Broken throne

Theodore watched as she drifted off back to sleep. The moment when she had fainted and he had leaped to catch her, she had felt like a feather in his arms weighing equal to absolutely nothing. Her face had lost that glow that didn't bother him as much as that sadness in her eyes.

He now knew that they had locked her up for a whole week in a room. Theodore was aware that Eva would've rejected all meals in her anger and helplessness. It was obvious considering the way she had blacked out and how her face looked as pale as a ghost.

He ignored his demon battling against his walls, no matter how much he wanted to go and tear apart Isabella's head and feed it to his wolves. If only Eva had allowed him, her body would have been hanging from her castle's gates for everyone to see what happened when someone messed with his woman.

But then again, he thought and one side of his lips tipped up, Eva had asked him to forget and ignore. He would fulfill her wish after passing on a small warning by himself while she was resting peacefully inside his chamber.

Closing his eyes for a second, he muttered a few words under his breath, and when his eyelashes fluttered open, they were dazzling obsidian once again. Footsteps approached, and soon a woman came into sight.

Her blond locks were lying freely all over her shoulders as she crossed her arms and asked, "What's the matter, Theo?"

"Keep a close eye on Eva for me, will you? I'm going somewhere to handle... personal affairs."

The woman rolled her eyes though she stopped quickly enough when Theodore glared over at her. "I'm serious."

"I know, I know." she nodded her head up and down and after passing on a salute, left Theo standing by himself in the hallway.

Darkness and smoke gathered around him and in a blink of an eye, he vanished from his place and teleported straight outside Isabella's castle. Cracking his neck, a smile etched itself on his lips which was enough to make a man run away in fear of his life.

The guards standing outside the gate saw him and placed their hands on the hilts of their swords not knowing who he was. In a second, they both were lying on the ground with their hearts thrown out beside their bodies. Theo shook his hand to get rid of some blood but didn't bother cleaning it as he stalked off into the castle with his head held high.

He walked off to the gates of the castle without any guards being able to notice him. People around him continued to do their normal daily tasks without detecting that a King was amongst them. Invisibility had its benefits.

As he reached the doors of the Queen's court, he finally revealed his presence and watched the guards flinch and raise their swords, with amusement.

Locking eyes with one of them, his voice lowered as he spoke, "You will forget I ever came here. Both of you." he emphasized and then looked into the other man's eyes and repeated the same words.

The compulsion took effect and the guards opened the doors to let him in. Theo smirked as his violet eyes glimmered and surveyed the empty courtroom with narrowed eyes. The violet of his irises seeped throughout his entire eyes until they were iridescent. They crackled with power—the kind that could unravel entire realms with just a lift of a finger.

An empty, hollow look betook his face as he stalked forward and approached the Queen's throne and cocked his head, a smile slowly taking over his features that would send a shiver through anybody who witnessed it.

—

Isabella scanned the document, with her eyes narrowed into focus at it. Its envelope lay beside her ink bottle with Lorvil's symbol stamped on top of its cover.

A second later, Isabella clenched her fingers around the paper and flung it in the fireplace as she saw it burn with the same flame flashing in her eyes. Lysander had sent her a warning.

Her!

A warning!

How dare that lapdog of Theodore even try to threaten her with baseless accusations, she screamed in her head and gritted her teeth furiously.

But it didn't matter, she comforted herself and took a few deep breaths. Theodore might have Lysander's support but the Kingdom of Lorvil wasn't as big as Asher's. And lucky for her, she had his complete aid since he hated that demon King as much as she did. The power that Theodore had over the whole of Salvador was immense and Isabella knew the relationship he had conjured up with the Fates.

Or should she say temporary fates? Her thoughts were forced to halt when her door was knocked on and a maid appeared in her vision of sight.

"Your Majesty, Lord Alastor is wanting to speak to you in the courtroom." told the maid mechanically and turned around, departing from the room without a bow and without waiting for her dismissal.

Isabella stared at the open door, her whole body frozen. No maid had dared to talk to her like that. They all knew what was the result of any disrespect and this maid was no newcomer that didn't know the rules of the castle. Her actions and words looked as if they had been controlled.

With her brows furrowed, Isabella got up and straightened her gown as she walked off in the direction of the courtroom, wondering why the hell Alastor was calling her now. Nobody called her somewhere, she was the one who ordered people around!

After that miserable day when that demon King had taken the girl away, Alastor had isolated himself to his chambers. No matter what Diana did to encourage him, he would not respond and asked for the food to be delivered straight to his room. Isabella wondered if he had finally found his wits and decided to man up and find the girl. A possibility, she thought, and the guards pushed open the doors as they saw the Queen arrive.

Isabella entered the court and heard the door snap shut behind her. Raising her eyes to look up at her beloved throne, a loud gasp escaped her lips as she beheld the horrifying sight in front of her.

Her precious throne which had always stood proudly on top of the stairs was now broken into small bits of pieces and scattered all over the floor. The top of the seat had been clawed at and the tapestry was ripped apart with what she recognized to be claws.

Huge, sharp talons.

Lifting her nose, she tried to sniff out who attempted to do such a thing. It couldn't be a servant and certainly wasn't Diana or Alastor. This was a trap and it was clear to her that the maid had been compelled to follow orders by someone.

The faint scent of sin, ash, and smoke entered her nostrils and her eyes darted off to the curtains behind the throne. On point, they parted and a man stepped out from the shadows.

Isabella glared at him and managed to girt out, "You."

She should've known it would be him...