Ileus: The Dark Prince

Olivia was tired. Ever since she had come from Silver Vales, she was taking care of her mother. Kaia was given a sleep draft by the healers in order to ease out her panic when Vaarin left for the battle with the rogues. She was shocked when she saw Tasha in her room and fought with her till Kaizan came. That added to her tiredness. And after what Kaizan told her about Luke as to how he attempted to kill their father and how Vaarin ended up killing him—it pained and exhausted her emotionally. 

"I— I don't want to leave," she said, looking at her father who was unconscious. She felt as if now she was responsible for both her parents. They both needed her. 

"But Olivia—" 

The doors burst open and Kaia entered. "Vaarin!" she breathed looking at her husband and rushed to his side. "How is he?" she asked, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm. 

"Mother!" Olivia got up. "Mother!" 

"Oh, Olivia, how is your father?" Kaia asked again, her anguish and concern apparent on her face. 

"He is still recovering…" Olivia replied, holding herself as much as possible not to cry in front of her. 

"I see…" Kaia replied, her gaze shifting to her husband, her face white as paper. She had woken up only half an hour back and had taken a bath after that. A servant informed her after she had taken a bath about Vaarin's situation and the next, she knew was that her feet carried her all the way here. "He will be fine, right?" 

Kaizan stepped in front of Kaia. He clasped her shoulders and said, "I am sure Vaarin has seen worse wounds."

Kaia shook her head. "No… he hasn't seen worse. This was the worst. These were given by his son." 

Olivia's shock was through the roof. Whoever told her, she was going to kill that person. Her hands balled into fists on the sides. "Mother…" 

Kaia turned her gaze to her daughter. "All my life I kept thinking that it— it—" she broke down. It was impossible to complete her sentence. It seemed that Vaarin suffered mentally more because of his son's betrayal than because of the injuries on his body. The man had fought and survived so many battles that these wounds were not the worst. But… She took a step forward to come to stand in front of Olivia. Kaia took her hands in hers and squeezed. Her throat was aching with choked emotions. She gulped down the lump of guilt that had formed at the back of her throat and in a hoarse voice said, "We need to talk before you leave…"

Olivia nodded as she pursed her lips to stop her tears. 

"Go and take a rest dear. I am going to stay here with Vaarin. He needs me right now, and I need him." 

"I understand, Mother," Olivia said softly. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss on her mother's cheek and then left the room along with Vaarin. Before closing the door behind her, she saw Kaia sitting on the same chair as hers and holding her father's hand. 

When they reached the main hall, they saw Ileus coming through the main door. Kaizan rushed to Ileus. "Any news?" he asked, his chest heaving slightly. 

Ileus sat down on the couch. He lifted his hand and looked at his fingers. Blowing his nails of invisible dust, he said, "Yeah, I just toasted him on the forest floor. Hungry vultures and hyenas and ravens might be feeding off some filthy meat." 

Kaizan and Olivia's mouth dropped to the floor. "He is no more!" Kaizan asked, completely shocked. After covering Vaarin with his healing lights, Ileus had gone out of the room saying that he was going to find Murtagh. Kaizan didn't pay much attention because he was focused on Vaarin. He knew that it was impossible to find Murtagh in that vast forest. How did Ileus manage to find him? 

Ileus shrugged. "He isn't. The mouse tried to run away but I trapped him," he replied smugly. His gaze went to Olivia. "You and your parents have a lot to talk about!" 

Olivia lowered her eyes. She indeed had to. 

"But I want my General back in the capital in the next two days. There's an important meeting with the kings and queens of the Lore, and his presence is essential." He got up from his place. "So, you both have two days to spend in the Whiteclaw pack. I will be leaving my Mozias here. They will create a portal for Kaizan to return. If you like, you can accompany him." What he meant was that perhaps two days would be less for Olivia to be with her parents. He understood the gravity of the situation and even though he had to discuss a lot of important plans with Kaizan, he was allowing him to stay with her. The family needed each other's support. 

"Thanks," Olivia bobbed her head, knowing well that it was a silent order from the crown prince. 

Ileus got up and walked towards the main door. 

"Won't you eat something?" Olivia called. 

He raised his hand up and waved. "Yeah, my wife!" 

Every servant out there looked at the shameless dark prince with a stunned expression. Kaizan chuckled behind him and Olivia's face flushed. 

Along with Kaizan, she went to her bedchamber. He helped her take her gown out and then made her lie on the bed. After he tucked her up in the blanket, he pressed a kiss on her forehead and said, "I will be right back." He wanted to take a nice bath. 

When Kaizan returned after a hot bath, he found Olivia looking into a blank space. He removed his towel and slipped beside her under the sheets. He turned her back towards him and spooned her, wrapping his arms around her. As if that was the only security she ever needed, Olivia closed her eyes and drifted off into deep sleep. 

Vaarin came to consciousness a day later. The healers would keep changing his bandages every now and then. Being a werewolf, he healed faster. When he opened his eyes, the firs word that came out of his mouth was, "Kaia…"

Kaia was sitting right over there staring at his face, holding his hand. Stunned, her eyes flew wide open. "Vaarin!" she rasped. She was extremely happy to see him awake. She had prayed a thousand times to all the gods for her husband over the last one day. She hadn't left him even once all this while. 

"Kaia…" 

Kaia gestured to a servant to give them water and then call a healer. She wanted to get up to order servants to make tea for him, but Vaarin gripped her hand, though weakly. In a hoarse voice, he asked, "Do you know…" 

Kaia placed her finger on his lips. "Shhhh… There is no need to discuss anything, my dear. Later, okay?" 

"But…" 

The servant had come with a cup of water. She helped him lift his head so that he had some water. "Go get a warm cup of nettle tea for him." The servant bowed and left quickly. When she looked at Vaarin, her lips curled up. She said, "We have to look forward to playing with our grandchildren." 

And Vaarin knew that she was badly hurt.