as she eyed the lot of them, the deadly gleam on her eyes already promising that she won’t go easy on them and have them pay terribly for their betrayal.

Being right by the river gave her an edge over the guards as she intended to bury her own army in it rather than the Vanhuesan’s one which was supposed to arrive by the river.

“You dare betray me and Valyria? Do you even know the consequences of your actions?”, Selena spat at them venomously while they continued sneering at her.

A part of her was genuinely curious about their hidden motives as for the life of her she couldn’t figure what the Vanhuesan’s had offered them that forced them to betray their own country.

“Whatever it is, it is better than bowing your head before a woman. If the Vanhuesan’s successfully invade Valyria, we would finally have a worthy, mighty king of the direct blood of Count Dracula. Serving him would be matter of honor and pride for us. Women should know their place and shouldn’t overstep their boundaries.”, a male vampire volunteered while continuing to sneer at her while another who nodded along with her and agreed to his comrade’s opinion and added on it by saying, “In your greed to rewrite history as the first female ruler in Valyria, you ended up ruining the kingdom as a whole.”

Selena narrowed her eyes dangerously at her own men surrounding her from all sides and spat back venomously, “You just made a terrible mistake and by the time I am done with you, I will make sure you realize it earnestly and beg for forgiveness.”

They scoffed at her clearly mocking her while Selena raised an eyebrow challenging the lot of them. How stupid must they be to underestimate her powers and the fact that she owned the Blood sword just because she was a female?
She had the guidance of the ancient Falak dragon and the allegiance of the Blood sword, not to mention her rather extra ordinary powers, and yet she was the weaker one?
She shook her head disappointedly at the lot of them, scoffing at their plain stupidity and pitying them for their foolhardiness.

With blood boiling inside her furiously, she raised her arms up, willing the river behind her to obey her commands. The gleam on her eyes turned malicious as she felt the water source responding to her request and obeying her instructions.