Chapter Two-Hundred-And-Thirty-Five
**3rd Person POV**
Charlotte could easily think of one person who would dare do such a thing. Major Drieden seemed to have gone quiet when the issue of the letter was brought forward. It was as though he suddenly had no more opinions to share. Charlotte would not be surprised if he had tampered with the letter. It would come as even less surprise if it had been Nydia who had put him up to it.
“Now that we have that out of the way, we should talk about a suitable time for our negotiations to kick off. I believe given what has happened, it is more important than ever that some ground rules be established,” said Prince Harlin.
The vampire king had a look of reluctance on his face. It was clear he was not ready or remotely interested in negotiating with them. Charlotte could understand his reluctance, his fellow vampire kings were not as tolerant with werewolves as he was and further concessions to them could come off as being weak-minded.
“Father, you made a promise,” reminded Kristoff.
The king grunted and then sighed before saying, “Of course, of course. I will leave my prince to it.”
****
Major Drieden was not pleased with the outcome of today's meeting. He had been convinced that the death of a vampire would have been enough to convince the king of Dome that the werewolves were up to no good and there was no point in making a deal with them. Instead, the man had allowed his son to convince him to keep negotiating with them.
Major Drieden scoffed as he hit Nydia hard with a stick. This was what he did when he was particularly pissed off by a werewolf. It was laughable though seeing that he had begged to be married to one. Although, things had been different with Francesca. She was a hybrid werewolf with more vampire blood in her than werewolf blood. And he had kept the marriage a secret from even his closest ally, Ashton.
When he thought about Francesca, a strange kind of anger welled up inside of him. He suspected that she was having an affair although he was not sure with whom. He had suspected at the wedding ball that it was with the young prince, Harlin but he was also almost certain that it had to be Lowell. It did not matter whom it was with because they would be all dead very soon. George may have failed to give them the werewolf settlement like they had hoped he would but it did not mean they would not one day have it all.
The vampire raids were only the beginning. The only thing that stood in his way was Ashton's father who was too weak and sick to rule but still managed somehow to control everything. It was only a king that could rally other kings to war and that was Ashton's goal once he seized power. Perhaps, it was time to talk to Ashton about putting the old geezer to rest entirely. The man had not minded annihilating the werewolves at one time but a whiff of defeat and he had ordered them to stop any effort to do so. He had become content with the occasional kidnapping and his lab filled with werewolves whom he performed several obscene experiments on. Major Drieden however wanted more.
Nydia groaned again at the impact of Major Drieden’s hit. Things were not always this bad but when they got to this extent she reminded herself that she had to find a way to leave this place else she risked the danger of losing her life. Nydia thought about the words of the little Fae she had seen in her dream two nights ago_ _no one is ever worthy of redemption. There's not a thing as too many chances._
She thought about it. Was it even possible to have another chance? or was she doomed forever to continue living in this sort of pain and humiliation. She remembered the terms for her return from exile. She had to bring Irvette onto werewolf soil if she wanted any pardon. She had never thought of this as her way to escape this horrendous life but perhaps it was not impossible. She only thought this because she had overheard Major Drieden mention _the werewolf queen_ when talking to Ashton. If Irvette was alive somewhere it may be possible to return home. Of course, her people may end up killing her on sight but if she could make it to a palace in time, she could negotiate the terms of her coming out of exile and she would receive pardon and protection.
Nydia tried not to get her hopes high; it would be a very huge undertaking if she wanted to bring Irvette back home. However, she could simply revisit her earlier plan and run away to a far-off human settlement where she was not known. It would be a huge risk though because there she would have no protection and by doing that Major Drieden would hunt her to the ends of the world. A tear rolled its way down her cheeks. This brought a sick smile to Major Drieden’s lips. But she was not crying from his hits, she was crying because she realised that she may be stuck in this hell forever.
****
In a faraway land, the Faes were gathered around Fae dust, changing something intelligible to the untrained ear. They had just lost their Queen. The atmosphere was both sad and happy. Their Queen had been one of the greatest yet; she had lifted them up from the depths of hell to a place on earth. She had been on a path to restore them to their former place in the skies but she had died before she could do that for them.
Lucian, now Hades, watched the fairies as they danced and fluttered about his mother's Fae dust. They would do that until a tree began to grow where they had sprinkled her fairy dust.
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