The Alpha's Temptation

Kypho was feeling numb. His eyes were a half mast when they passed under the arch ceiling of the main gates of the palace. He saw the body of a man that was hanging over there. A shudder passed through him when a drop of Platt's blood fell on his forehead.

The place was dead quiet. The guards who were stationed at the gates were terrified. They checked each and every person who entered the gates. No one had the galls to even look up.

Eltanin had killed Platt after gouging both his eyes. He had said to Fafnir that he was going to make an example out of him and that is what he did. After gouging his eyes, Eltanin clawed his neck and then snapped it horizontally. Platt died instantly. Eltanin asked Fafnir to hang his body at the entrance of the palace gates and circulate in the capital as to what he did.

Fafnir did as he was told. After hanging the body of the traitor on the arched ceiling of the gates, he circulated the message that Platt was guilty of attempting to murder the queen and his accomplice, Nora, was also charged of murdering Queen Lusitania. She was thrown into the dungeons.

The message sent ripples of terror amongst the netizens. They came in throngs to see the body but from afar. All of them were too scared to come near. They spoke in hushed tones. Some of them were Platt's customers. They were the ones who were all the more terrified.

The wagon in which Kypho was thrown and tied, creaked to the main carriage way of the palace. When it stopped, men lifted him out and took him inside the healer's room. Kypho watched them all doing things to him. They untied him and then shackled him to the bed. The healer came and examined him. He gave him a red potion which set fire in his guts. Kypho coughed as the potion worked its way through his body. When he stopped coughing, his throat was dry and tears were running down his eyes. He closed his eyes and exhaled roughly, trying to get the sense of it all. But he realized that he had been outwitted. Now the king had to decide his fate. Or the queen.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Lusitania standing a few feet away from him. A chuckle escaped his lips. This was the girl he had thrown into dungeons so many times and beaten her even more. He hated her because she was Menkar's special girl. Menkar always wanted to know about her whereabouts. His chuckle morphed in a laugh.

"Who are you?" Lusitania asked as she frowned. "As far as I know, my handler never had a brother. You look just like him, but you don't have a hunchback."

It was at this time that Kypho suddenly realized one more thing--he was still under the effect of the green potion that he had had at Cetus Monastery, one that he had stolen from Menkar.

Lusitania narrowed her eyes at him, bewildered. The man looked so much like her handler, yet he wasn't him. The man in front of her had sharper features. As compared to the spy, his teeth were set in a line and his skin's complexion was clearer. The hair on his head was silkier instead of the rough mangle that the spy always had. Yet, the features matched a lot.

Kypho laughed again. "You have the wrong man. I am not what you think I am."

"And yet you were hiding in Platt's house and tried to kill Fafnir while escaping," Tania shot back.

Kypho gritted his teeth. From the corner of his vision, he saw Eltanin entering the room. "You have the wrong person in your possession." Kypho knew that he had to find a way to get out of this place as soon as possible. "I tried to run away because I was scared of the guards around the house. My instincts said that Platt and Nora had done something wrong. That's all!"

"But Nora said that you are from Cetus and that you are a highly trusted man of the High Priest," Tania replied.

"Nora was always under the effect of weeds," he snickered. "I visited Platt because he was a good friend. I have no idea what is going on and why you have arrested me."

Tania sat on the edge of the bed where Kypho was lying, his hands and legs shackled. "Where are you from?"

"Eridanus."

"And you will go back to Eridanus if we leave you?"

"Yes." She was such a fool. Too naïve to be a queen. "I have nothing to do with Platt or Nora. You have to leave me."

"Why did you want me dead?"

"I never wanted you dead," he replied coldly. "I have nothing to do with you. I don't even know you!"

"So why did Nora say that you were a spy of Menkar? Surely, she didn't cook it up. There is no smoke without fire." Lusitania said.

Kypho shifted in his place. If he denied the accusation, they would grill him more. So he went with it. "I made up the story in order to get close to them. I am addicted to weeds and they were selling them to me at a hefty price. So I used an alias to get my weeds for free."

"Now that is the stupidest thing I have heard," Tania said as she got up and walked to Eltanin who was watching him like a hawk. "According to Platt, you paid them every other month for spying in Draka Palace. This was their last mission. All of you were going to Eridanus after killing me."

Kypho's stomach knotted. His lie was caught. He had to come up with a feasible excuse as soon as possible to cover his lie. How much had Platt revealed?

Little did he know that Platt's cell was swiped by Ileus. The only thing that didn't match was his physical description.