May Death Do Us Part

89 Chapter 89 : Sire heirs

Meria had officially become a hub for the four once banished races, curtesy of the silver haired lycan Elric, formerly Nathaniel Aldos. The hybrids from all over the continent who had transformed during the awakening moved to the kingdom as it had become a sanctuary for them. Life for them there was good, with shelter, privileges in trade and land, and of course enough food for all, it was because of this that King Elric earned the respect and undying gratitude of all the once enslaved races from all over. This made him one of the most powerful kings to ever rule in the continent of Ronia Cresus.

Humans who were lucky enough to be related or married to an ‘awakened’ as they were now called, retained their position in the status quo, enjoying the fruits and privalages of now one of the most powerful kingdoms in the continent. Those who were unlucky and had no relations with the awakened were reduced to servants and farm workers, a sort of punishment for the sins of their ancestors who enslaved and drove the four races out of the central continent.

And on top of all this, king Elric’s rule spread to Gavarian soils and Baiviles as well. In as much as King James Burchard was still named king of Gavaria, he was merely a figure head ,as the loyalty of the citizens was to the lycan King, either due to fear or gratitude, either way, king Elric was a force to be reckoned with. A human could not even utter his name without being thrown in a cell for slander, his reign had become absolute in these three mighty kingdoms in just a matter of months.

In the Merian Capital within the large study of the palace, King Elric was sitting at a large teakwood table with his head resting on his knuckles as he listened to his newly appointed royal council bickering among themselves. The council consisted of two Lycan generals, two nosferatu, two dwarves and two elves.

“We need to take Cenia if we wish to secure our hold on the central continent, if we give humans a place to call home they will be free to breed and eventually retaliate when we least expect them to.”

“Cenia’s military is weak, going against them will hardly be called a siege. What we need to focus on is taking the enchanted forest, if anyone is going to threaten our hold on the continent it’s them.”

“The enchanted forest is were our kin reside, why don’t we handle them politically and forge an alliance rather than wage war against them. Besides, we don’t know the kind of military strengths they possess, we cannot risk it.”

“If they wanted an alliance don’t you think they would have reached out the way our kin in the snowlands did? You can’t tell me they have not heard of what our king has done for their people here? This can only mean one thing, they are not willing to work with us!”

“So you think a war will make them want to work with us? What kind of senseless logic is that?”

.....

“Have you forgotten that their prince kidnapped our queen?! If that’s not a declaration of war I don’t know what is! She is an important part in our allience with the nosferatu of the snowlands, without her we don’t have their aid!”

When the silver haired king banged the table with his hand all the occupants went silent. A dark intimidating aura that radiated from him made shivers run down their spines as they turned to look at king Elric who had stood up and was glaring at them.

“My wife is not a tool for any sort of political gain, so I urge you not to talk about her like she’s some pawn.” Elric spoke in a low yet bone chilling tone, “I married her out of love not power.”

“Of course your majesty, forgive us for being presumptuous...”

The handsome lycan settled down in his seat and returned to his initial sitting position before speaking, “with that being said, it is true that the elven prince has committed an unforgivable act by kidnapping the queen of this great land. Therefore our priority will be the enchanted forest, Cenia will be incorporated into our reigns soon enough.”

The king then tuned to Theo and gave him a nod. The tall slender man who had been sitting on Elric’s right hand side stood up and cleared his throat before spreading a map of the continent in the center of the large table. He then began explaining the plan while moving slowly around the large table.

“A select group of warriors will ride for the enchanted forest with our king in exactly four days from the morrow,” the man explained, “as we do not have much information of the terrain there, we wish not to send a large group that we may risk losing or attract any attention to ourselves. The journey to the forest from what we know takes about a month on horseback, but for the lycans and nosferatu..” Theo flashed a fanged smile, “it’s just a matter of days give or take.”

Theo stopped on the silver haired king’s left side after making a full rotation around the table and its occupants, “we assume the group who kidnapped the queen would have arrived in a place called the wandering forest by now, meaning they should reach Lenora, the dwarve kingdom in three days or so. It is imperative that we retrieve queen Ella before they cross Lenora and reach Ervelon.”

“Your majesty,” the man who spoke was an elf with long brown hair and deep green eyes. He was once a member of King Bradley Aldos’ royal council and now had pledged his allegiance to Elric. “Forgive me but don’t you think it’s unwise for you to leave the throne unattended to and go on this mission? The awakened of the three kingdoms look to you as the pillar of stability. If anything happens to you your majesty there will be anarchy.”

“How dare you assume such a horrible thing!” A lycan general roared, “you think that the valiant soldiers who will accompany his majesty are not capable of protecting him?!”

“I did not say that,” the elven general responded, “but we can’t disregard the fact that anything can happen on a mission like this, I’m simply looking out for our king.”

The silver haired handsome king rose his right hand rendering the two bickering men speechless. “This mission is to retrieve my wife, I’d be damned if I let anyone else do this but me. And don’t you worry about anything happening to me dear Leonel, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“I understand that my king but-”

“But what Leonel?!” The king ordered

“My king you are the only man the awakened can accept as their ruler,” the elf explained, “if anything happens to you...” the man took a deep breath and looked at the handsome king. “Your majesty you haven’t even sired an heir to take your place if anything should happen. I think we would all feel a bit better if you left a woman here preg-”

A dark ominous aura struck the green eyed elf flinging him backwards into the the nearby walls. Elric was on his feet glaring at the man angrily, “are you suggesting I sire an heir when my wife!... your queen! Is out there?!”

The elven man groaned, got to his knees and placed his forehead on the floor in an act of apology, “forgive me your majesty, I spoke out of turn and I will take any punishment you see fit.”

Elric growled and balled up his fists trying hard to control his temper. He saw the trickle of blood flowing from the elf’s forehead and relaxed himself, he did not mean to injure the man, just scare him back in line. Elric was known for being intimidating and ruthless throughout the kingdom, but he did not want his council members to fear him, he wanted them to respect him. He had more than enough knowledge of running a kingdom to know that respect ran deeper than fear.

“Forgive me Leonel,” king Elric apologized, much to everyone’s surprise. The silver haired lycan walked over to the bleeding elf and helped him to his feet, “I did not mean to harm you, but you must understand that my loyalty to my wife cannot be severed, especially not because you all need an heir in case I end up dead.”

Elric called the other elf general who scampered to his feet and walked to the king’s side. “Heal him,” Elric instructed the elf, “I will not continue this meeting with one of my council members injured.”

The scene whirled up mixed feelings among the members of the council. Some of them developed a new found admiration and a deeper sense of respect for the lycan king, while for some the act planted a seed of fear into their hearts. They shuddered at the power their king possessed and they could only imagine what kind of wrath the poor elven prince who had kidnapped the king’s wife would endure once he was found. Angering king Elric was definitely a death wish.