The Cursed Kingdom

THIRTY-FOUR

~ ARISTEA ~

"We must leave at exactly one and no later if we are to have enough time to properly prepare for the full moon," Henrik told us once more as he stared at his watch, his knee bouncing. I watched it with a frown, not needing the mate bond to be able to sense his anxiousness.

"Yes, of course, cousin. Unless you've forgotten, we've done this for centuries," Evander commented with a forced smile and Henrik's grip on my hand tightened as he growled loudly and snapped his jaw, clearly not caring for his relative's remark. Evander lifted a thick brow in mock questioning, knowing full well Henrik's threat was an empty one.

Another few seconds of tense silence filled the cramped carriage, causing me to awkwardly look around, adjust my crown, and tuck a strand of hair out of my face with a sigh—anything I could to not stare at the silent battle happening right in front of me. Internally, I pleaded with both males to let go of their stubbornness. Henrik was already short-tempered because of the full moon being that night and if Evander wasn't his family, there was no doubt within me that he would've been punished for his sarcastic comments long ago.

"Take good care of her and don't let her out of your sight," Henrik finally gritted out to Furkan but only after he sent another low growl in Evander's direction.

If it wasn't for me being there, I wasn't sure what Henrik would've done or if he'd done anything differently at all. Unpredictable was a good word to describe my other half. Sundown was hours away and, with the recent increase of stress from his work, I could tell it was already becoming harder for him to control the little things such as his canines that had been out all morning. It pained me to see him like that, like he was slowly losing himself. Which, in a way, he was. But I didn't say anything about it and neither did he. We would both ignore the hurt of reality as long as we were able to be by each other's side.

Furkan, who Henrik had trusted as my personal guard for the small trip after hearing how well we'd gotten along at dinner, bowed his head submissively.

"I'll protect her with my blood," Furkan replied, his lips thinned solemnly into a straight line. He turned his gaze to me and nodded at me stiffly, the complete contrast to the carefree male I'd seen weeks ago back at his and Ingrid's house. I simply smiled in return, knowing as soon as we were out of the two moody royals' sights, his solemn mask would crumble and reveal my newest friend once more.

"Alright. You ready?" Evander asked me excitedly and out of nowhere, rubbing his palms together and leaning forward like he was scheming something mischievous.

He shifted his legs restlessly but was careful to keep them from knocking into mine, which was nearly impossible since he'd chosen the seat across from me and his legs were about the same length as Henrik's. How Furkan and Henrik were comfortably able to sit vertically to each other baffled me but I supposed my dress, whose skirt was as wide as a doorway, was also taking up a large part of space.

I furrowed my brows. "Ready for what?" I asked, confused, just as the carriage door was swung open by the bald driver and bright light of the newly risen sun flooded into the vehicle. Along with it, shouts and cries met my ears and I leaned over to peek around Henrik's body, my eyes widening and my heartbeat quickening.

About a couple hundred meters away (not that I was any good at guessing measurements), a large crowd of cheering Lycan had gathered in front of the main entrance of Aristea, a wide stone archway with an inscription of an odd looking language, full of swirls and dots, in its center. Aristean guards, who wore their respected leather and metal uniforms that were almost identical to the ones palace guards wore, were standing in front of them with their backs to us, acting as a wall that kept them from coming any closer to the carriage—not that anyone dared to try.