Deranna

As if everyone had heard what she said, the carriage stopped, and the horses moving ahead and behind them stopped as well, and silence filled the carriage. It was so thick that you could even cut it.

"You realize the severity of the matter, right?" Edgar's voice cut through the silence, his gaze strained on his daughter who, for the first time, was bent on opposing him. She held his gaze unlike in the past when she would look away out of respect for her father.

"I did what needed to be done at that moment. What gapped after was beyond our control. It is not as if I planned to meet him there, nor did I ask that he should be a vampire," Auriana said, and he growled, but she was unmoved by it.

"Auriana," Edgar called in anger and frustration.

"Yes, Father," she replied but still didn't look away. It was at times like these that Edgar could truly be considered scary, but she looked him in the eye without blinking even for a second.

"This conversation ends here. We will continue this when we return to Diric. Is that clear?" He asked and without intending to, using g his alpha's command, but she still stared at him, taking a few seconds before replied,

"Understood, Father," this surprised him because it didn't seem to affect her. Everyone around them, beside Hazel and Astrid, who was human, was clearly affected.

Giving one last glance at her, Edgar looked away and proceeded forward, pulling the reins of the horse, and everyone started moving again. Their trip to Deranna, the human kingdom, will be short now that they know that they won't find the one they are looking for there. Once the princess of Deranna was dropped off, they will return.

The rest of the journey continued in an uncomfortable silence all the way to Deranna. The moment they arrived at the outskirts of the kingdom, Astrid let out an inaudible sigh of relief but soon realized something else. She couldn't let her family know about her being taken by the vampires.

Her eyes wandered to Hazel, who was still deep in her thoughts and then to Auriana, who understood her worry at just a glance at her. Her fidgeting hands were a testament to her worry, and Auriana had had no difficulties understanding it.

"You should speak up, Astrid, learn to do that," Auriana said, placing a hand on Astrid's.

Hazel heard them whispering and turned to look at them suspiciously. She couldn't completely trust them anymore after what they had just confessed to. They could he up to something again.

"Your Majesty, I was wondering if…" she trailed off. She looked at Auriana, who gave her a nod, and she summoned the courage to speak again. It was now or never. She would rather have King Edgar and Queen Hazel yell at her than having her parents do it. They wouldn't lock her up in her room or hurry her to get married as soon as possible to avoid such incidents from ever recurring again. So she preferred to be yelled at and scolded by them. "Could you please not tell my family about the incident with the vampire," she said, and the woman squinted at her. "I would be in trouble with my family if they were ever to learn of it."

"I was just about to ask the same of you. You read my mind little one. This incident shouldn't leave your lips to another ear. No one must know that that ever happened. otherwise, the rest of the story wouldn't be hard to decipher," Edgar said outside the carriage, and Astrid nearly jumped for joy but only suppressed her excitement, jumping in her head.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I promise it will never slip from my lips," she said calmly.

"Hmm," he hummed and looked ahead.

"I do not remember the last time I was ever sick, but I think I will be if this keeps going on," Hazel muttered and massaged her temple. She was not against the idea of keeping it secret. It was the only way to ensure that no one else knew of the supposed mate of Auriana, who is a vampire they encountered during that time.

They rode through the gates and into the town, through the road leading to the Castle of Deranna. Many eyes were on them, but none dared to approach. They stood by the sidewalks watching them go through, and none attempted stopping them for questioning, especially after seeing the man riding beside the carriage.

The werewolves were the protectors of Deranna. They could come and go as they pleased unless a law was broken by them. Even with the close ties between the gwi races, laws and rules to follow still existed until now, they have lived in harmony because none had broken those laws. The rules were more severe if humans were to break them as that would be seen as being ungrateful and disrespectful towards their protectors.

A human soldier riding ahead of the troop went ahead to the Palace to announce the presence of the shifter royal.

They soon arrived at the Palace painted golden brown, although not as big as the Diric castle, which was built like a fortress, but the castle was big enough to live up to its name.

"Welcome, Your Majesties, it is a wonderful surprise to have you here," King Chase greeted the moment they entered the castle and departed the carriage. He looked at his daughter, who had ridden with the Queen and future Queen if tye shifter race and wondered if she had done something to have warranted the coming of the royal family Diric.

"Queen Hazel," the human queen, Queen Hannah, greeted with a little curtsy.

"Thank you, Chase, Hannah," Hazel was the one t9 speak as Edgar didn't appear to be ready to speak to anyone just yet. We won't be staying long. We are just here to make sure that Astrid got home safe, Auriana was worried about her safely returning."

Chase and his wife found it odd that that was the only reason, but then again, what did they know? At least their daughter didn't do anything to provoke the couple.

"We are deeply honored to hear that, please come in, it is getting late already and the journey here must have been hectic, you should rest before…" Hannah said but was interrupted by Edgar.

"We would leave in a few hours, we wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone with a prolonged stay," he looked at Chase and said, "There is something I would like to discuss with you."

"Well, of course, as you wish, Your Graces," the couple said with a bow of their heads.