Chapter 86

Malka was baffled by the new equation. When did Diona and Juan come together? This was not how it was supposed to happen. Diona should, under no circumstances, be with Juan. She is supposed to marry Alexander, not his younger brother.
She was growing more and more irate by the minute, and she had had enough of everyone being against her. She no longer had control over her emotions, and she reflectively threw both her hands forward, black smoke coming from her hand in the direction of Diona.
“Diona, you should have been careful. Juan was a temporary fix for Alexander. You should not have ruined my plan. If you worked how I have demanded you to, today you would have been married to Alexander, and my plan would have been working perfectly.”
Diona, however, was surprised to hear Malka's words. All the letters and voice of command were from Malka. She never expected her to be behind everything. But to her advantage, Heather protected her by drawing the brother's younger sister's attention away from her before Malka could attack her.
“It was you from the beginning. It was you who tried to kill us in the carriage."
“You are foolish if you still have doubts on that subject. Do you see anyone with that kind of power here? Diona would have been long gone if it were not for Juan taking a hit for her. Despite the slight setback, my strategy would have succeeded if Alexander had not tried to outsmart me."
“Why?” Alexander asked. He was hurt that, after all this time, Malka betrayed them in the most egregious manner. He needed to know the reason behind her deceit.
“Because everything was meant to belong to me. I should be the queen, but the darn rules of Warsavor only allow the eldest male heir to rule. That is you, Alexander. It was not fair.”
“Why did you involve Heather and her family then? You have had your rivalry with me. What had Heather done to you that you would go to such lengths to harm her?”
“With Heather as your queen, everything would have been ruined. With Heather by your side, you would have never given me the time of your day, nor would I have been able to control you. But with Diona, you would have been putty in my hands like you were before meeting Heather. Your joining with Heather would have made the two of you unbeatable. Diona’s father was a huge asset to me. He did not wish for Heather to be married to you for his own personal gain, so he bargained for a deal with me. He was a fool and was ready to go to any lengths to snatch everything from Heather's father, which worked perfectly for me. He easily fooled Diona into believing that he had his mother in his trap, and Diona, being gullible, consented to perform the spell on Heather. At the same time, Cannute, his father, killed her mother.”
Diona jerked back at Malka's remarks. Everything was indeed ruined. All her efforts and misgivings have been wasted. All the bad deeds she had done were for no good, and she almost lost her mother.
If it were not for Juan holding her, she would have fallen down.
“How could he do that? Where is my father, Malka?"
“Dead, too. I killed him last year when he started blackmailing me. He should have known better to log heads with me.” Malka shrugged.
“Those letters? Then, who authored them?" Diona enquired.
“I wrote them to you so you knew your rightful place. I could not have let you loose, especially when Cannute held the key to your movements." Malka then smirked, "I was convincing, was I not? However, it was entertaining to watch you give in to my scheme like a helpless fool.”
Juan had enough of Malka's insensitive comments. "Malka..."
Contessa and Heinrich positioned themselves in front of her to protect her as he prepared to charge.
"Father, mother!" Alexander let out a startled cry.
“Dare come near, Malka. She only did that for you to be king, Alexander. It was for your benefit. You should be grateful to her." Contessa gave her oldest son a scowl.
"Alexander, apologize to your sister right this instant," Heinrich commanded.
“You put a spell on them,” Mable said knowingly. The signs were evident. Despite their austere demeanours, Contessa and Heinrich would never act so harshly against their own children.
She refused to believe it.
“The very same day, Heather forgot everything. It was extremely significant for me to have them by my side. I needed their backing, and knowing Juan and Alexander, I also realized that there was a good chance they would turn on me at some point.
“It was you all along,” Juan muttered.
But Diona and Heather were furious. Each of them had balled up their fist. Malks had messed with the wrong family, and both the sisters had had enough of her destroying their family for her own personal gain.
"Yes, I was the one from the very beginning. You are all fools to realize that now. Better late than never, though. It is about time to finish what I started."
"What do you mean?" Arkin asked, ready to defend his family if need be.
"Alexander and Juan are going to come with me." Malka declared.
“The hell we will!" Alexander shouted.
“Do not dare mess with me, Alexander. If you and Juan want your ladies alive, do exactly as I say. I have strung your lovely ladies. Diona's body is connected to mine, and Heather's to her cousin. This is a chain spell. One wrong move, and within seconds, I will end their existence.”
Both the sisters knew there was no turning back. They were not cowards, especially Diona, who had lost everything to Malka in a matter of seconds. She did not care for her life. It was because of her that Gonzale's family suffered.
Knowing Gonzales's sisters well, the brothers knew that they would not back down, and instinctively, Juan and Alexander moved in front of their ladies to protect them. Diona and Heather, however, looked at Mabel and Arkin having a silent conversation with their folks.
They were all aware of what needed to be done, and with the right actions, they could foil Malka's plans and regain their power.
However, Juan and Alexander still held a tiny hope to bring their folks on their side, at least. It was a long shot, but they did not wish to hurt them.
“Mother, Father. Please consider this carefully. Do not side with Malka.” Alexander said.
"You and your brother, Alexander, ought to be on our side as well. Regrettably, members of our own blood decided to oppose us." He felt completely let down by both of his sons.
Alexander and Juan were both aware that their parents were too far gone to come back unless Malka released them from her spell. Alexander let out a sigh. Heather, however, was able to comprehend his and Juan's situation. It was not easy to be in a war with your folks, particularly where they could be physically hurt.
“Alexander, please continue to speak to them. We need to distract Malka and divert her attention.” Heather whispered to him.
She and Diona both wanted to avoid hurting as many people as possible.
Alexander nodded in response and motioned for Juan to continue their conversation to give their ladies more time.
Juan acknowledged the same by speaking, but rather than their parents, he chose to converse with Malka. He was confident that communicating with their parents would be a futile attempt, as they were under the influence of their cousin’s spell. No amount of words will make them change their minds.
“Malka, what will you accomplish by doing this? You will not have anything left on you in the end. We can still make everything right the way it should be. Do the right thing, cousin."
“That is where you are incorrect, brother. In the end, I will have my pride. Even though things are not going as I had intended, once the two of you are gone, I will use a distant heir as my puppet to dominate this territory," stated Malka with determination. She had already planned everything.
“Then why did you not from the very beginning?” Alexander asked. "You have a hold over our people. It would have been easy for you to control them and become queen. Why did you not use the opportunity to influence us as well?"
The same question has been wandering in Juan’s mind as well. But Malka became enraged at these questions.
“Do you not think I tried? I tried to put a spell on you, but you were too powerful. You were too strong for me to cast a spell on. I did everything I could to get you to work for me and give up the reins, but sadly, there is a far greater force outside of us, and as per the scriptures, only females with the same blood can be rulers of this realm.”
Juan wanted to laugh. How could he have overlooked this fact? "You cannot be the queen of Warsavor because you are our cousin on our mother's side."
"Surrender, Malka. Your play is over."
“No, Alexander. I am far from being done. It is not only Heather and Diona's lives in my hands but also those of my wonderful aunt and uncle. Do not compel me to commit the heinous crime of killing my relative. It would be awful of you to force me to take such action. But what can I possibly do? They make perfect shields.”
“Do not dare,” Alexander warned.
Malka smugged in response, “Aunt and Uncle.”
With these three words, Heinrich and Contessa marched towards the Gonzales family and the brothers of the Diadem, Malka at their heels. However, Mabel moved forward to block their onslaught with Arkin.
Juan and Alexander used their mystical pull to drag their parents away from the bombardment just as the force emanating from King and Queen Diadem was about to backfire on them, causing the spell to hit Malka directly.
Oscar appeared with Mabel and Arkin to assist the distressed couple as soon as the Nobles of Warsavor were out of the direct vision of Malka.
On the other side, Heather and Diona followed the queue to weaken Malka's state by gesturing their hands to hold her still, refraining from using any magic.
By that time, Juan and Alexander were beside their women, collating their power to ease the burden on Heather and Diona, but it was nearly impossible. Malka was too strong for them. Even if the black shadows surrounding her had somewhat sublimated, it was still a challenge to overcome and force her to submit to them entirely.
Steadily, the locals of Boonsdock and Mystes joined them, lending a hand with what they could to help Alexander, Heather, Juan, and Diona.
All four of them felt grateful for the support of everyone, which was evident.
"It is working. We need to keep up with this." Heather said, attempting to use more force to lessen Malka's influence.
They were oblivious to the time they had spent restraining Malka, but she suddenly became encircled by a chain of red and golden rings that were gradually eroding the black smoke surrounding her. Before anyone could process the abrupt turn of events, the people around them felt a startling lack of vitality. Furthermore, they experienced constant memory flashes that made their hearts race and excruciating agony in their heads that compelled them to hold it with both hands.
"It is working. We need to keep up with this." Heather said, attempting to use more force to lessen Malka's influence.
When she saw that amongst the people, Juan and Alexander were also the two of them who were now on their knees from exhaustion, although the brothers and other people's power emissions were slowing down, this was still a good sign.
“It is working; I think they are remembering everything. We need to go steady, Heather.” Diona spoke loudly.
“We need to exhaust her to the point where everyone is able to get their memories out. This could be our only chance.” Heather stated in response. The two sisters faced a distinct task in trying to finish depleting Malka on their own without outside assistance.
Malka's scream was evidence of things changing their course back to normal. Witnessing people unconsciously falling to the ground was a dreadful sight, quivering with fear and strong energy within. Mabel and Arkin faced similar emotions to those of their daughters, where they felt helpless as Contessa and Heinrich collapsed, crying their own pain while they remembered their previous lives. It was a painful process for everyone under the enchantment of Malka's curse.
Malka was nearly out of breath. “Diona. Final strike," Heather said.
The cousins used every ounce of strength they still had, and in an instant, Diona's lifeless corpse was unconscious and on the ground along with their own.