Tales of the Throne: Queen

Chapter 8: Which one, Cyrene or Zelania?

Katherine's POV

--Dusk--

I subconsciously rubbed my arms together to try and get rid of the cold that was starting to settle in the wind.

"Have there been any other sightings?" Lucian asked as he conversed with Llewellyn. The sun had already disappeared and was replaced with the night sky.

Llewellyn shook his head in response, "I spoke to the second son of the Duke, he described the city as strangely silent. There have been no reportings, completely unrelated crimes,"

Most second sons of high-ranking positions would join the officials as the family's way of showing support for the kingdom. While first sons would inherit the majority of their father's possessions and carry on the title and family name.

Lucian hummed as he listened to what Llewellyn had to say, "It doesn't make any sense, we've searched every city and every clan in Nydisia. Something's not right, are you sure you've checked with every commanding official?"

"They all gave the same answer, there's nothing out of the ordinary asides from petty crimes here and there," even that's odd, in an entire kingdom the only thing worth noting is petty crimes?

They are referring to recent attacks in the surrounding cities near the capital, Eraregord, the rebellion was apparently trying to send the message that sooner or later they're coming for the throne.

They've been getting bolder and bolder with every move. The only thing that made sense was that they are no longer afraid of the royal court. If that's the case, what if they had someone backing them?

"What if they're not in the Kingdom?" I suggested, the possibility was pretty high considering after a thorough search in each city, no one could pinpoint anything.

Llewellyn raised his brow as he turned around to stare at me then look at Lucian, "She has a point, we could be searching in the wrong places,"

"If they're not in Nydisia, then another kingdom is giving them the audacity they have now," Lucian's gaze was cold as his eyes held a certain dark aura.

"Which one, Cyrene or Zelania?" They both remained silent for a while, it seemed they were in deep thought.

"I'm hungry," I muttered quietly, hoping either of them had food of some sort.

Several minutes had passed and I'm sure they heard me considering what they are nonetheless.

"Aren't you guys hungry?" I had no choice but to raise my voice a little louder to emphasize my hunger.

Lucian stopped dead in his tracks turned around and stood in front of me as he towered over me, "Are you offering?" he said as his eyes started to turn black.

I stammered back in fear looking straight at Lucian as his face broke out into a smirk then turned to Llewellyn as they started chuckling at me in disarray.

"I'll go hunting," he said as he handed his bag over to Llewellyn. "Go towards the lake, we'll camp there for the night," Lucian said as he walked off towards the woods and was soon out of sight.

Llewellyn and I continued walking towards the lake that slowly became visible in the far distance. "You did good today," I looked up at him and smiled that at least someone noticed my effort.

"Lucian is right however, you're human, you can't possibly hope to fight a supernatural and win if you're on attack mode."

"I tried blocking against him today and it didn't work, he just kept attacking," my efforts were next to futile.

As we approached the lake, he turned to me saying, "Don't just block, deflect your opponent's attack, use their own force against them," I looked at him vaguely, slightly confused by what he meant.

"Follow my arms, as I'm throwing a punch use your arms to redirect my force, don't try and absorb it all the time by just blocking." I followed his arm motion as he was demonstrating how to redirect a blow.

I kept practicing the arm movement in front of him and got the reassurance I needed after he nodded a few times indicating I was doing it right.

I felt slightly proud of myself for learning and I broke out into a slight smile. "I'm going to go gather some sticks lying around nearby," I wanted to be useful and help around when I could.

Before I could walk off, Llewellyn called me back, "Actually, it's basic survival skills to know how to build a fire so you do that while I go gather more sticks." he said smirking at me, I was so baffled that I didn't know what to say.

I mean yes, I didn't know how to build a fire so I guess it's time I learned. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't know when Llewellyn left me all alone by the lake. I didn't even get the chance to ask how to build a fire.

I threw my bag on the ground and stood there staring at the pile of tiny sticks and grabbed the two longest rods I could find and started rubbing them together.

Several minutes had passed and all I managed to achieve were blistered palms, sweating armpits, and warms sticks.

I heard some ruffling in the bushes which made me stop what I was doing abruptly. "Llewellyn," I called out thinking it was him, only to get a growl in response.

I stood up slowly and started walking back and I called out Llewellyn once more, only to receive silence as an answer.

My heart started beating faster as I realized that we're not the only ones in the woods.

I was walking back until a hard chest suddenly stopped me, my heart dropped and my head was filled with the possibility of which creature would have the honour of killing me.

"Did I scare you?" I turned around and was filled with relief when I saw Llewellyn. I shook my head as he walked past me to where our stuff was but what still had me frightened was that the growling was coming from the opposite direction.

-