Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 210: Coming to his senses (2)

Gabriel entered the palace in search of Darius. He had been here many times trying to get Darius’s attention but failed each time.

Today, Gabriel would not leave until he got to speak with Darius about what he wanted. It was an urgent matter which could not be left for someone else to steal this chance from him.

Now, Gabriel stood outside the room Darius was in. He knew Darius was purposely making him wait in hopes he would go away but Gabriel could stand here all day. Nothing was going to stop him from becoming the town’s hero once again.

"The king will see you now."

Gabriel smiled, feeling this meeting was off to a good start already.

When Gabriel entered the room, he saw a woman gathering her things. He remembered the woman to be named Juliana, a close friend of the queen who would now serve Darius with all his needs.

"You’re starting to annoy me, Gabriel. I gave you all that you asked for but then you continue to seek me out. I am not your friend, I am your king," Darius reminded Gabriel. "It was your reward but I can have you sent out of the palace for this. Is that what you want?"

Darius tidied himself and then sat down. He expected more from Gabriel when it came to troubling Xavier and Selene but Gabriel was boring.

"I am sorry for bothering you but the matter is urgent. I am most grateful for where you have placed me in the palace and I know that you are not my friend. I have come up with a plan to take some stress off your mind. Let me be the one to hunt down the ones responsible for the attacks," Gabriel offered.

Darius was annoyed at first but now Gabriel managed to capture his interest.

Darius had been ignoring the little pests creating noise around his kingdom but with the others eyeing his place as king speaking of solving the attacks, he had to act fast to take the credit for it.

"Why should I use you when the town guards are working hard to deal with it? Why put yourself in more danger when you have not long returned from war? What is it that you truly want?" Darius asked, sensing there was more to this offer. "Be honest with me."

"After some time in the palace, I have come to realise my place is going where there is danger so I may get rid of it. My skills are more useful there. I hope it will be one less thing for you to worry about if I am leading the town guards. Make them have to follow me," Gabriel revealed his intentions.

Darius laughed, amused by what Gabriel wanted. Gabriel was a man who never stopped trying to reach for the top. "There’s already someone leading the guards. I have never once gotten any complaints about his work. It would seem like I am favouring you if I remove him and place you. Wouldn’t it?"

"I see it as the king doing what is best for his kingdom. The man in charge of the town guards has not dealt with this matter quickly enough. From my experience, the guards failed to bring Lord Blackthorn down after my mother was killed. Then Selene’s friend died. They need someone like me who will get the results you want," said Gabriel.

Darius thought it over. If Gabriel was busy with this then Darius didn’t have to see his face in the palace. A vampire like Gabriel never belonged in the palace.

"If I put you in that position and you fail me, there won’t be a spot for you in the palace to return to. Your name will never be on another invitation to the palace for a ball. If I do this, you must do whatever it takes to bring these people to me so I can kill them. Can you promise me that?" Darius asked, deciding to give Gabriel a chance.

"I will not fail you," Gabriel said, confident he could do what others could not. "I will personally kneel before the palace gates and call myself a useless fool if I were to ever fail you."

Darius had a far better idea. "If you fail me then give your wife to me. It’s a good way to ensure you won’t take this lightly."

Gabriel frowned. How did Cassandra get into this?

"I don’t understand," Gabriel said, laughing since the king had to be joking. "I cannot put my wife up as a deal."

"Then, I can’t give you what you want. I need something to guarantee you will not fail me and what better than your wife? I would prefer you give me Selene but you have not succeeded in going against Xavier. I thought you would have given me a good show but you are disappointing," Darius said, annoyed that he once believed Gabriel could challenge Xavier.

"I will send out word to the town guards that you will now lead them. The moment you fail, you will be replaced. I will take your wife if you fail whether you like it or not. I need a new human to feast on and she will do. Now that you are here, I am curious about something," Darius said, getting up from his seat to approach Gabriel.

"Tell me, what was Selene like? It has been taking far too long to get her here and who better to tell me about her than you?" Darius asked.

Gabriel was once again stumped by what Darius was asking of him. He thought Darius’s interest in Selene had stopped but all this time, he still cared for her.

What was it about Selene to have not only the king lusting after her but to have Xavier marry her? What had he missed?

How had Selene gone from someone purebloods avoided to the talk of the town?

"I’m afraid I don’t have anything to share with you. Selene and I were not like that-"

Darius patted Gabriel’s arm as he laughed. "Surely, you are lying to me to keep your good times to yourself. You want me to believe you had a woman like that at your side and you did not have her as you like? Please don’t let it be that you allowed Xavier to be the one to have her first."

Gabriel tried to step back but Darius had a strong grip on his arms. "Our marriage was never as it seemed. We were never that close. I doubt she allowed Lord Blackthorn to touch her. She is silly like that."

Darius had an urge to hit Gabriel. How could Gabriel be so calm when there was a chance Xavier could be her first? "Were there other men before you? I haven’t heard much about her to know."

"I don’t know. I don’t," Gabriel stopped, growing angry with how the king spoke. It shouldn’t bother him since she wasn’t his wife anymore but he did not like it.

Darius had many women he could sleep with so why was he so interested in Selene?

"This makes her all the more special," Darius said, his need to have her growing.

To Darius, Selene needed a man who wouldn’t waste her beauty.