15. The deal.

The Parliament session ended and now, Niya and Archie were both at William's house along with other ministers for a little get-together session. It was the same lavish hall that she was in last time.

"You did a really good job Niyanica." Archie said and sipped on his drink. Niya smiled at him.

"I know." She smirked and Archie chuckled at her response.

William came with the group of ministers to introduce to her. "Your Majesty, here are some special guests that have been waiting to get your attention." He smiled.

"He is Mr. Yokonov Tihara, a representative of the Fae kind from Fae Plus Planet." William introduced a man whose height was approximately 6'2" with white skin and orange eyes, his lips were purple while his hair had a silky lavender color. He was wearing a three-piece suit, looking like a perfect gentleman. He stepped forward and took Niya's hand to kiss it gracefully.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tihara" She smiled.

"Trust me, My Queen, the pleasure is all mine." He said with a smile. William looked at the pair and continued down the line.

"She is a representative of the Frost Vixen kind, Miss. Kazukyiana Windstorm from Pagonia Prime Planet." William introduced a very beautiful woman in her late 20’s with pinkish peach eyes, orange lips, and silky light blue hair with extra-long ears. She was wearing a beautiful light blue gown with a blue tiara.

She smiled and bowed in front of Niya. But Niya hugged her and Kazukyiana was shocked but still return it. "Hello, Miss. Windstorm." She smiled at her.

"Finally got a chance to meet you, My Queen." She smiled as William moved to the next person.

"And she is representative of the Snake kind, Miss. Rizaha Werinaar." William introduced the other girl to her. She had tanned brown milky skin, beautiful dark blue eyes, and black hair, with a snake tattoo on her neck. She was wearing a blackish green colored gown. She smiled and bowed.

"Glad to meet you, Your Majesty." She said with a smile.

"Feeling is mutual, Miss. Werinaar." Niya hugged her and smiled back at her.

William continued introducing the anxious and excited people while Niya tried to keep track of all the names. After what seemed like forever, the function ended and both Archie and Niya were able to leave.

Once in the palace, Niya was finally able to destress and couldn’t wait to sleep so she did just that. After showering and changing into some silk pajamas, she was ready to sleep the hectic day away. But of course, just as she laid down, someone knocked on her door.

Niya sighed and sat up on the bed rubbing off the tiredness from her eyes, "Please, come in." She said. The door opened and none other than Archie walked in. *Of course*, Niya thought.

"Niya, I want to talk to you about the werewolves case." Archie said calmly. Niya nodded in response and signaled him to proceed. "It will be not appropriate to call the Head of the Weres’ Clan into the palace. They don't like us and once in, there’s no stopping what may happen, you know?" Archie hesitantly explained the situation. Niya thought for a minute and sighed.

"Why do they hate us? Let's negotiate with them and clear the air. We can have mutual benefit for both sides." Niya curiously said with a smile.

Archie looked at her for a second and chuckled. "I should have known how stubborn you are, just be careful. I do not want to take any risk on your life. And inviting their kind to the palace is very dangerous. They are experts in hypnotizing." He touched his upper lip with his tongue quickly to cover his fear and nervousness. Niya, who was observing his body language, chuckled at his nervousness.

She stood from the bed and came closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "There’s nothing to fear when Archie The Leech is here. You'll handle the threat and risk very well. I know." She smiled.

"Yeah..." He paused for a second and narrowed his eyes. "Did you just call me leech?" Archie raised his eyebrows amusingly.

"No... me?... No, why would I call you leech?" Niya tried hard to control her laughter but failed. Once she laughed, Archie couldn’t help but join her.

"Good night, Niya." He smiled and left the room.

The last three days, Archie was behaving quite differently. He was more caring, more polite to Niya, and Niya too was shocked seeing this sudden change but still had her suspicions.

*Archie, you either are genuinely changing or this is all part of your ‘get-her-in-my-team’ plan. But dude, it is not that easy to*, Niya smirked and jumped on her bed to sleep.

On the other side, Archie was walking through the Royal Gardens, deeply consumed by his thoughts. It was a full moon tonight and a cold breeze was making the weather a little harsh. But still, Archie was in his night suit, the cold breeze being the least of his concerns. Suddenly, somebody put a woolen shawl on his shoulders. He smiled as he knew exactly who the person was.

"El! It's late. What are you doing here?" Archie turned and asked Elena with a little smile on his lips. Elena looked at his eyes for a few seconds and Archie knew she was trying to find something.

"Archie, I love you, you know that, right?" She sighed and Archie understood why she was upset. Archie kissed her forehead and she smiled.

"El, I know you love me but I don't love you the way you want me to. And that doesn't mean that I’m helplessly in love with Niyanica. You know that I can't, it’s not possible." He smiled sadly and Elena could clearly see that he wanted to even though it was not possible.

She sighed and scoffed, "Yes, you don't love her because you can't but what if you could? Will you be with her?” Elena looked directly at his soul through her gaze. And yes, somehow she knew that Archie was going to drown in this mess. And that mess was none other than Niyanica. "You are supposed to kill her after separating her powers from her body, that was the deal." Elena sighed annoyingly and stared at him waiting for his response.
Archie scrunched his eyebrows as soon as the realization hit him. He touched his lips with his tongue which was a clear indication of the rising tension inside his mind. He opened his mouth to say something but then suddenly, decided to remain quiet as if he was struggling with his mind and heart.

"But the person I had made this deal is now a prisoner in hell and there’s no way that he can escape from it. He is captivated there for eternity." He gulped down his fear and narrowed his eyes to observe Elena’s reaction to his statement.

"The person you are talking about is Lucifer! And Lucifer never gives up. He will find his way to get the deal done. He always does." Elena smiled sympathetically.

"But he is my brother, he will understand my feelings?" Archie said. But his statement was more of a question rather than the statement. Elena held his hand in her warm hands and gave a squeeze in assurance.

"Lucifer is your step-brother. And Archie, even your twin brother is currently hunting every universe to find you so that he could kill you… and you're expecting sympathy from your step-brother? Archie, you are either naive or you are not ready to accept the truth. Think about it, okay?. Good night." Elena patted his shoulder and left while Archie was left standing with a dumbstruck expression in the dark of the night.

After Elena’s conversation, it was hard for Archie to sleep. He was peacefully laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His electric green eyes were shining like a diamond in the moonlit entering through the open gate of his balcony. He again closed his eyes, trying to sleep.

*Archie, You have to do this for your brother, I gave you a new planet, a new aim of your life, and a new prestige, in return, I just want Niyanica dead. will you do this for me?*, A voice echoed in his ears and he woke up with a jolt.

"Yes Luci, I will do it for you, I have to do it for you, I made a deal and a devil never breaks his deal with another devil." He was panting and a drop of sweat ran from his forehead to his nose. He felt a strong urge inside him to see Niyanica and immediately, he rushed towards her room and within the very next second, he was in front of her room. Using the master key to open the door, he stepped in.

Niya was sleeping peacefully along with the flute that he had gifted her. He stared at her for a minute and smiled. He took some steps closer to her bed.

"Niyanica, you have to die. I know you do not deserve all this mess but I'm helpless. I have to do this… even when I don't want to." Archie touched her face delicately and ran his hand down from her cheeks to her neck.

Niya woke up with a jolt after feeling someone's touch on her cheek. She looked around but no one was there. Not giving it a second thought due to her tired and sleepy state, she went back to sleep and quickly fell into a deep slumber. Archie remained in the room and once he knew she had fallen asleep again, he laid down slowly on the space of the bed but no matter how much he tried, he wasn’t able to sleep throughout the whole night.

***

The next morning, Niya was in a deep sleep despite the bright rays of sunshine entering the room through the window. Archie was staring at the ceiling, laying on the other side of the bed. He looked down as Niya lazily turned her face towards him while her eyes were still closed, he couldn’t help but smile.

"Wake up, Lazy Head." Archie said turning his eyes back to the ceiling. Confused, Niya opened her eyes and the shock of seeing him in her bed was enough to wake her up.

"What the hell? What are you doing here?” She shouted in utter shock, desperately getting out of the bed and patting her messy hair down.

"I was missing you last night… so I decided to sleep here." He chuckled to tease her more.

"Seriously, Archie? Get the hell out of here. I am the freaking Queen. Respect my privacy you douche.” She said annoyingly while putting her slippers on. Archie got up from the bed and chuckled.

"You snore like a horse by the way." He said and immediately left the room. Niya was standing dumbstruck.

"I don't snore, you duck." Niya shouted to make sure he listened to her in the corridor.

Her wish came true since Archie replied quickly after hearing her words, opening the door once again "Yeah, whatever, be ready. It’s the judgment day for the Werewolf Star Land case."

***