[ IMPORTANT MESSAGE ]

"No! That's not true." He said to himself.

"Azura's child can't be mine, else she would've told me right?" He asked himself as he kept pacing in his room, not believing what his pet said. But he knew he had to find out the truth for himself. Even without knowing the truth, he was ready to protect Chesa and Azura as his loved ones.

Abesselom kept tossing on his bed, thinking of what Gideon, his pet said. He had been trying to sleep for hours now, but sleep seem not to be in talking terms with him. Closing his eyes wasn't even helping, he could still see the faces of the men who tried to kill Chesa, and the town of Selom durning.

He felt like killing those men all over again, maybe that could make him sleep. Not just that, he felt like barging into the palace in his real self and drag Marcus out to the street and give him a ruthless and painful death.

His mind was a mess and all he wanted was to sleep, but that too was giving him troubles, since he couldn't close his eyes without seeing things he wanted to forget. Suddenly, a face appeared in front of him, he wished it had appeared earlier, but it did just now.

He could see Chesa's smiley face looking up to him, and he remembered how fearless she was when he teleported with her. A smile creep on his lips as he kept remembering the short time he spent with her. Unknowingly, sleep carried him away to the far end of dreamland he could ever think of.

__________

Azura walked majestically to the throne from the entrance of the throne room, after her arrival was announced by the bolter. She peered at the faces of the elders of the kingdom, and the look on their faces told her they knew what happened to her and her entourage.

She walked as if nothing had changed, ready to know what the elders in the room had to say about the incident that took place in the forest, especially the ones at her left. She sat calmly on the throne, after rejecting Marcus's help to get up the elevated steps.

She had waken up earlier than usual in the morning and found herself in her room. She had no idea how she got there, but she was sure the masked man had something to do with it. Shockingly, Lora had confirmed her doubt and even added that Chesa had disappeared and the masked man got her back.

She was more determine to know who the masked man was now more than ever, and getting to know who her destine husband is, was now part of her mission. Accepting that she was the real Azura was slowly creping it way to her heart, and she was more determine then before to know the reason why she was brought to the unknown kingdom.

"In today's section, Her Majesty Queen Azura and her entourage was attacked in the forest to the city. We are to find out who the culprit is." The gofer said, bringing Azura out of her many thoughts.

"We heard His Majesty was with Her Majesty on her departure. May we know why he was not there when Her Majesty was attacked?" An old man asked from the elders on the right side.

Marcus smirked immediately he heard the question, even though it came from someone he dislike. The question was in his favor and he was surly going to put it on someone. "I think your queen is in the right place to answer this question." He said as he turned to Azura.

"Someone needed to take care of the happenings in the kingdom, I choose to go alone so the king could do that." Azura said to defend herself, stretching on the word 'The King' She gave Marcus a deathly glare before turning to look at the elders.

"If so, I suppose His Majesty should have met the queen to get her back home safely, just like how he made sure her going was a safe one." Another man said from the right side.

The glare and hateful gaze the man received from the elders at the left side, made it clear to Azura that there was no one on the left side to support her, should she need any. She kept her cool, waiting for Marcus to respond, but he didn't. Instead someone did.

"I think you heard what Her Majesty said, someone needed to stay back." An old looking man said from the left side.

"We hope next time, Her Majesty will let His Majesty be with her on her journey." A man said from the left side, and almost everyone of the elders at the left side nodded their heads to agree with him.

Azura got angry upon hearing his words. She understood clearly what the man meant by his statement. Azura was at fault for being attacked, and that might have not happened if only she had gone with Marcus. The King.

"So you mean to say it was my fault I and my entourage was attacked?" Azura asked with loud but study voice.

"I do not dare Your Majesty, I just meant we need you to be safe." The man said as he went on his knees with his head hitting the floor. He had seen the change in Azura's eyes and feared for his life.

"Since we can't put blames on anyone without evidence, I think we should move on to the next topic for discussion. I've already sent my men out to investigate the incident at the forest. We'll know what happened on their return." Marcus said and everyone agreed, even the elders at the right side.

" On the next topic, the princess went missing, but her savour is still unknown." The gofer said and the room became silent.

Azura's anger subside immediately. She looked at the faces of the men in the room, waiting to hear what they knew about the masked man. She wanted to get every little clue she'll be needing to find out who the masked man was.

"I heard it was a man who had a mask on the upper part of his face. May I ask if Her Majesty know anyone like that?" A man said. And once again, the elders on the left side were given yet another chance to twist things around.

"I've been told about him, but I do not remember who he is. Maybe the King here can tell us who he is." Azura said calmly as she smirked, gesturing toward Marcus, and everyone turned to him with alert, waiting for him to talk.

"You all know your queen and I have some supernatural powers in us, he's just like the two of us, mostly like me. With his powers, I can say he's not from this nor any of the kingdoms around. He's been to the palace to see the queen before." Marcus said, as if he was talking about his worse enemy.

The men on both sides of the throne room started murmuring, wondering who this man in mask could be. Azura's sharp ears captured everything they said, but from what she heard, non of them seem to know who the masked man was, even Marcus had little idea about who he was.

__________

It was almost afternoon and the day was brighter, due to the scorching sun the was shining continuously. Crunching sound of dried leaves under the running feet of people could be heard, alongside the pants of men. From the look of it, they were a group of knight or a higher ranked military officials.

They speed up, running towards the gate of the palace. They have been running for hours now and needed rest, but they kept running, looking backwards every now and then, as if someone or something was after them.

The man who seem to be their leader, encouraged them to keep running faster, making them get on their feet quickly even when they fall. He took the lead to the throne room immediately they entered the gates of the palace, not waiting for his friends anymore.

He knew an important meeting was on going in the throne room, but the news he was baring was something that could not wait any longer. Getting to the throne room was his only way to deliver this important news.

He pushed himself to go faster, ignoring how wet his body was and the fact that his body was practically burning him alive. He runs faster, barging into the throne room without waiting for his presence to be announced.

Immediately he entered, Marcus got on his feet, with his body shaking and his eyes wide open, staring at the new comer, and his mouth slightly agape with his brows furrowed. With a voice as if he was choking on his own breath, he spoke to the knights.

"Why have you come here in such a state, gasping on each breath you try to take?" He asked but the knight was not able to answer him. "Explain yourself." Marcus commanded when the knight kept kneeling but not talking. The knight still gasped for air as he bent over, taking in heavy breath before he begin to explain what got to him.

"forgive my rudeness Your Majesty but, I was giving some information that was too important to wait, and so I barge in here." He begin once again, gasping in breath of air as much as he could get to fill his lungs, before he straighten himself up a bit kneeling upright.

"Just speak up. Out with it already." The king roar at the knight as he couldn't stand the wait anymore, which caused the knight to get on his feet in the next second, standing upright and fixed his posture before taking.

" I and my men had gone to the forest as you had instructed. While in the forest patrolling, a man appeared from the thin air and with a swift movement, he had me pinned to a tree with his single hand. He stared at me in the eyes with a kind of eyes that I haven't seen before.

Unlike out normal blue, brown and black ones, his eyes were fire-like red and looked like it was burning. His hands were like claws, very pale and strong." The knight pulsed as he held his neck as if remembering how it was strangled by the one he was talking about. His expression changed completely as he continue to speak.

"He asked me to come to you and say his name....." The knight said and stopped talking suddenly. His face was full of terror, eyes wide open and mouth agape. He looked terrible as if his worse nightmare just came to life before him, which actually did.

Marcus just kept staring at the knight and didn't even notice how or when the knight begin to fall flat on his face, revealing a dagger stabbed in his back. Everyone in the throne room stared at the dead body of the knight with shock as some let out a scream of horror.

There was no one behind the knight and they were sure the dagger was not stabbed on his back when he entered the throne room earlier.