Chapter 8: Her scent

Raphael

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I was sitting in my office, impressively throwing my crossed legs on the table. I hadn't slept for almost three days and it was beginning to show on my face with dark circles under my eyes. After returning from Riliya, an emergency council of trustees had to be convened. There were only five people in this circle, including me. Dexter, Milos is my military general, Richard is the head of the intelligence group and Tethys is an ancient prophetess from the word "literally". It was by her providence that Dex and I went after the princess.

Tethys was a powerful witch who joined me in her distant youth. At first it was a non–reciprocal attraction on her part - witches are too greedy for debauchery and use all their knowledge and skills to get the desired object of lust. But it didn't work out, and she had to cool down and accept it. More in return, she never asked for anything and remained to serve me. But in recent years, her prophecies have come true with enviable frequency. Therefore, I could not ignore when she persistently asked to steal the "Light of Riliya". Dex and I broke our heads thinking about this "light", what it could mean, but the prophetess gave us a hint again.

- You need the king's own daughter, she will be the solution to our problems. - Her words still echoed in my memory. I could not even imagine that the king has unrelated daughters, but this is a surprise. What about the Crown Prince, is he too?

And now we have a girl, and how she would help I had no idea. Not a single sound thought on this score. Moreover, what problems did the prophetess talk about? I kept everything under control - the kingdom was flourishing, people were well fed and satisfied, but most importantly protected from any enemy.

Any attempt to invade from the outside was stopped in the bud, and later I created a barrier around the kingdom that no living magicians or witches could overcome. With the latter, by the way, my relationship was extremely strained, each of our accidental meetings ended with sad news for the coven. Tethys was the only witch I could keep by my side.

The meeting dragged on all night, Milos reported on the losses among the soldiers and the number of those cured after the last battle. There were also unresolved questions about the takeover of Adaman.

Adaman is a former territorial part of the large kingdom of Cardran, which included Abion, and which bordered it. About three hundred years ago, there was a split, the magicians of Adaman were corrupt and did not want to submit to a single authority. In the light of the resulting turmoil, the magicians divided the country by military confrontation. The former king was stupid enough to allow such a thing and too weak to regain control of the rebellious territories. Therefore, he did not rule for long, after his sudden death, I forcibly seized the throne of Abion.

Over time, the ruler of Adamant became quite petty, he wanted more power, more land, and he desired my. On the same day, his entire hundred thousand human army died at the foot of the fortress of Abion.

But with this ill-conceived intrusion, my interest also arose. And now I will seize power and unite the two kingdoms under my leadership, no matter what it costs me.

Richard reported that his guys had successfully recruited some of the servants at Riliya's castle. It was optimistic news, as we needed extra eyes and ears there. But the witch surprised everyone the most. Unpleasantly surprised.

- Something is wrong, Your Majesty! She furrowed her brows as she considered her next words. – This morning I went to your room and tried to read her aura, but... she's HUMAN! - She looked startled by her own conclusions.

- Is that a problem? – I started to tense up and the air around suffocatingly thickened.

- In my vision there was a furious witch, her power went beyond reason, I don't understand at all... - she paused, and then with one movement she scattered some colorful pebbles on the floor and began to sort them convulsively.

The tapping of my own fingers on the arm of the chair echoed loudly in my ears. My patience was running out, thoughts flashed through my head, "what if we took the wrong girl." Then I will personally tear off her useless head and send it to her family in a gift box.

- I need to retire for a while to enter the unconscious space. There's clearly some mistake here. - Her hands were trembling nervously and her voice was trembling slightly. Although we coexisted peacefully, this did not mean at all that she would not suffer the fate of other witches if she became useless to me. But for now I have to be patient, we've already spent too much time searching, every clue is too important.

- How long will it take you?

- Last time it took almost three months. – She squeezed her old woman's shoulders and a primordial fear flashed in her eyes when I abruptly got up from my seat and jerked in front of her, grabbing her tightly by the neck.

- Three... fuck it... months? Three fucking months are you suggesting I wait? I said through clenched teeth.

- How about we gut you properly and feed you to the vultures? Your mistakes are wasting my precious time, witch! - Narrowing my eyes and tilting my head slightly to one side, I grinned maliciously, enjoying her fear.

My eyes were covered with a scarlet veil of bloodlust.

- Rafael, leave her alone. - Dexter's hand gripped my shoulder tightly, pulling the bloody images out of my head. – Give her time. Richard will return to Riliya, while we watch the princess more closely. Don't you think it's strange that an absolutely magically unsaturated girl was born in the ancient Rivaldi family? I think it's worth puzzling over. – He continued to squeeze my shoulder and seeing that the murderous aura was receding, waved his hand to Tethys to get away as soon as possible.

- Milos, Richard, you are free. I said, shaking off Dex's hand.

Both bowed and hastily retreated so as not to fan the fire from the dying ember.

- I'm getting impatient, Dexter! Why the fuck did you stop me? - I wasn't angry with him at all. On the contrary, I was even partially grateful. He was more than an adviser and friend to me, I considered him my brother. And unlike me, Dex always tried to think rationally, not giving in to emotions. If it wasn't for him, I would be a king in an empty lifeless kingdom right now. That's why he was never afraid to appease my anger.

- It won't do us any good, we'll only lose the prophetess. Put aside your anger before it's over. Let's think about what to do with Princess Thea.

- Princess... Thea. - I savored her name on my tongue. She was unlucky to be born into the family of this brat – Horel Rivaldi. Beautiful, sophisticated, obstinate, she could live a happy life with some duke or marquis, have a bunch of children and meet old age doing her favorite embroidery, or whatever older ladies like to indulge in. - Leave her to me, I'll decide what to do with her. - In the meantime, you're also free, you don't look well, go get some rest.

I stretched out in my favorite chair again. And thought. I was thinking about Thea. Of course, I could have locked her in a dungeon, but she would have refused to cooperate. Making her a maid was Dexter's idea.

On the one hand, she is close, under supervision, on the other hand, it will knock all the arrogance out of her. She became my hostage, but in fact it was an excuse for her. I understood that, trying to commit suicide, she did not have warm ties with her own family, which means there was no point in helping me. But these words of Tethys were still spinning in my head. Perhaps it really shouldn't be too hasty and give her time to get used to the new environment.

And to me.

Slapping my hands on my knees, I finally got up from my seat and headed to my room. Thea wasn't there, but the bed was still in disarray–the blanket lay in a big shapeless heap and the sheets were still warm. So she left not so long ago. I unbuttoned the top buttons of my shirt and lay down on the soft mattress. Her scent was still on the bedclothes and there were subtle notes of the smell of blood in the room. Sweet, inviting blood. Apparently I've reached my limit, and it's time to sink my teeth into someone's thin neck, I haven't done this for a long time. It was for this reason that I did not help her yesterday, there was too great a chance that I would not restrain myself and taste her blood. Mmm, delicious, fragrant. Just don't scare her off.

So, scrolling through yesterday's day in my head, I didn't notice how I fell asleep with her delicate scent on the sheets.