Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 333: Fate Of The Southern Borders

Samantha’s hopeful eyes looked behind Ivan, as if waiting to see Alistair pull one of his silly stunts as usual, but the more she stared, the more it dawned on her that his absence wasn’t an illusion. Never did she suspect in the slightest that the vampire was no more, but when she pulled back to look at Ivan’s face, the hopeful look in her green eyes crumbled like a delicate sandcastle, about to face an incoming tide.

"Ivan?"

"We couldn’t..." Duncan hesitated as he met the expecting gaze of everyone, their silence weighing on his shoulder as they waited for him to speak, but when the light in his eyes faltered to the ground, everyone immediately got the message.

"He’s gone." Duncan finally dropped in a heavy tone, and the anticipation in everyone’s demeanor shattered like fragile glass. Several gasps could be heard, and

there was a look of disbelief in everyone’s eyes.

"Dead?" Lucy’s pupils dilated as Duncan’s words settled in, and a hushed sorrow descended upon the space. The distant sounds of the waves added to the mournful atmosphere, and Ivan dropped to his knees. He felt drained, the image of Alistair being killed before his eyes refused to leave his head, as if he was being forced to accept the harsh reality– yes he was upset but, he wasn’t upset to the point that he would want his cousin dead!

"Ivan." Samantha dropped to her knees as well, enveloping him in a hug she felt they both needed. Tears streamed down her eyes at the thought of not being able to see Alistair again, and the air became thick with grief.

"Ah... I should have known he was up to something stupid." Tobias ran his fingers into his hair, and he didn’t have the energy to hide his emotions this time. His eyes conveyed his inner sorrows, and he was resisting himself from punching the bark of a tree. "We ran into one another on the second floor. He said he wanted to find the both of you and get you out. If I had known he only wanted to sacrifice himself, I wouldn’t have let him leave! Sigh... I wanna kill him myself now."

"And what about the demon?" Alain’s inquiring voice gained everyone’s attention, and he had stepped out of the tent where he was being taken care of by his Mother. "They don’t die easily, and they won’t leave us alone, will they?"

"Ali." Madeline stepped out of the tent to hold her son. She glanced at everyone who had gone quiet by Alain’s question. Her heart was at the edge of ripping from her chest when Cassian brought her son back to her as promised, and she wondered what exactly happened to him in the fortress, cause since he was back in her arms again, he hasn’t stopped saying weird things to all of them.

"Every... Everyone is stressed right now, okay?" She whispered, moving her son’s hair from his face. "You can speak to them tomorrow but you need to get some rest too. The royal soldiers brought lots of food for you, why not eat with your friends and get some sleep after? You’re hungry aren’t you?"

He nodded, and Madeline stifled back her tears at the state her poor son had been rendered in. She couldn’t bring herself to cry in front of him, he must have gone through so much and she didn’t want to scare him further by appearing weak. Mustering a smile, she took him back into the tent, and Samantha could see the rest of the children who were being taken care of before the tent’s flap closed.

"What happened to Marius?" Tobias asked once left alone, and Duncan opened his palm, only for the head of Marius to materialize in his grip. The sight caused everyone to shrink back, as if they hadn’t seen someone’s head being separated from the body.

"Is he dead?"

"Unfortunately no." Answered Duncan, "Marius is a demon. His characteristics are quite similar to Ivan’s. Right now he’s only in a coma, but not dead. Without the rest of his body he’s completely harmless. However, if the pieces of his body get unified again, he’s going to wake up."

"And to avoid that from happening, you took his head." Atticus completed, and Duncan nodded to his guardsman.

"Yes. The head is an important element of the biokinetic chain."

"Then what about... Carmela? Do you think she’s dead?" Samantha’s glazed eyes moved to Duncan.

"Witches can’t escape fire I believe, so she must be dead." He replied, and then his attention returned to Ivan who had been quiet all through. The vampire was back on his feet, and he asked. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"How do we get rid of him completely then?" His voice was unusually low, as if he lacked the strength to speak, and the head of Marius vanished from Duncan’s palm. He knew he wasn’t the only one repulsed by the sight of it.

"That I do not know yet, it wasn’t mentioned in the history books how our antecedents got rid of Marius from the beginning. If we can send a message to Lord Viktor and sir Abdiel, we might be able to get something. I don’t have a good feeling about Marius, though I have his head, and the rest of his body must have been destroyed by the explosion, we can’t take any chances."

"I’ll send the message across." Tobias volunteered, "I suggest we leave his head on a stick and firm it to the ground. The vultures will be excited for a new meal."

"You two should get some rest." Lucy said to Ivan and Samantha, "I couldn’t clean her up cause she insisted on waiting for you. Your tent has been set up, and everything you need has been prepared."

With that, everyone departed to their various tents to clear their heads and get some rest. Later on, Lucy approached Duncan with a look of concern, and even though not everyone noticed, she could see the slight pain he had been masking since their return.

"Here." Lucy handed him a cup of his medicinal tea, and Duncan’s eyes flashed with surprise. Rather than receiving it, he lifted his gaze to Lucy who immediately lowered her head, and understanding the questioning look in his eyes, she proceeded to explain.

"Before we left GreenHollow I brought extras with me. I was told you normally visit the garden at the top floor to pick the herbs, so I made sure to get some extras, just in case."

Duncan remained quiet as he studied her face, and Lucy really wished he wasn’t gazing at her when she was like this. She didn’t look pretty when she cried, her eyes would be all swollen and red, and she didn’t like that–

"....?!!!" Lucy’s head instantly looked up to meet the harmless gaze of Duncan. Her eyes snapped wide when she felt his finger wiping away the tears that escaped from her eyelids, and as if realizing his actions a little too late, he was quick to retract his hand away from her face.

"I..ahem!" He cleared his throat as he received the medicinal tea from her grip, "were you also close to Prince Alistair?"

Lucy shook her head and wiped her lingering tears away, "no, but a lot of things are happening and I’m just overwhelmed. Forgive me if my tears disturb you."

"It does," he replied truthfully, "but at the same time, feel what you need to feel, and then let it go. It’s far better than letting it consume you."

"Why do you say so?"

"It’s because I know so," he turned to stare at the distant crashing waves, "once the heart gets too heavy with pain, people don’t cry. They just turn silent. Completely silent."

There was a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes, but before Lucy could ask who he was referring to, he turned and left.

"Wait, so what’s going to happen to southern borders now that the rulers are no more?" She asked, and Duncan halted. Without turning around to look at her, he answered.

"It’s Ivan’s to claim, he decides from now on what he wants to do with it." And he walked away before she could ask him more question.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m fre𝒆webnov(e)l.com