HOWL

34

The saddest thing
about betrayal
is that it never comes
from your enemies.

The King was weak, his body was frail and he was almost out of life. He rested on the sedan chair and shut his eyes.
A vivid image of the Queen came to his mind, her image was much clearer at the moment than when he used to think of her before. Probably it was because the veil had gotten thinner. He could feel his death drawing close and his life slipping away from him.

The sedan chair stopped moving to which the King noticed and he opened his eyes weakly when a guard came to the window side.

"Your Majesty, We have company. Lord Cilian is here with his men"

The king gave a light nod notifying to the guard that he had received his information. Cilian came to the window side, he was happy that his brother though wasn't related to him by blood was alive. The last time he had seen him was when he was on the bed still fighting for his life.

The King barely answered him, only gave light nods and a little talk when necessary.
Cilian could see that the King was barely strong and he doubted if he would even make it till dawn.

"Jehanne" Cilian addressed the King by his name for the first time in a long while, "It's not your time yet"

The King didn't reply for he knew that those were just mere words. His wife was already calling to him and it was only a matter of time before he answered

Cilian now joined them in the exodus, he had also combined some of his own men with the King's guards.
They walked for sometime with the King's guards ahead of Cilian's men when they suddenly came face to face with the assassins.
The sedan chair stopped once again.
Swords were drawn at each other, the King and Cilian's men drew their swords against the assassins who just happened to be only four.

It would have appeared that the assassins were outnumbered but a hidden agenda was yet to be revealed.

Right then and there, Cilian and Reuel's men turned and began attacking the King's men.
Cilian brought out a dagger from behind his garment and stabbed Lerman at the back.

Lerman took in a sharp breath before he fell to the ground. Fraden stood wide eyed, never in his life had he expected such betrayal coming from another royal house.

"On your knees" Cilian ordered and Fraden had no choice but to do so. His knees made an impact with the floor making a thud sound in the process.
He bent his face down and listened as Cilian made his way towards the sedan chair.

~*~

Cyane woke up in pains, pitch darkness was the first thing she saw. Her ankles were still hurting and she tried to reach for her leg to soothe the pains that she was feeling but her movements were restrained.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she could now make out figures but those were just non living things that looked alive.

She tried to get up but her movements proved futile. She put two and two together and finally realized that she had woken up on a chair and both her arms and legs were tied with ropes and she was trapped to the chair.

She started panicking, trying to break free from the holds of the rope that held her bound.

"You are awake"
A voice spoke from amidst the darkness. The figure shifted in the dark and drew closer to her.

He got close to her and crouched to her level then struck a match and his face was finally made evident in the dark.

"You" Cyane was in disbelief, "How could you?"