บท 19: Framed?

Aylin was stunned by Azimir's honest declaration and she did not know how to reply. She just stared at him for a few moments as she examined him. The young Alpha before her was considerate and handsome and she found herself attracted him to.

She had seen a lot of men and none were as attractive as the man in front of him. There was an odd charm about him that lured her to him. His ash blonde hair was unruly, giving him a wild look, and adding more to his attractiveness. But it was his eyes that caught her attention.

Even though there was a faint smile on his lips, his eyes held such solemnity that they stunned her. She had never seen such beautiful sterling grey eyes. However, it was the amount of pain that held in them that stunned her and she held his gaze for quite some time as she tried to interpret him.

The man before her did not reveal a word about himself. Yet, Aylin could feel his loneliness radiating off him, and she immediately understood how much value the trust he had for her held. From his actions alone, she discerned that he was not a man who trusted people easily and she could not help but be touched by his honesty.

The situation turned too awkward, and though touched, Aylin did not know how to break the silence. So, she shifted the topic of conversation right away.

"Please forgive me for not introducing myself before, Alpha. I am Aylin Ediar, the Commander General of Aranill."

Azimir's eyes widened in surprise. But it soon turned into awe and wonder. He had heard about the lady before him. She was the first female to join the royal army and despite the objections and criticism she faced when the matter had spread worldwide, she had not budged from her decision.

Her headstrong character amazed many people while some considered her to be foolish. No one believed in her abilities and had waited for the day when she would eventually give up.

But the woman had stayed strong and confident of her abilities. Not only did she prove the world wrong, she even became the first female Commander General of Aranill. Aylin had shown everyone how capable she was and had slapped them in the faces, making all those who had doubted her bite their tongues.

Azimir too had doubted her just like everyone else. But he did not suspect her capabilities, unlike the others. Instead, he was more worried that she would not be able to survive the hardships for the training she had chosen was hectic and strenuous. Even many werewolves had been unable to complete them, let alone humans who were considerably weaker in strength.

Aylin passing the training had only come as a pleasant surprise to him. Yet he did not despise the feeling of being proven wrong. Rather, he was only astonished and his heart was filled with profound respect for her.

Since then, he had started to admire the woman and to find her here, standing before him as she smiled at him, Azimir could not suppress his excitement whatsoever.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander Aylin. I have heard a lot about you." Azimir did not conceal his admiration for her.

"Thank you, Alpha, and thank you for trusting me."

Aylin's words brought Azimir out of his stupor and he realized that she did not wish to proceed with the conversation anymore. She was here to speak to him regarding an important matter and she wished to deal with it first.

"May I know what you wanted to speak about, Commander?"

Aylin sighed in relief when the man caught on to her hint and returned to the matter they were here to discuss.

"Alpha, you must be wondering what we were doing in the jungle at night, especially on such a frightful day."

"Were you not ambushed, Commander?"

"Yes, we were, Alpha and that is what I wanted to speak to you about."

Azimir frowned and he nodded at her to continue.

"Alpha, although I am uncertain, we were ambushed by a group of people."

"People?" Azimir stopped her immediately. "As in humans?"

"Yes, humans. But most of them retreated before the moon occupied the sky."

"I am not sure I am following you, Commander."

Aylin let out a frustrated sigh and clutched her scabbard tight. "Alpha, what I intended to say was that the humans belonged to the kingdom of Ideni."

Aylin stopped speaking as soon as she saw Azimir's cold gaze. But she did not cower in his dominating presence and her aura was equally intimidating as his. She stared at him right in the eye, waiting for him to react.

Moments passed but neither Azimir nor Aylin spoke a word. They just kept their gazes on each other. It was only when the grandfather clock in the room struck that Azimir broke the silence.

"How sure are you about this, Commander?"

"As I said, I am not very sure, Alpha. I may be mistaken too but the men seemed quite well versed around the area and someone among them ushered the other men back when the moon started to show in the sky."

"They might be anyone, Commander. How can you say that the men belonged to Ideni?"

"Because I found this on the ground after the men retreated, Alpha." Aylin produced a dagger and Azimir's cold expression finally cracked on seeing it.

The dagger was a strong piece of evidence to support Aylin's claims, and Azimir could not refute her now even if he wanted to. It had the name of his kingdom carved on the handle in Latin and he could not help but suspect everyone who held possession of such kind of a dagger. But his expression relaxed after he studied it thoroughly.

"You are right, Commander. This does seem to belong to someone from my kingdom, more specifically to a human knight in my army."

On seeing Aylin's confused expression, Azimir continued, "When a new human knight joins the army, he is presented with a knife of such kind with their name engraved on it. It is like a symbol of our kingdom."

Azimir pulled a drawer and retrieved a dagger from it. He then showed his name engraved on it in a spot not easily visible at first sight. It was only when Azimir pointed to it that Aylin noticed it.

"And this dagger does not have any name engraved on it." Aylin voiced and examined the weapon in her hand again. Other than the name of the kingdom, there was nothing else engraved on it.

"Yes. It does not."

"Do you doubt that someone wants to frame you and your people, Alpha?"

"I do not doubt it, Commander. An outsider has tried to frame my people but has failed at it. Nobody other than the people of Ideni knows about the engravement of names on the daggers. If anyone from my kingdom wanted to frame my people, they would have made sure to not overlook this matter. What we need to find out is who is trying to frame my people and why?"