Amor Enim Bellum

5

Not even five minutes later, Serah came barreling into Elias' office.

"Is everything okay Eli?"

Elias nodded his head and explained to her that her husband was just being an ass, which was not a big surprise to her or anyone else. She just slapped him upside the head, "While I'm here, someone mind telling me why the whole castle is in an uproar. Something about a girl being found at the main gate and Eli acting like he saw a ghost."

Sighing, he replayed what happened almost an hour ago at the main gate, also being careful on telling Serah about what Vinne Kröw had to do with the whole situation.
As expected, she visibly started shaking and Benjamin aided her in sitting down in one of the chairs, that were in front of Elias' desk.

"Babygirl, are you ok? Would you like some water?"

Serah, still lost for words only nodded her head at her husband, without so much as looking away from where she was staring at, as if in a trance.

Both men understood to give her some time to process this, as one of the few people who knew of her dark and terrifying past. Her husband stepped out of the room to go get her a glass of water, while Elias stayed with her and keep an eye on her.

It was a waiting game for Serah to snap out of it, not knowing if she was going to be in distress or anger or calm, they had no way of knowing.
It was the way of life for Benjamin and the whole castle.

A few minutes had passed and the office doors opened up again to reveal Benjamin with a glass of water, as asked for and it seemed to have knocked her out of the trance like state, she was previously in.

"Are you ok Serah?"

"I'm ok, I was just at a loss for words and shocked that this man is still alive. I want him dead Elias."

Nodding Elias explained as much as he wanted Kröw dead too, it would not be a very easy thing to execute. The man was very well sought out by lots of gangsters and criminals who needed a way in or out of the country, amongst other services.
He would not be an easy man to take out. They would need a very large and well thought out plan.

"The first thing for right now that we need to focus on is the girl and how she is feeling. We will deal with her father at a later date. Nova Ström has been through hell and back. She's seen plenty of it to, last thing she needs right now is more of that," Benjamin interjected.

Elias knew his Herre was right, he needed to think about the current situation they had going on, also the safety and well-being of his club.
He could not let his and Serah's own feelings about Nova's father get in the way of that. Though trust and believe him, they'll come back to that, you could bank on it.

"Plus you also still have a jaga in place Eli. The castle can't run itself. You need to snap out of it."

"Shit, I forgot about the jaga. You're right Benji, this whole situation has gotten my mind fucked up. As king I can't let my emotions rule me, I need to think for my brothers and sisters."

Nodding in understanding, Benjamin took Serah's hand and guided her out the room, "I'm taking her to go rest, call me if any updates happen about the girl Ellie."

Confirming he would, Elias sat down and tried to decide what his next move would be.
It was obvious that something about Nova was calling out to him like a moth to a flame, but he still had his club to think about.

Plus who knows what she went through and how she would feel landing up in another MC's hands, after escaping her father's own.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Elias could feel a tension headache coming on. This whole situation was fucked up in so many ways. One of those problems was he wasn't sure how old Nova was now.
For all they know, that picture of her at 15 years old could've been a year ago or two years ago.

He'd have to go talk to her and try not to spook her as well.
That was the last thing he wanted.

While Elias was contemplating what to do next, down in the infirmary Zia was speaking to the MC's head doctor, Fang or to use his real name, Luke.

The members of Odin's Riders called their resident doc that because his canines were unusually sharp.

"Doctor Luke, what's the update on the girl's condition? I want to have something good to report back to the King."

Grabbing Nova's file, he replied, "So far from what we have gathered, she is scarily underweight for her height. She may not have eaten for a day or so, but even then it seems at home she was barely fed to. So we have been pumping her with fluids to help her body function to heal. She has a few fractured bones, more than likely from when she was escaping, along with those a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too severe. The most alarming thing that I have found on her, is the young lady's back. It is covered in whip scars, as if she was constantly on her stomach, being struck with a whip over and over."

Zia nodded and asked if all of them were scarred over.

Shaking his head, "Many of them have reopened, more than likely as a result of being close to fully healing and then being whipped again. They didn't show this poor girl any mercy. She more than likely had open wounds on her back while they were beating her."

Taking a deep breath, she thanked Dr.Luke and went on her way to inform her King of the doctor's findings.

———————————

In Nova's hospital room, she laid there almost lifeless, hooked up to multiple machines.

No one knew when she would wake up.