Bride Of The Shadows

Chapter 9: Commotion

The castle's tranquility was disrupted by the clanking of bells caused by the guards. The place was engulfed in chaos at once, as everyone wandered around searching for the missing children.
The guard became aware that they had been standing by the door for an extended period of time without hearing anything.
Initially, they were not anxious, but after a prolonged silence, he wanted to make sure that the children were safe and probably asleep.
After leaving the post, one of them politely knocked on the door but received no response. After warning himself to burst in, the man threw the doors open and was shocked to find the place empty.
Gradually, his heart started to beat faster and sweat beads started to form on his face. His hands began to tremble at the realization that the children were missing. And certainly, he was going to get killed for not doing his job effectively.
He was still a new guard and had just been positioned a few days ago.
And historically, this had never happened before.
Shortly after, his partner joined him and they raised an alarm together to search for the prince and princesses.
Blair was sleeping in Zephyr's arms, as they both hugged each other on the bed, legs entrapped under the sheets and exhausted from lovemaking.
They succumbed to a profound sleep, which only lasted for a few hours until a deep crease appeared on Zephyr's face and he lazily opened his
eyes.
His breath came out raspy as he removed his arm placement from his wife's waist and turned to the other side.
With his sharp hearing, he deciphered that everyone was rattling about something grave that had happened. The noise grew louder, waking up Blair who had been peacefully sleeping.
She frowned, as she adjusted her eyesight to the light.
"What is happening?" She inquired, rising from the bed to sit, and holding the sheet firmly close to her chest.
"I am also curious about that" He responded.
He swiftly put on his shirt and pants.
"I should come also" She muttered.
The noise was unbearable and she couldn't sit still on the bed.
This was the first time in a few years that this had happened, so she was curious to know what was going on outside the chamber.
She leaned toward the ground, attempting to grasp her clothes that had been discarded earlier.
Zephyr patiently waited for her to put it on before departing the chamber.
They came across some guards who were furiously rummaging through every corner of the castle.
When they noticed the king and queen, they immediately lowered their heads.
"What is going on here?" He inquired in a condescending tone.
He glared at the imbeciles who had ruined his peaceful moment. He rarely had the chance to sleep peacefully, and this evening was going well until he was disturbed. He was completely incensed.
The guards shook. They were trembling frantically, with their gaze locked onto the ground. None of them dared to speak of what had happened.
Their fate was to be killed, they knew it and they couldn't afford it.
"Could someone tell me what the hell is happening?" Silence reigned.
"His majesty asked a question! Are you all deaf!?"
Blair shouted at them, and they backed off as she approached them.
She scrutinized each of them, pondering about why they had suddenly lost their power to speak.
Zephyr's arm placed on hers caused her to calm down and she exhaled.
At that moment, his aura began to emanate from him like a black mist. His gray eyes, which had been unusually calm earlier, grew grim and they fluctuated from gray to red. As he approached the guards, they began to choke by the overwhelming situation they were in.
He tilted his head to the side, "Mere talks wouldn't get me anywhere" He commented to himself.
He grasped the man in front by the neck, and as his claws grew longer, they penetrated deeper into the man's neck, causing blood to flow and drop to the ground.
"If I don't hear the reason why you all dared to ruin my slumber, I'll kill everyone" His words reached their ears.
They still were frightened to let him know of the truth.
Fine! Zephyr thought as he placed his other hand on the man's face. The latter struggled to breathe as he fidgeted, kicking against the king's robe.
He felt a rough palm caress his face at first and then tilted his head harshly. In the twinkling of an eye, Zephyr shredded his head from his body.
The others were shaken to hell, they fell to the ground. "Y----your majesty. Please have mercy!""Have mercy?" He interrogated. Throwing the head away as if it meant absolutely nothing.
"Y--your majesty. The children are missing!" One of them rashly spoke the truth, and Zephyr who was waltzing towards them to grab another person, halted. The aura dissipated at once, his red eyes turned gray and he turned extremely anxious by what he had just learned of.
"What!?" Blair's lips parted.
She widened her eyes and turned around to avoid seeing her husband's horrific act, but after hearing what the guards said, she became frightened.
She turned to face her husband with widened eyes.
"You all should find them before night comes!"
"Zephyr, let's check the chamber"
"Right"
However, they were disappointed by the deserted place.
"How could this happen?" She asked herself, walking into the chamber with her hands on her mouth.
The window hadn't been broken, and everyone claimed to have not seen the children sneaking out, so what had happened?
"Celeste used magic" Zephyr concluded, his expression darkening as his fists gripped by his sides.
He saw Blair turn to him with a look of uncertainty in her eyes.
"How could that be possible, she's little and does not know magic, they must be hiding somewhere"
He interposed sharply, "Why do you not ever trust my judgment?"At the moment, he was unable to control his emotions so he ended up glaring at her, harshly.
She was taken aback.
Although there was quite some distance between them, as she stood next to the window and he was by the closet, she felt like he was close and was stabbing her heart multiple times.
She pursed her lips and averted her gaze.
Were they seriously going to have an argument in the middle of a commotion where their children were missing and were yet to be found?
Blair didn't think so!
"I'd go check the other rooms" She voiced out, dragging her feet which had begun to tremble because of his intense stare at her.
His eyes nipped harshly at her as she walked across the room, and before she could exit the chamber, he spoke up,
"I dislike the fact that you do not trust my words even when they are true, yet you always want me to believe that you're right." His lips twisted.
From the corner of his eyes, he could tell that she already turned towards him with parted lips, but she didn't protest.
"I want you to change that goddamned attitude Blair or else I'd stop talking to you" His head turned towards her.
She didn't utter a word. But her expression conveyed all that he wanted to know.
She must think that he couldn't do without talking or being around her and that he was merely speaking out of rage.
Zephyr knew he just said his mind, and he wasn't changing it no matter
what. 'Come to think of it. This is your fault. If only Celeste hadn't stayed then none of this would've happened"
She frowned, "You had the choice to refuse. Why didn't you? You're also a part of this!"
"That's because-"
His words were cut short by an announcement, "Prince Alistair has returned!"