Raphael

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- You’re late, Your Maje... - the witch whispered, tilting her head to the side, not hiding her self-willed grin.

But she was not destined to finish. My hand, like a blade, separated her head from her body, leaving frozen horror in her open eyes. The small room was immediately saturated with the smell of fresh blood and the shoes began to get stuck in this stickiness.

I was silent and just scanned the room with my eyes. How did she manage to remain unnoticed for so long? Right in front of my eyes. I was so blind and how did it turn out for me?

- Hang her head on the main gate outside the castle. Let this be a warning to everyone. So it will be with anyone who dares to stand in my way.

Richard silently accepted the order and lifted the bloody head from the floor, grabbing it by the matted, soiled red hair.

None of my nerves stirred at that moment, on the contrary, this sight awakened in me an even greater darkness than it had been before.

/Earlier/

From the very morning I was not myself, I understood the necessity of my actions, but I was tormented by strange doubts, as if I was doing something wrong. And she was the main reason. My little Thea.

I was tormented by images of her upset appearance, I imagined that she was saddened or sitting and crying. I asked her to trust me, but she is so vulnerable and sensitive that even her ostentatious bravery palpably trembled.

I closed my eyes and tried to collect my thoughts, convincing myself that everything would go smoothly today. I was standing in front of the entrance to the wedding hall when I felt her gaze. Silly, why are you doing this? Why are you watching and torturing me?

- Please ... - her thin, broken voice sounded prayerfully, which made my heart shrink even more.

Gritting my teeth, I resisted the fiery urge to look at her, instead I told Dexter to distract her during the ceremony.

Yesterday I made the decision to let go of the werewolf that we pulled out of Riliya’s dungeon. I pretty much hypnotized his mind and found nothing but unconditional gratitude and loyalty to Thea. Rather, a lot of useful information was pulled out of his head, but the main thing for his release was the lack of desire to hurt her. And since he is so grateful to her, he will serve her like a faithful dog.

I was standing on the podium, wringing my fingers in nervous tension, fingering my knuckles and thinking about how I could finish everything faster, until the priest announced the arrival of Giselle.

The game has begun.

Blissful, with a smile on her face, she looked good in this wedding dress. Her chiseled, slender figure was graceful, and her movements were smooth, as if she was a wave in the sea. But all this did not shake my manhood. No matter how she tried to attract my attention, I saw only her shell, while her inner world was empty and unattractive for me.

But now, in front of this small, but fastidious, and sometimes hostile public, I had to portray a happy man who can’t take his eyes off his woman.

She finally walked down the wedding aisle and stood in front of me. Throwing aside all the bounds of decency, she quickly grabbed my hands and I saw through the fabric of the veil how she even more spread out in an excited smile.

Oh, if you only remembered how I almost bled you dry the day before, you wouldn’t be so enthusiastic. This thought sent pleasant waves through my body and I could not restrain a satisfying smile, not taking my gaze off the Adamanian princess. She was more beautiful in that performance when the skin on her body was torn apart.

- Do you swear to love and respect your spouse, to be a reliable support for him, a faithful life partner and not to belittle his desires in front of others? - The priest’s singing voice sounded.

- I swear. - Giselle answered breathlessly, licking her dry lips.

- Do you swear to love your spouse more than life, to be faithful, kind, patient and caring, and also to have her the only one in your heart?

What kind of idiotic vows? Even though it’s just a game, this lie couldn’t leave my mouth in any way. Like a lump in the throat, these words stuck there peremptorily.

What do you all want from me? Vows? Love and loyalty? To be the only one in my heart?

I shot a brief angry glance at Dexter, who had already returned and taken his seat. It was his stupid idea to play this whole farce. In general, all the idiotic ideas in this palace belong only to him, always.

I was burning with the thought of how simple it would be if we came to Adaman with the war and everything would be solved easier and faster. But no, Dexter sometimes acts like my second mother, a f*cking pacifist, his f*cking peaceful ideas. And why do I always follow his lead?

Having no longer the ability and desire to restrain myself, I allowed the magical currents to flow through my body, filling all the space, all the air around, plunging everyone present into the abyss of deception and illusion.

Giselle’s eyes were burning with excitement and her heart was trembling while she saw before her eyes pictures of her most desired and happy day. And I just stood in front of her, not taking my eyes off, so that nothing would break and go to pieces. All my attention was focused on her while she was at the mercy of a blissful illusion, along with the rest of those present.

But something went wrong. At one point, the entire illusory picture began to burst like a soap bubble, absorbed by the unrestrained dank cold. Under my feet, like a carpet being spread out, the icy surface spread out, absorbing every thing that stood in way. In a matter of seconds, the entire palace was swallowed up by the icy abyss.

In panic and misunderstanding, the servants who were in the adjacent chapel ran out into the street and there they took the blows of the icy rain, which cut and injured them like sharp daggers. The fresh ice surface was immediately stained with bloody streaks.

Having sharpened all my senses, I immediately noticed her. As if spellbound, Thea stood behind a small oblong window and now nothing and no one existed except the two of us. All my receptors and locators were just for her. And she... wasn’t angry anymore... no. Now she looked completely drained and faceless, and her eyes radiated her inner pain.

F*ck!

No!

Baby, you got it all wrong!

It’s not like that!

And I didn’t even notice her hands right away. What was that?

- Rafael, my husband, what’s going on? – breaking me out of my stupor, whispered the worried Giselle, who is now hanging on my arm.

But I didn’t have time to explain anything to her. First we need to deal with Thea.

What does all this even mean? Where does this magic come from?

Literally the seconds I was distracted by gave her the opportunity to disappear, just disappear into thin air. I desperately rushed there, not paying attention to how the blood was flowing down my arms when they were cut by ice drops falling from the sky.

In the small room of the chapel, I could clearly smell her scent, so strong, persistent and so sweet. And also that vile, fetid smell of a mangy dog and... a witch???

There was only one way out of the chapel and they definitely didn’t use it. People parted, and now a group of my people formed around me, while the guards directed everyone away from this place.

- What’s going on? - Richard asked.

- I can smell a werewolf and a witch. - Dexter said, his eyes turning a bright shade of red.

- Wasn’t the witch who opens the portals executed? I asked, no longer restraining my fierce bloodthirsty desires.

- That’s right. Executed. Apparently that servant had an accomplice that we missed. – said the head of the guards.

- You say you missed it? - I hissed and the unrestrained shadows separated from my body immediately absorbed the body of the guard, leaving him a dry lifeless body.

No one asked any more questions and everyone started searching for the passage that the witch had used. Meanwhile, the sky abruptly stopped drizzling with ice.

Thea. Where are you?

It was as if something that had once been a heart was squeezed in my chest. Strong vises squeezed to the point of pain, causing my fangs to lengthen, and my bloodshot eyes to darken.

- We found him, Your Majesty! – someone said after more than half an hour.

So long. All this time I was restless, thinking about what had happened, about what I had seen.

A narrow spiral staircase led to a tiny basement room, in the center of which an exhausted witch was kneeling. Exhausted and haughtily smiling.

- You’re late, Your Maje... - the witch whispered, tilting her head to the side, not hiding her self-willed grin.

Jars of potions, magic books, amulets and artifacts, and this circle in the middle of the room. It was definitely the witch’s room, without a doubt. And this circle... I immediately realized that Thea was no longer here. I’m really late.

The realization of this hit me like a hammer on the head and trying to escape from my own inadequacy, I cut off the witch’s head without batting an eye. It didn’t matter what she said. She wouldn’t have told me where to find Thea anyway.

I just lost her. One second she was there, and the next she disappeared without a trace.