The Crimson King

Chapter 17 | (Re)Discovered

Yay! I managed to update on time :o
I spent half of my writing time today solidifying the plot line for the rest of the story as things are truly about to be put into motion! I am very excited :)

I hope that you guys will enjoy this chapter, I LOVED hearing your speculations in the last chapter and although I remain fairly confident in my ability to lead you all astray (mwaha) your thoughts and ideas still give me inspiration for the story ahead, so thankyou!

Happy reading and love always,
Daisy x

P.S. You may noticed that I actually labelled the P.O.V's today - Originally I didn't plan to do this as I was experimenting after APK with a bit more freedom surrounding POV changes .... but the OCD part of me is annoyed not to have a clear label every time a POV shift happens, so I'm going to start doing it again. I'll find time to edit the other chapters later so they match. Thank you for your understanding!

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Chapter 17 | (Re)Discovered

*

'Listen to the
s i l e n c e
it is telling the truth.'

- d. j.

*

DARIUS

Darius sat at his desk, drumming his fingers impatiently on the smooth wood beneath his hands. In front of him, Ezekiel was droning on about something – Darius had stopped paying attention about twenty minutes ago, yet his advisor, for some reason Darius could not fathom, seemed determined today to make his ears bleed.

"- hope's that you will make an appearance my Lord. And after all, you really should. This is a royal wedding we are talking about, it's only right that you attend. Majesty you really should consider ... my Lord? Majesty, are you listening?"

Darius sighed. That was right – it was that infernal wedding.

"Of course, I'm listening," Darius snapped impatiently, "all I've been doing is listening to you harp on about this for weeks. Do you really think now is the time to be attending such things Ezekiel? We have a war on our hands here-"

"-which is why maintaining and strengthening our allegiance is all the more important," the blonde haired lycan continued without pause. "Such a union has never before been seen in history. If we did not go, it would be a great misconduct on the part of the Earth Kingdom, especially since the Elven Queen is currently unspoken for."

"But if we attend, they will ask questions about the civil war," Darius rose from behind his desk, smacking a hand firmly down on the table, "and I will not have others involved in our business."

"We are no longer alone in this," Ezekiel pointed out, "we could ask for assistance."

"No," Darius dismissed, "this is between Lycans and Shifters. I was considering it before we met the Dragon Prince at Elysian – but they hid details of that from me and chose to handle it alone. Airocei's letter of apology after that whole mess had been sorted, barely covered it. The banishment may have ended, but the Kingdoms are not as united as they once were. We will deal with our own affairs."

Ezekiel stared at him for a moment. He could practically see his advisor's brain ticking over. "I have heard," he said slowly, "that the House of Vidarr will be in attendance at the wedding."

Darius's eyes narrowed. "And? Why should that concern me?"

"You know why," Ezekiel frowned, "the Vidarr has family ties with Ascain. Stop being difficult."