PUREBLOODS #1 [+16]

CHAPTER 35

Within a few hours the soldiers had gathered and rounded up approximately fifteen strange men they found lurking around the kingdom and immediately the king came to see and interrogate them all himself.

As the men laid there eyes on John they dropped down to their knees almost immediately and showed their respect. The soldiers also bowed but unlike the captured men, they didn't go onto their knees.

"Face me, but do not rise!" John's Voice exploded and immediately they lifted their head to face him. Fear clouded over them all.

"What are You doing lurking within my kingdom?!" He asked. They looked at each other in fear and lowered their heads in shame.

"I said face me!" John bellowed in growing anger. They jerked their heads up quickly but fearfully didn't meet King John's Eyes.

"Are You all deaf?!" He yelled.

It was no use and it was apparent that no one was willing to confess and that only fueled the growing rage within King John.

The thing was, the captured men were only ashamed to tell the king that they were mere thieves, but they'll still be thrown in a dungeon for the rest of their lives for that confession.

"Execute them all!" John snapped.  "I want you to do it in the town square! Where everyone Will see! I'll draw that snake out one way or another!" He roared without remorse before leaving the wide eyed, fearful captives and soldiers speechless.

"Yes, Sir!"

"No-Please!"

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To avoid war, the King sent messages to the north kingdom informing, the King, Tyler-J that his sister's killer had been found and faced the unforgiving execution he deserved.

The king, John, then ordered his closest soldiers to continue to look for the real person behind the Queen's death both quickly and quietly to avoid news of the truth to spiral out of control.

Hanna on the other was drowning in her guilt and saw the destruction that she was doing. She saw the King, John, becoming someone he wasn't. A cold, empty and unforgiving man.

Whenever she had tried comforting him she saw that he was now a shell of his former self. He was changing and it broke Hanna's heart.

"I would like to be left alone," he said said coldly before turning away from her. Her heart dropped at his behaviour, but respectfully she left him. When she was about to close his door she heard the heartbreaking sob that sounded through his bedroom wall and just as one slipped from her own eyes,  she scurried away.

It was the right thing she had done, wasn't it? If it was so right, why was it causing her so much pain?

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John was so caught up with his grief and wallowing in his pain that he forgot the celebration of his wife's life was commencing. He knew his responsibilities but he was so broken, he didn't know how to live anymore. He was locked away in the confines of his room, weeping for nights and days and didn't even properly take care of himself.

Elijah, John's new trusted Commander entered John's room without permission and saw him hiding beneath the duvets looking a mess and without care, pulled it all right off.

"You cannot stay like this, My King." He said in distaste.

"Leave me alone, Elijah," he gruffly responded.

"Look at you, John. You haven't had a shower in a week. You won't allow the maids in the room and God forbid, you will give miss Josephine a heart attack if you don't stop all of this."

"Well, I'm sorry, but i don't feel like i have any purpose now that the love of my life is dead. Correction- was murdered!"

"Well if you can be that sassy, you sure can take a shower! Stop this nonsense."

"My Wife is dead!"

"And You don't think i know this?! She was also our Queen! We felt the impact of it too! She was like a mother to most of us, but doing this-" he motioned to John's depressed almost in moving, weak body- "is not the way John. When we lose someone we love we must learn not to live without them, but to live with the love they left behind. I know how hard it is, believe me I do. I felt it when those beasts attacked and killed my parents right in this castle. You have no idea how much guilt I felt. How mad i was going, how many times I hated looking at myself because maybe, I could have possibly saved them, but that's the thing. I couldn't. But it wasn't my fault." Elijah's voice soften when he realised that John was listening.

"Grief is so human, and it hits everyone at one point or another, at least, in their lives. If you love, you will grieve, and that's just given. So yes, I understand, but this is the point in time in which you should be your strongest. She's not gone, John. She is within the hearts of all of us." Elijah placed a hand on John's shoulder and felt it shake as he sobbed.

"Embrace the pain, that is the only way and process of healing. You can get through this my king." And with that, Elijah was gone.

King TJ and His Father former King Jacob, was the one hosting the Celebration Of Queen Isabella's life and honestly? John didn't think that he'd be welcomed there.

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*MEANWHILE IN THE SOUTH KINGDOM*

The celebration had begun, many were weeping and others were being vengeful. Thousands gathered to the south kingdom to give respect to the beautiful princess as she was highly respected in all the land. She was always sweet and respectful and never behaved as if she was higher than anyone, even though she actually was. Families, the commoners- of the south all came together for the first time in years to pay their respects to a woman of peace and beauty. Royal Families that had attended all offered the kingdom their soldiers and  gold if he needed to get revenge on the kingdom of the East for taking their princess.

Jacob, Isabella's father and first of the dragon bloodline was hurt and angry about his daughters death and wanted to punish and kill everyone in the East kingdom for his daughters death, unlike His Son, TJ who was fearful Hanna's life being cut short. He tried to make his father see reason and come up with a better plan.

"Father please, we can plan this out sane and correctly. We are not bad people. I know how this is eating you away, believe me. I miss her so very much as well. But acting like this? We cannot." TJ pleaded to his father and he roared in disapproval.

"Please, Father." He begged.

"Okay," is all Jacob said before surging up into the sky and roaring out fire in rage, before rushing down as an idea came to mind. "I think-" Jacob rushed out.

"What is it, Father?" TJ asked in confusion and worry as the scales on Jacob's body glowed intensely. "Father what is it?"

"The witch that had cursed me...if I can get her to turn me back into a human again and free me from this curse, I'll be able to properly roam around and capture whomever is responsible for my daughters death and avenge her properly. I can't believe that joke of a King, John, actually think we'd believe that he really doing the killer." Jacob scoffed.

"Why so much hassle? I can surely do the roaming-"

"I am getting old TJ, I've been a Dragon for far too long. I'm not like you, I cannot turn whenever i want to. I'm forgetting what its like to be human. This is killing me, i can't live like this forever." He confessed and TJ sympathized for his father.

"I am sorry, father. I didn't mean-"

"That is okay. Let's just look for her, capture her and make her turn me back permanently. That's a stubborn witch, and he'll do nothing with a good heart."

"Okay, Father." TJ said before they both went in search of the witch.

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Word Count: 1369

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