The Enchantress ran as fast as she could to join the others. For the past few weeks now, the kingdom had been battling it out with another. She dashed through with her vampiric speed, fingers crossed.
They’ve had three kingdoms put hands together just to overthrow Erandell. With Acacia gone, Tati had more work on her hands and she had to handle the people and palace. The King was trying his best too, and together they had been able to keep things stable so far.
But as Tatiana ran, her worry grew. It seems like there had been backup warriors, double the amount they had fought earlier that had come running out of nowhere. Their warriors had been backed up to a corner, and Tatiana had arrived from town after appealing to the people that everything was under control, only to be informed that Aragon had left to join the war.
Her eyes squeezed shut as she recalled when she first met him. Since birth, Tatiana had been tainted as an abnormal Vampire. She always found it extremely disgusting to feed on another person, and always fed on herself instead whenever she was hungry. Also, she could step into the sunlight without getting affected.
People pointed fingers at her wherever she went in her village, and eventually, she was called an outcast among vampires and driven out of the community when she was just thirteen. She spent the next seven years of her alone in loneliness and grief.
For the first two years, she had wandered around many kingdoms hoping for some kind of shelter. During those times, the world was more cruel than ever. There was war almost everywhere, and it felt like Vampires were solemnly focused on wiping away witches off the surface of the earth.
And the last five years she spent it alone, in an abandoned house somewhere deep down in the woods. No one ever came, and she never left the house either. She would sit in a corner, looking dirty and half-dead with her head between her legs. Whenever she felt hungry or thirsty, she would bite her arm and feed on her blood.
It was enough for her.
Through the changes made in the outside world, through the storm of the night and the brightness of the day, through the heat and cold, she never moved from that position. She had lost all hope of ever being accepted. She even felt lucky her village had only thrown her out. She was afraid the higher vampires would kill her if they ever found out about her.
The world was too dangerous for her. She had already made up her mind to spend the rest of her days in the abandoned house.
Every day, she feared for her life. She feared someone would bust into the house and end her life.
She lived in despair for five years, and the day someone walked into the house, her mind was filled with dread. But it was so different from what she had imagined. When she looked up, there seem to be a man staring down at her with the most enchanting dark eyes she’s ever seen. He had extended his hand toward her, waiting for her to reach out and accept it.
It had been magical. He was her savior. She felt all that lost energy coming back to her, and his soft smile had given her the courage to take that first step again and she took his hand. The feeling had been surreal, she had no words to describe it.
He told her her unique abilities were enchanting and had given her hope and kept her by his side. He brought light into her dark world and strengthened her. It was hard not to fall in love with a man like him, and when she did she was happy about it.
She stood by his side as King together with Acacia. She understood more about him. Whenever he fell into that dark state of mind, she always felt utterly useless that she couldn’t lend a hand to help fight his demons. But through it all, deep down, no matter what anyone said, she’s seen what he does.
He was a good man and a good King. He was just haunted. She wondered when it would stop.
When she found out Raziah was his wife, of course, she had felt jealous. But her submission and loyalty were far stronger than her jealousy and she pushed herself to ignore the pain and see them through. If there was a secret she knew about the King, it was the fact that he was a dead man.
He had told her and Acacia about it a long time ago. It was also the reason he never got married because his seeds were also dead and would never nurture in the womb on any creature. They had tested it out several times, but no woman out there had ever turned out pregnant for him.
It was the reason she had pleaded with him the other day when he had divorced Raziah. When Acacia had pleaded with her to help convince him to change his mind, Tati knew the sorceress would never go this far without a good reason. Acacia then explained to her during their short time locked up what her brother had told her concerning Raziah, and the chances of her carrying his child.
Raziah and Aragon had a very complicated relationship, everyone knew that. She had seen the way his Majesty had stared at his wife most of the time. It was the same way she stared at him while he wasn’t watching. It was sad that Raziah hated him, and never hesitated to show those feelings.
And when Raziah left, Aragon had changed.
She had never seen anything like it before. He still smiled like before and ruled his kingdom with dedication but the lost look in his eyes had intensified. He was always lost in thought, and the heat inside him was cooling down. Just like that, it feels like he’s turning into a regular human with each passing day... like he was truly losing everything he had.
He wasn’t angry. He just didn’t know who he was anymore. He was gradually losing his grasp, and Tatiana was afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t bounce back to his feet soon.
Just as she arrived at the battlefield, her sprint came to a halt. To her left were most of the surviving warriors including Fertiti, Indah, and Taj. Felix was back in the palace watching it while she was away. It seems everyone had cleared the way for the figure that stood in the middle of so many corpses, drenched in blood.
The white shirt Aragon had been putting on couldn’t even be recognized anymore. They all stared at his back and he seemed to be breathing just fine even after murdering tens and thousand of Vampires all on his own. Tatiana could see that claws had grown out of his nails and toes, and they were coated with blood too.
She continued to stare at his back till something warm ran down her cheeks. Even though he was standing tall with his back to them, she knew he wasn’t feeling anything victorious. All she could see was herself in him, that frightened little girl sitting in a corner hugging herself with no hope left.
She couldn’t imagine what was going on in his head now, especially when they heard about Raziah getting multiple wedding proposals from so many kingdoms around. He was losing it. He was totally losing it this time.
For the first time in her life, she wished Acacia was here to distract her from it. But this time, it was her turn to lend a helping hand.
As she approached him, she evened her breathing and cleaned her tears. She walked through the piles of dead bodies and got to where he stood. He was reeking of blood, and his eyes were empty.
The darkness it held had subsided greatly. Before when at least there was darkness in them, now there was just nothing. His eyes were plain.
"Your Majesty..." The words were so heavy. Her heart ached like never before, and she cracked out with the strength she could muster, "You have to go and see her!"
Her heart cried bitterly, and she threw her arms around his neck and began to sob. Aragon just stood there, staring into space. It was already dark out, and a crescent moon could be spotted up in the sky. Tatiana’s little cries were the only heartbreaking noise that could be heard.
"At this rate, he’s gonna turn into dust if he doesn’t go to see her, " A voice said from the corpses around, then a familiar little boy stood up to his feet dusting himself off.
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