Ileus: The Dark Prince

The healer was confused as to what had happened to him. When he didn't find anyone in the entire house, panic surged through him like wildfire. He looked out of the room and realized that it was mid-afternoon. Strong rays of sun filtered through the windows. "Guards," he shouted. But none of them came in. He shouted again and again, but it seemed that they were not even listening to him. He lifted a porcelain lamp from the table and threw it out of the window, but the lamp hit an invisible wall and shattered on the porch and no one bothered. The healer wasn't even able to open the door to exit the house. It was sealed with so many spells that even his voice wasn't reaching the guards. 

Frustrated and angered and scared as hell, he didn't know how he was going to reach the guards to inform them that Murtagh had escaped. He fisted his hair with utter disgust and fury. What had he done? The woman, Tasha had given him a strong sedative—that he was sure of. As every incident of the last night played in his mind, he realized that he was a victim to a large conspiracy. Suddenly, he felt dizzy. What would the king do if he came to know that Murtagh had escaped? Thinking just that, the healer sank to the ground. 

It took two days for the healer to get out of the house and when he did, he saw General's face in front of him.

Kaizan had given the written consent to Tasha to take a healer for Murtagh, but she hadn't returned and informed him about Murtagh's condition. He waited for a day and when she didn't come the next day, he went to Murtagh's house to check it. The soldiers were too stunned to see the General over there. When they opened the door of the house and saw that instead of Murtagh, there was the healer, they all shivered like dead leaves in the dry summer wind. 

"T—Tasha got the healer here!" said the main guard, his voice a mere squeak. "We saw her leaving two days back in the dead of the night to drop healer back home in Level three." 

Kaizan clenched his jaw so hard that his features became angular with fury. Two days had gone by and the healer was trapped inside. And in these two days, Tasha must have escaped with Murtagh to their lair. "Check the entire house for any evidence and then report to me!" he said in a lethal voice. 

The guard nodded, his body trembling. How could they commit such a huge mistake? 

Kaizan returned back to Silver Vales with his head pounding with headache. With Murtagh gone Olivia was very unsafe. He was sure that now the rebels were going to increase their activity everywhere in the kingdom. 

"You will not step out of this estate, Olivia!" Kaizan grunted.

"What?" Olivia retorted. "Why?" 

"Because Murtagh has escaped!" Kaizan said as he wore a long-sleeved tunic. "Can't you get this in your head?" His beast wanted to come out and protect his mate. It wanted to take her away and lope in the forest in a safe haven. But Murtagh had to control his beast, because he had to look after his kingdom as well.

"If Murtagh has escaped, how will it affect me? And now that he is free, I am the one who will get house-arrest?" she snapped. "I will not take that ridiculous order from you!" 

Kaizan left his tunic unbuttoned. He lunged at Olivia and caught her by her neck possessively. He curled his fingers around her delicate neck as he bared his lips from his fangs and then growled menacingly. In a cold voice, he said, "You are not going to step out of this estate, and that's it!" 

"Are you being a General with me?" she said as she glared at him. 

"I will become a General with you if you don't listen to me!" He pinned her to the wall and planted his hand beside her head. Their faces were mere inches away. 

Olivia could feel his aura and it was so strong that she winced. She became quiet, her breath becoming shallow. Kaizan was looking like he could shift any moment. He was losing control over himself. His eyes flickered blue. After a long moment, when she stayed absolutely quiet and when Kaizan's wolf sensed that there was no threat to her, it receded. And as soon as it receded, Kaizan closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers. "Olivia," he said in a hoarse voice, "please don't test my patience. You know how it affects me…" 

Olivia was… confused. She lowered her eyelashes and placed her hand on his chest. It was beating so hard that she felt concerned. He lowered his face in the crook of her neck as if pleading her to listen to him. She threaded her fingers in his hair and said, "I will not leave the estate…" She realized that if she went against him, his wolf was going to take over and then Kaizan would know only one thing—to protect her. For him to stay stable, she had to make his wolf feel that she was going to listen to it. 

Kaizan sagged with relief against her. "Thank you, love," he said and kissed her neck over his mark. He knew that she understood his concern. 

Ileus was standing in the meeting room when Kaizan came. Dmitri and Adrianna too were there along with a few councilmen. 

"I am sorry for this lag in my duties," Kaizan said. "If you like, you may strip me off from my position." His voice was thick with emotions. 

"And why would I do that?" said Dmitri. 

Kaizan snapped his eyes at him. He glanced at other councilmen who were smirking. It was as if they already had a candidate in mind to replace him. The king appeared tense. 

Dmitri said, "Since we don't know where the rebels would attack, I want you to turn the forests surrounding the trade path upside down and scour through it for rogue hideouts. We have several Mozias deployed in our army. You can take them or you can take other wizards and witches. But from now on each army division is going to comprise both werewolves and wizards."

"Yes, Your Highness," Kaizan replied with a shaky breath. He looked at Adrianna who was drumming her fingers on the table. She was staring at him with her fierce golden eyes. Ileus too was staring at him with a dark aura. 

They discussed further plans and then Kaizan left. 

--- 

Back in the rogue hideout. 

Luke raised a toast to Murtagh on whose lap Tasha was sitting. "I am sure that by now the General must have pissed in his pants." 

Murtagh let out a deep throaty laughter. "All thanks to Tasha." 

They were sitting with five more rogues who were leaders of their squads. 

Murtagh turned to them and said, "Luke is going to assign you with soldiers." With a stick, he drew a map of Silver Vales and then pointed at five places in the form of a star. "In five days from now, you all are going to attack at these places at the same time, all-together." 

"Why all-together?" one of them asked.