Chapter 67 01

He found her waiting for him where if they rode, it would only take them less than a minute to get to the palace. His heart warmed at the gesture even though Ezra knew that she was being this way because she didn t want anyone to know that they had fought or something. He tried to smile at her, but the cold look she had flashed his way was what stopped him and they only rode on their horses by their sides in nothing but an eerily silence.? Her court maid went for her the moment they walked into the palace and she was out of his sight from then. He wanted to speak to her, he realized. He knew they would never even be friends but he wanted to clear the air for lying to her about who she was and what position she had held in her past life. Hell, at this point she might ve even guessed why he had chosen her instead of her sister.? Like Danika had wanted, her hunt was the most valuable followed by that of Acheron and then a guy named Corbin. Ezra realized he had never seen him until then but the knowing look the guy flashed at him made him feel at ease. They were given gifts and in two days, they would be given their royal positions. Acheron was delighted, as expected even though Ezra wanted nothing but to cancel the whole damn thing. But he wasn t going to show them his weakness this way. They had to dig so hard before they would be able to see it.? He was on his way to his chamber, Eunuch Abel holding his archery things when he whispered into his ears. "Your Majesty, His Highness is here to see you." It took him barely a second to turn around, his heart thumping in his chest even though he had no idea why. But he thought it was Danika. Did she realize that even if they were going to keep on hating each other they would have to at least talk things out and she wanted to have that conversation with him now? But when he saw that it was Acheron, his face dropped down and he held a stoic expression there. Acheron walked toward him with a smug smile as he motioned for the maids and the eunuch to move aside and give them some space while he spoke to him. "I believe it was rather a pleasant stay in the tents for you, Your Majesty." He hated how arrogant Acheron spoke to him, but in some ways, Ezra wanted to understand him. If he were the one that came back and found his father being killed and the throne being taken over by some prince that had been dead for 500 years old, he wouldn t take it lightly.? He repositioned himself and grinned softly, "It was an indeed pleasant stay, like you have speculated, Acheron." Acheron s eyes lifted in a smug surprise, the ends of his lips twitching into a smile, "Are we at? the level of calling each other s names? I thought even though we were distant cousins one way or the other, we still harbor bad feelings toward each other."? That made Ezra chuckled. An enigmatic chuckle that no matter how uptight Acheron thought of himself, and no matter how arrogant and confident he was of whatever he was plotting together with the Queen Dowager and Riah, it sent a chill down his spine and saw that for the first time, how dangerous Ezra could look and be.? "That was rather funny of you, Acheron. Have you forgotten or for the time being, being swayed by this little success that you think we re now in the same position because you ve so hardly acquired a royal position at the throne hall?"? He shook his head and turned to look directly into his eyes, "I'm Ezra Covenbleeder, the Vampire King of Phaya Empire and I'm entitled to doing whatever I like, calling your name included." He turned to leave in the flash of an eye and left Acheron looking at him heatedly as he curled his fist to the surge of anger he felt rushing through his body.? He disappeared and reappeared in his mother s chamber and she was ever so calmly sipping her tea as though she had nothing to worry about in her life. He only motioned for her maids to let them be and she only lifted her eyes at him when they were the only ones left in the room. "What is it, Acheron?" "I can t hold back my anger and hatred towards him, Your Highness. I have to kill him with my two hands and take up the throne as it had always belonged to me!" He roared, his blue eyes gleaming and illuminating through the room despite the sunlight in there. His fangs shone with a certain hunger for Ezra s blood, but he knew he wouldn t be able to make a single move without the approval of the Queen Dowager.? She chuckled lightly, "Why are you so worked up, Acheron? Didn t I tell you that he wasn t an easy target and you have to be so careful around him? 500 years ago before he was killed, he was the most powerful princes and the most feared in the whole world. A mere you could never fight him to his face unless you want to have yourself laying in a pool of blood just like your father did." She seemed to have hit a nerve and she did. He looked up at her with more anger in his eyes and she smiled at him. "We have to use tactics in bringing His Majesty down, and our first target will be the Queen. He was soft on her you said, right?" "Yes," he slightly bowed through clenched teeth, "I was told that they acted like friends and he does everything to her whims. But..." She cut him off. "No buts, make sure you confirm an information before telling it to me, Acheron. Now, where s her sister?" "She s seeing a doctor now, Her Highness shot her with an arrow in the forest. She said she seemed like a different person." "Good. I'll go and meet Riah myself. And you have to get a hold of your useless anger, okay?" As much as it pained him, that no matter what he did the Queen Dowager will never show her approval of him, Acheron nodded his head and slightly bowed. "Yes, Your Highness." ? Danika woke up from her nightmare and covered her mouth with her palms. It had been over a week since when they had came back from the hunting competition and the last time she had seen him was when they rode into the palace before Lisa and the other maids came to her and helped her down. But tonight, she didn t dream about her past life, she dreamt about her mother and she knew for a fact that she had to see Papa. She had a lot of questions to ask him.? After she got ready and nibbled from the bouquet of breakfast that was arranged for her, she looked up at Lisa with the cold look that Danika came to know to be of her nature in her past life. And she was so angered by Ezra to have her soft and warm nature back that she knew, certainly, it bothered her maids but they were in no position to ask her.? "I wish to visit my father today, Lisa. Get a car prepared for me, I'll leave in five minutes." Instead of the usual 'Yes, Your Highness she was used to getting now, she saw as Lisa bowed her head and her shoulders slumped sightly. "What is it?" She asked. Was it another royal rule that she wasn t going to visit her father or what?? "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but you can t just go out of the palace without any proper reason. His Majesty has to know, the Queen Dowager has to approve too..." Danika cut her off as angrily as she had never ever sounded before.? "What the hell do you mean by the Queen Dowager?!" She held her lip at the sudden outburst and calmed down a bit, "And about His Majesty, send a letter to him after we left." Yet again, Lisa shook her head. "Pardon me, Your Highness. But since the rule he has passed that vampires weren t able to marry humans, they also aren't allowed to visit them as they wish. We can send a letter to your father and have him brought up here in the palace if you want. Or you could go and have a talk with His Majesty." She flashed her a heated look and walked past her. "We re going to His Majesty s chamber. Make sure the cars are ready by the time I'm out, okay?!" Her tone gave no room for detail or further reluctance. And she heard the 'Yes, Your Highness she had become accustomed to. Even though now that she had known who she was, living in the palace felt like as though she were home. Where she had always been and had been destined to live in her life.? ? "Your Majesty, Her Highness is here to see you and it..." Eunuch Abel wasn t done announcing her presence when Danika burst into the room and found him only in his towel with a smaller one rubbing his wet hair.? The door closed behind her and she cursed herself for not waiting in his waiting living room and she demanded that she saw him in his bedroom. This was the first time she was here, and even though she had turned her back on him as abruptly as she had came into the room, Danika s eyes still involuntarily roamed though the room, to the extent her eyes could see.? It took them minutes like that until she heard his voice, "I m done getting ready, you can turn now." And when she did, he was standing so close to her that if she were to breathe hard and if he were a slippery object, nothing could stop him from falling.? She rolled her eyes at him, anger flaring with each look she flashed him. "I'd appreciate it if you take a step back, Your Majesty." She had told herself that she was never going to call him by his name again. Because doing that only signified the friendship they nearly had. But that was the last thing she wanted between them. It had always been hatred, and so be it, forever.? He took a step back and stared directly into her eyes. She held his gaze for a minute before she felt uncomfortably unnerved by his eyes and took her eyes off him, wrapping her arms around her chest in a defensive manner. "I was told that I have to let you know that I'd be visiting my father," she said, fuming in rage. "Something about the rule you created between vampires and humans." She looked at him squarely and chuckled softly, "What if the world know that you dear queen is also a human? I mean, can t they see that I've got no pangs and the color of my eyes..." He was standing in front of her in what looked like a second and his large palm was over her mouth before she even finished her sentence. "Lower your voice, Danika. No one should know that or else you ll have to face the consequences?" She rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, shrugging his palm away from her mouth. "And why will I be the one to face the consequences when I wasn t the one that proposed to you? You did that knowing so well I was human and I bet you didn t forget about your so called rule, did you?"? She wasn t lowering her voice and Danika knew for a fact that the vampires had a very good sense of hearing. "Danika!" He shrieked in an alarming tone and she tilted her head in a demanding manner.? "What? You can t call myself in such an informal way, Your Majesty. I believe we should learn to use the royal terms between ourselves, okay?" She turned to leave and only slightly looked over her shoulder to where he stood rooted to his spot, "Like I said, I'd be visiting my father today and I'll be back before the day ends." She was out of the room before he was able to muster a word to utter to her. And Ezra knew this was going to be harder than he thought. He had always fought with her in his life, but this was just taking a toll on him and he had no idea why.?