Hidden Empress

Chapter 16

William's pov

I smiled to myself as Edward and I strolled to this study. I couldn't stop thinking about the woman I just saw. Damn she's hot! Who is she? Is she Edward's fiance? The thought caused a sort of pain in my heart. I couldn't understand this feeling. It was strange to me. I felt extremely possessive over her. And I just freaking met her. I couldn't imagine her being taken without me having a chance first. Heck I was already having erotic thoughts about her. Believe me, you do not want to know the details of those thoughts. I felt a tap on my shoulder and snapped out of my thoughts. I looked around to find out we had arrived at the study and I was just standing there with a creepy smile on my face staring at nothing. Edward gave me a knowing look. I smiled sheepishly and muttered "sorry". Edward stared at me amused.  I'm sure the idiot could tell what I was thinking. I smiled shyly and avoided meeting his gaze. I'm sure my face was very red at this point. Oh so embarrassing.
I knew he'll tease me about it later. So I decided I might as well take my chances. So I took a deep breath and brazenly asked without preamble,
"Who is she Edward?"
He arched a brow at me and pretended to not know who I was referring to but I could see the glee in his eyes. He scratched his head trying to look innocent but he only succeeded at looking incredibly guilty.
"who are you talking about?"
If he was trying to rile me up, then it worked because I began to feel irritated. I glared at him
"The lady I just met in your house you idiot" I snapped.
He just smiled and shrugged at me. I raised my fist to cuff his head and he expertly dodged it while laughing at me.  He raised his hands up as if surrendering and replied
"Hold up a minute. I'll tell you. No need to get your panties in a twist" He winked at me. I laughed at that. The idiot was probably enjoying every moment of this. But he finally gave me an answer. Thank the gods.
"That's my sister, Alina"
I frowned at that. I wasn't happy with the answer. Sister? Does that mean she's off limits? Dear gods please don't do this to me. As far as I could remember, Edward only had one sister who was killed when they were young. He didn't exactly tell me the full details. When he was narrating the story about his sister's death to me, he was a blubbering mess. He was crying seriously that I couldn't hear him clearly. I could only make out a few words from the whole story. Something about attack, witch, rape and butcher. Those few words alone were hard enough for me to pick up so I didn't bother asking him about it anymore. Since it was a painful memory, I didn't want to talk about it and I'm sure he felt grateful at that. Which brings me back to my question, How could this be his sister? Did she somehow resurrect from the dead? Besides this Alina looks younger. And I remember her to be older than him. Hmm besides I don't remember her name to be Alina. Something is not right here. I'm sure of it. I wasted no time in  voicing out my thoughts
"Your sister? I thought your sister died years ago?"
He winced at the mention of his late sister. Though it was quickly covered up with a blank look, I was sure of what I saw. He nodded and replied nonetheless.
"Yes but this is my younger sister. She has been living with a distant aunt all this while. My aunt recently died so she had to come back and stay with me "
I didn't quite believe his explanation. Why the hell haven't I heard about this mysterious sister before? I've been friends with Edward for over twenty years and not once has he mentioned he has a younger sister. But his story seemed plausible so I let it go. I decided to change the subject.
I turned to him delving into my purpose of visiting.
"So are you ready to tell me about the issue of the flag?" I could the wheels turning in his head so I pushed harder "I need to know what's going on so I can protect my people. I can't let an innocent soul lose his/her life again. Enough blood has been spilled already"
I saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. But it was gone so fast I began to think if it was my imagination. I could see the wheels turning in his head. My words seem to penetrate his mind. His answer however was very shocking to say the least.
"The flag belongs to Alice. A very powerful witch. You probably have not heard of her since you didn't grow up here but everyone is afraid of her. Kings bow to her wishes and civilian tremble at the mention of her name. She is ruthless and anything she wants, she gets. She has her own army. Rather kings are forced to surrender their armies to her or she annihilates the whole kingdom. The warriors are forced to become a group of cold blooded, ruthless men. She spices it up by strengthening them with black magic. It is said that no man can kill them. No one knows where she stays. Kings have sent out scouts to find her hiding place but none came back alive. She tried attacking us years ago but your father found a way to defeat her and since then I've not heard anything from her till now. I don't know what exactly she wants with us but I can tell you we are in big trouble if she doesn't find it. It's either we give in to her demands or prepare a really strong defense"

Tired. Four chapters today. My hands hurt.