章 5: Don't Lose Hope, Not Yet

[KAWAI]

"Are you sure about this, Zaffuto?" Sadako had asked, when his best friend had told him that all the mothers would be burnt in one place, and at the queen's burial chamber. It was a strange thing, an unheard-of custom. If anything it was the most humane a king could be.

But then again, King Zaffuto was in mourning and he was trying his very best to hold on. He couldn't pretend to be strong in front of his people. Seeing his Lili burning would anger him and would definitely make him want to commit a few random murders.

And that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to respect his erasthai and the people that had lost their families today. It was cruel what had happened, and they wouldn't pretend that life was going to be better for them after that.

"Yes. Go be their enforcer. Go help them. They trust and love you, they know you brother. So go, be with them.

"I'll be watching from the window here, besides, I can't really be seen losing my shit over Lili out there. She wouldn't like it," King Zaffuto said with a sad laugh, and Sadako knew he was right.

"If you need me—" Sadako began, knowing so well that his friend was at his worst and most fragile state. he didn't expect Zaffuto to come crawling to him, but he wanted to make sure the king knew that he was not alone in this.

"I know. But for now, our people need someone who can relate to them, and I'm too heartbroken to be there with them, so go," King Zaffuto said and Sadako just nodded. He knew that this was a favor he was doing his friend, but what he hadn't realized was that it wasn't just for today.

And so the great lycan king watched as the lycans mourned their fallen mothers. He watched in anger and pain as they burnt his wife and the others.

He watched his Lili go up in flames, something that Sadako had made sure to put in a manner that was invisible to him, from the palace.

The king felt lost, through the ceremony. He felt empty and in his rage he trashed the whole of the king's wing, throwing things on the wide hallways, breaking stuff, and ruining everything that he could.

He was a wrecked mess and even that didn't make him feel any better.

The lycan king spent the next months breaking things, saying absolutely nothing to even his friend, Sadako. Instead, he would wake up, go break things, and hope to the goddess that Sadako found his son.

But Sadako never did come back with any good information. Their warriors scoured the werewolf packs for any lycan kids that had strayed, but none were found. It was almost like there was no clue that the kid even existed.

They could have argued that the queen had died with the kid in her belly, but then they had all seen the queen's belly ripped open, so there was just no way for them to pretend that it didn't happen.

The lycan king's son was somewhere in the realm, whether near Kawai or within Kawai. But he was somewhere around them, and he had a determined uncle who was out to find him despite the many years that had passed.

***

"It's been eighteen years, Zaffuto. You haven't seen the sun in those eighteen years, you haven't said a word since you told me to lead the funeral ceremony. You only ever rotate between the training room, Lili's chambers, and here.

"You need to step out, brother. It's been so many years," Sadako said as he walked over to his best friend.

Sadako had been doing a good job in running the kingdom and anyone in his position would have wanted the kingship for themselves, but Sadako wasn't that kind of a person. He loved his best friend and was loyal to Zaffuto.

If the king came back, he wouldn't even be bothered to think about what Sadako had done, because, in the years that Sadako had stepped in, the lycans hadn't once complained of anything.

The king was powerful and could access the mind links of his people, but they had never complained. That was probably part of the reason King Zaffuto had never gotten worried about his people.

"He should be eighteen years old by now. My Lili would have loved him so much. She would have had me throw the greatest banquet, and I'd do it without even thinking twice. She would have been happy, but I failed her the one time she needed me," King Zaffuto said, shocking Sadako.

Sadako felt tears falling down his face as he listened to his best friend. In all their years, he had never thought that there would come a day he would be so happy that Zaffuto spoke. Right now, he was staring at his brother like a brother awed by his brother's voice.

He was mesmerized, and without a care in the world, or even considering the fact that even though Zaffuto had been in his kingdom and room for all those years, he was feared even more over the years, Sadako threw himself at Zaffuto.

"You fucking spoke? After eighteen years, you spoke again? Oh, this is huge! You spoke to me, and after all those years of me talking to myself, you finally responded?" Sadako said excitedly as he clung to his brother, not giving a damn that they were probably too old to be hugging and holding each other like that.

He had gotten the one thing he had been hoping hopelessly for for years and nothing could ruin it for him. This man here was his best friend. He had gotten him back.

"You didn't fail yet, brother. As long as you're alive, you still haven't failed. We will find him, so please stay alive for him, if you can't stay alive for your best friend. Just stay alive for the son you lost.

"If he is eighteen by now, he should have the Zaffuto family mark. We can go to the mating ceremonies, or wait till he's twenty-five to see if his lycan will make a show and mature up," Sadako said and King Zaffuto just pushed him off of him.

He had been lonely for so long and was hoping that he would get his son and fulfill the one wish that he had promised his wife.

"You know you loved that hug, but I won't disturb you now. I'll send warriors to check the children with the family mark. It should be a blue star right above his heart, right?" Sadako asked and Zaffuto grumbled, going back to his zero-word mission.

"Alright then, I will find him, brother. And hopefully, his lycan will lead him to us too," Sadako said excitedly as he looked at his best friend one more time. He was happy that the king had given in to his anger yet.

Of course, Sadako was smart enough to know that King Zaffuto was a few years away from snapping and if he didn't find his son after twenty-five years, then there was a chance that he would have to be killed by his people to protect the lycans of Kawai.

The king knew that too, but he didn't mind, after all, and he had died all those years ago anyway.

"Before I leave, I've been meaning to ask you something. If we find him, did you and Lili already have a name for him? Please don't tell me you intend to call him Zaffuto Kawai Junior, please?" Sadako said and the lycan king let out an amused chuckle.

The years may have passed for them, but his brother had remained the same. Sadako was still a child at heart at the end of the day, even though that only happened with Zaffuto.

Out there, when he was with the other lycans, he was the lonely lycan enforcer who had to save their people. He was the man with the keys to the kingdom and the only man who stood between Kawai and absolute wreckage by their broken king.

"Kaito. We'd name him Kaito Hinata," the lycan king said with a sad smile.