Clouds On The Horizon

Queen Clarice stood behind one of her guards as she waited in front of the door to Yuka's chamber. This was the first time in eight years since she was stepping into the East wing. This time, she was even more upset than she'd been, the last time she'd decided to make her way to the East wing.

Apparently, Yuka had bitten off more than he could chew. She couldn't believe that Hazel had suddenly gotten lucky. There was absolutely no way Hazel would be able to rebel against her unless she had someone to support her, a back up. There was no one more perfect for the job than the black blood himself.

"My queen, he isn't responding" the guard who had been knocking on the door for the past two minutes said, an apologetic look on his face.

"Disrupt the magic that is holding the door locked in place" the queen ordered and the rest of the guards instantly prepared to carry out the Queen's order.

But just before they could execute it, someone tsked from behind them.

"I don't think that is a good idea. If you try that, you all will get roasted. Now, we don't want that, do we?"

The queen turned around, her eyes cold.

"Where were you?" Clarice demanded, taking a step closer to Yuka who was leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. His expression was nothing short of schooled and his calm demeanor seemed to rile up the queen even more.

"What exactly do you want?" Yuka droned.

Clarice responded by slapping him on the face, hard.

"Don't answer my question with a question. Clearly, you know what you did" she spat. "Why don't you remind me? I seem to have suddenly developed amnesia"

"Admit what you did and I might go easy on you" the queen said. Yuka shrugged, moving away from the wall.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, your highness" he said and started to make his way towards the door to his chamber.

"I'm very sure you know that I placed a kill order on Hazel's brothers and I know that you helped them escape"

Yuka slowly turned around, looking amused.

"Why would I do that? Besides, you have no proof"

Without sparing the queen another glance, he switched into his shadow form and walked right through the door of his chamber. Clarice exhaled sharply, her eyes burning with fury. Her men followed after her as she stormed off, still seething.

When she got to the king's study, she walked in and sat down in front of the king who was standing by the large window of his study. "Why do you look so upset?" He asked.

"Yuka needs to be punished"

"What did he do this time?"

Clarice rose to her feet, the look on her face, menacing.

"Do I need to give you a reason why he should be punished?" She demanded.

"Its only logical, yes?"

She narrowed her eyes, fists clenched. "Why do I have a feeling that you actually care for the black blood?"

"Like you said, it's just a feeling. If you really have nothing important to say to me, I suggest you take your leave. I desire some peace and quiet"

Queen Clarice was barely holding it together. The anger and malice swelling within her wasn't showing any signs of disappearing. She was very sure that the king had never asked her to give him a reason why Yuka should be punished. She couldn't help but think that her control over the king was slipping and she didn't like it one bit. All this was happening because a certain rebellious red blood was chosen by her own son to become his wife. The queen was desperate now. She wanted to put an end to the minor hiccup that was slowly becoming major. She wasn't about to sit back and watch some filth ruin everything she'd worked hard to get.

...

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Yuka asked Hazel as she wrapped up her hands with cloth wraps. She was preparing for her next training session with Tyr.

"Yeah, I want to"

She paused when she saw how worried he looked. She smiled and patted his muscular upper arm.

"Are you worried about me because of what happened last time?" She asked and he sighed.

"Hazel-"

"Relax, Romeo. I've got this"

He raised a brow and leaned against the wall, his arms folded across his chest.

"Romeo?"

"That's your nickname. Cute as a button, isn't it?" She teased, wrapping up her hair into a bun. He rolled his eyes, a half smile playing on his lips. His smile faded when he noticed Nazi walking down the hallway with a menacing look in her eyes. This made him even more worried. He was afraid that Nazi was going to cheat again, especially since she could be very ruthless.

"Thank you" Hazel suddenly said and he looked away from Nazi.

"For?"

"Saving my brothers' lives" she said. "It wasn't really a big deal"

"Now's not the time to be modest" Hazel said, but he was no longer listening. Storming towards them with his eyes glowing ferociously was Caden.

"Oh crap" Hazel muttered while Yuka grimaced. Once Caden got to the both of them, he grabbed Hazel's hand and started to walk away without sparing his brother a glance.

"Caden-" Hazel began but was silenced by the glare Caden sent her way.

"I asked you to stay away from him for a reason, Hazel. I'm sure he's been manipulating your mind"

"He can do that?" Hazel asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"He's a black blood, what did you expect?"

"Wait, he can do that for real?"

"Have I been speaking gibberish?"

Hazel frowned, an alien thought making it's way to her mind.

Could it be that he'd been manipulating her all along? Was he responsible for the way she was drawn to him? Hazel was at a loss of what to think. She didn't want to believe that he had manipulated her. Why would he? To spite Caden?

She shook her head in an attempt to ward of these thoughts.

"I can't believe I was already starting to assume things" she muttered.

"Did you say something?" Caden asked and she shook her head in response.