Raphael

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The guests in the hall witnessed what was happening with horror and fear. And someone might have wanted to quickly escape from here, but the guards and battle mages blocked all the exits. I wonder if they’re going to get rid of the witnesses?

- It’s strange, why didn’t he want to talk if you subjected him to such terrible tortures? I asked with indifference on my face.

– But you know, you’re not quite right that you’re always one step ahead. I also have a gift for you, I think you will appreciate it, because today is your birthday. - I broke into a smile, while Lillian was alert, her lips pressed into a thin tight line.

- I’ll do without a gift from you. – she said in a barely audible voice, but my sharp hearing heard everything.

- Well, don’t give up so quickly. You haven’t seen him yet. - I had a smile on my face. – Richard.

As if he was just waiting for this, Richard wheeled a cart into the center of the hall with a huge three-tiered cake made of red buttercream with dark red and black roses on top and around the edges.

- I personally had a hand in making it for you. I spent half a day on it yesterday, even Madeleine helped. Would you like to try it? – I took a knife from the tray and cut off a large piece from above, handing it to the queen.

She stared at the cake, but did not take it in her hands, fearing some kind of setup.

- What games are you playing, King Raphael? - Horel hissed.

- Oh, come on, he’s not poisoned. – I put my finger in the cream and slowly, with pleasure, licked it off. – Very tasty. – I ran my tongue over my teeth and lips, removing the remnants of the cream, smacking my lips with gusto.

- If this is your way of distracting, then you’re just wasting your time. - The King of Riliya said. - In case you haven’t noticed, you’re surrounded on all sides by magicians. Let my daughter go, and maybe instead of being killed, you’ll just do time in jail.

I pointedly looked around the hall, slowly turning my head from side to side.

- You are so generous, Your Majesty. – I drawled mockingly, feeling Thea’s trembling palms on my back. - But I dare to refuse, I have another option.

I continued to grin haughtily, despite the fact that there was a deep wrinkle between my eyebrows.

- I’ll take everything that belongs to me. All. Including the Artemis artifact. - At these words, Lillian’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared.

Through the silence, her laughter rang out, uncontrollable, vicious, creepy. Sharp claws extended on her nails, which dug into her hands, letting scarlet blood on the fabric of her dress.

- Raph-phael ... - trembling like a reed, Thea tugged at my tailcoat from behind. – Please, let’s get out of here, please.

The King of Riliya, watching his daughter’s actions, was deeply puzzled and could not believe his eyes.

- How dare you mess with our enemy, daughter? – his loud supervisory voice rang out, forcing her to hide even more behind my back.

- Maybe you are a bigger enemy for her than I am? Didn’t you think so, dear papa? - I teased him, to which Horel grimaced even more, boiling more and more with every second, and I kept waiting for him to finally explode.

I massaged my neck, bending it from side to side so that the vertebrae crunched. And then, with one wave of his hand, he threw off the top tier of the cake, splattering the hem of Lillian’s dress.

- We haven’t finished with the gift yet. – there was a lid under the upper tier, which I opened by plunging my hands inside.

Everyone in the hall held their breath, waiting for what would happen in the next moment. And the next moment, without holding back a wide smile, pleasure and enjoyment, I slowly pulled out...

- By the way, your mother wasn’t very cooperative either. – I handed her the bloody head of her old mother, which was dangling in the air on her gray hair.

Lillian was no longer laughing or gloating. Her face was deathly pale, as if all life had left her body, and then she burst into a wild cry of despair, losing herself in agony, clutching her head and bursting into tears.

Her suffering was like a balm for my soul, so pleasant, so sonorous, so concise. Horel grabbed her by the arm, dragging her away while she was in an inadequate state, and I came closer, despite the magic wand stretched out in my direction, on the tip of which the rudiments of a magical shock spell were already glowing.

- What are you going to do with this toy, Horel? - I pointed my finger at his wand. – I heard you have really bad things with magic, can you at least kill a fly?

- Now you will feel it on your own skin. You’re just a big annoying fly. – he muttered with disgust and threw a stream of discharged light at me, which I easily burned with my bare hand, which shocked and frightened the king even more.

- You’re too weak to save yourself, let alone be the ruler of an entire country. - I laughed at his attempts, continuing to walk in their direction.

- Let me go, Horel. – with gnashing teeth, Lillian said, trying to escape from her husband’s protective embrace.

While all my attention was focused on this pathetic couple of idiots, I completely forgot that my baby Thea was left defenseless. More precisely, when I left her, I had no thoughts that someone would decide to attack their own princess, but it turned out that I made a mistake.

Everything happened so quickly that I only had time to notice the silver blade of a knife that flashed behind her back before a terrible wolf roar rang through the hall, interrupting the attempt. Thea looked around and fell to the floor in fright, crawling away from the fallen knife and Xana, who was hanging in the air, twitching with all her might and trying to free her neck from the rigid grip of a huge gray werewolf who was more than twice her height.

The werewolf grinned, growled and sprayed sticky, smelly saliva in Xana’s face, squeezing her neck tighter while she gasped and grunted. His toothy mouth was already leaning over the girl, wanting to bite her.

- NO! - I couldn’t let that happen.

Darkness began to burst out of me in whirlwinds, a stormy, aggressive, violent force that knocked everyone present off their feet. Uncontrolled currents with special bloodlust wrapped around everyone I considered a threat and penetrated inside their bodies, breaking their bones and corroding their skin, causing them to suffer in death agony. The combat magicians finally realized that they were not standing there for beauty and began to try to fight the deadly unknown element.

In a second, I was in front of Xana’s weakened body. The claws on my hand lengthened, and without a second’s hesitation, I pierced her chest, tearing out the warm, still beating heart. A moment and she froze, went limp and hung in the werewolf’s arms with a lifeless body.

I took her heart and held it out, showing it to her mother, the queen.

- I hope you liked my gift, Lillian? Because I will come for everyone who is at least a little dear to you. - I said through my teeth and squeezed Xana’s heart so hard that it burst and burst in my hands, leaving sticky blood as proof of her death. - You will burn in hell for the death of my wife, you vile witch’s spawn.

The last words brought Lillian out of a devastating trance. Now she understood everything. She realized that I knew that she was the supreme witch.

- You’re a damned immortal monster. – the queen wheezed, spluttering with saliva.

Tears still covered her face from the realization of the loss of her beloved mother and dear child. But there was no time to mourn the loss now. With a loud howl, hundreds of angry werewolves burst into the throne room, released from the dungeon, which even a few combat magicians could not restrain, not to mention ordinary guards, torn apart instantly.

Those who managed to escape did it, the rest became victims of this bloody holiday, victims of this bloody witch, who would not have left any witnesses anyway. By the way, the king and queen also escaped.

I created a protective cocoon around Thea and Milos, which would protect them from werewolves, while I helped my people fight a horde of furry brainless creatures. By the way, the king and queen also cowardly escaped.

When the entire hall was cleared, everything inside was littered with mountains of corpses and the irritating acrid smell of werewolfs blood, which caused nausea. I walked around every meter of this large room and came across the lifeless bodies of the King and Queen of Sardon and the Crown Prince of Eastheve, and also kicked in disgust the severed head of the Marquis of Stonberg, which rolled like a ball.

The King of Adaman and the remnants of the Riliya family, including some Riliya aristocrats, managed to escape. But it won’t last long either.

Now this war will take a completely different turn, where there is no need to play and hide the truth.