Buds of Despair

40. King

King

Isabella stepped into the heavily guarded Kings chambers after taking out his guards. He was awake at his desk as she fluttered in from the shadows. She stood in front of him with her arms over her chest glaring, he set his pen down and met her gaze. Ah so this is her, the one from Lab 13, he had seen videos of her but to feel the menacing aura first hand was a treat.

"Where is Kuro?"

"More than likely in the dungeon." Alexander shrugged. "You know you could have just walked in and knocked you didn't have to kill my guards." 

He pressed his hand to his forehead looking exasperated. He watched her expression turn sheepish and almost laughed out loud. So his brother had hidden her away and Cordelia must have held the key after his death. They had done a good job of keeping her a secret, he had thought she was dead with her mother. What had they been keeping her alive for?

"You are more than welcome to go get him, I can't help him honestly my position gets in the way. I am just temporarily holding onto the crown, currently Cordelia holds most of the power of this castle."

Isabella tipped her head, this king was odd, she thought he hated Kuro but instead he seemed more annoyed that he had to be king. She was taken aback by how young he was, he had to only be eighteen or nineteen. Him and Noctis looked identical in every way, genetics wise it wasn't uncommon for family members to look very similar but they were exact. 

Alexander studied Isabella, she looked a lot like her mother Annebell, aside from the black hair which she got from her father Christopher. Christopher had been like an older brother to him more so than his real brother had ever been, he had cherished him. He was the General of the imperial army and Annebell was a diplomat for the Silver Clan he had fallen in love with.

His older brother Leo had killed them both, he was a cruel and selfish man and somehow had found his match in Cordelia. It was a dark time for the few years his brother ruled, he had been the one to kill him because he couldn't sit back and watch anymore. He was fifteen when he took the crown, Cordelia fought him tooth and nail for the crown but he wasn't going to let her have it. 

She had tried pushing treason but he held firm in his stance of over taking a tyrant and as his brother died Armentine awakened in him which meant he had to take over. It was hard to argue because the owner of the crown was the one who owned Armentine. Currently it was divided between Kuro and himself and as Kuro grew he would absorb more of the weapon as his own and Alexander's power would weaken.

Cordelia wanted Kuro to fully take over the crown because she could control him. If she controlled him she would have full control of the Imperial Army as well as the Council, she would own the country if Kuro couldn't break free from her bind. The queens crysts were meant to balance the overwhelming power of Armentine and keep the power balanced but she had other plans and used it as a weapon to control instead of balance.

She needed to be eliminated but it wasn't easy as he had enough royal crysts for her to hinder him, the more crysts you had the more control she had of you. She couldn't fully stop him but she had hindered him a few times in battle which losing movement in the middle of a fierce battle didn't make it easy to survive. He decided to see if he could use this girl, it would be beneficial to both of him. She could get her revenge on the person who had her locked away and tormented and she would be able to break the bind on Kuro. He would be able to step down comfortably if Kuro was to take over without his mother's bind.

"When you have some time come find me, I would like to talk with you. I think it would prove beneficial to both of us."

"What could possibly need to be spoken between us?" He side glanced at her through long lashes with a small smirk as he stepped towards her. What was in the water of this country to make everyone so beautiful. She frowned not being able to tell if he was an enemy, he held no hostility towards her and had told her where Kuro was without any argument as if he wanted her to go get him.