The Clash Of Drakkon: Book Four Of The Drakkon Series

Chapter Fifteen

Kiara Solveig

Former Queen of the Solveig Empire

Titus had left a note for me in the forest, I had been suspicious of it at first, before I realized that based on the contents of the letter, my daughter had been in touch with him, which meant she trusted him. My daughter had come through, there was only one way to cure the man I loved of his affliction, and that was to use his love for me against him, to force him to feel. Luckily, I was rather good at forcing emotions out of people, whether it was anger or hate, I could do it easily, softer emotions were not my specialty.

Though I knew hate was close to love, after all you could only truly hate someone, you once loved. I would do this, I would force Aldrich to feel something for me, and if I couldn't, I would end his life, because I would not let him live long enough to cause anymore harm to my daughter. He was a threat and if I couldn't cure him of his anger towards Alessandra, I would dispose of the threat that he was.

I did not relish the thought in killing him, but I also knew that he wasn't really the man I loved anymore, killing him would be a mercy to the man he used to be, a mercy to the man who would be horrified to know what he has done now. That he was no longer the beloved king of his people, but the tyrant who had killed their proper Queen. The Queen they cared for, and that because of him they were not allowed to mourn her in public like they should.

I could hear the mutterings, the whispers, and pleas, Aldrich may think he has his proper place of the throne again, but I knew even if I didn't do something, the people were not satisfied under his rule, and when they did not wish for someone to be their king any longer, that person could step down or become a tyrant, and if they refused to step down, the people would kill him eventually, it was only a matter of time. My decision to see if I could save him was only a chance to keep the man I loved in my life, if he refused to feel something for me, then I would just have to be content with my memories of our time together. Eight years was a blink in the eye of a species that live for thousands, it wasn't enough time, I wanted more with him, I wanted the rest of my life to be with him. But I would not place my daughter in harms way to get it, if he remained a threat to her, I would kill him, no matter what everyone thought, he had one chance to be spared by me and in the end, it was up to him whether he would take it.

After our conversation only a little while ago, he threw tantrums up and down the forest line, screaming for me to come back that he missed me, and the next his entire demeanor would transform and he would rant and rave about killing me for my disrespect, and here he was ready to burn the forest down again in order to get me out.

I suppose it was relatively smart, after all fire couldn't harm me, but a falling tree could, and when trees burned, they fell, so not so smart after all on his part, but I never assumed he was thinking clearly in the first place. Whatever the Morgasians had done to him, had made him almost crazy all that seemed to remain was a man dead set on revenge, on punishing any and all who had wronged him, for little slights or not, in his mind they all deserved death. And yet, the moments when he pleaded for me to come out of the forest, when he said he missed me, I could see the old Aldrich in him, before the new one would take over again, it was like two different people being trapped in the same body, always fighting for control, except this time I needed my Aldrich to kill this stranger in his body.

I needed him to overcome the emotional blockage the Morgasians had placed on him. Because if he didn't, I would kill him rather than let him live and maybe one day actually succeed in killing my daughter as he already had almost once. "Aldrich, Aldrich, Aldrich. Didn't you learn that only I can play with fire? Did you not feel my flames scorching your skin only days ago?" He glares at me with hatred in his eyes before he shakes his head and suddenly stares at me with longing and despair, it wasn't the love I needed from him, but it showed me that his softer emotions were still there, just hidden from him.