Chapter 3

The palace

Upon his arrival back to the palace, Alexander was called forth by the king. He figured word of the death in the village center had spread to the king. The king had many spies around the kingdom to bring him any news of what any and everyone was up to.

Peace. It was what the king promised people. Safety. He promised the royal guards could protect them from anything. The king believed nothing held more power than he did. Whatever he wanted he got in the end. He promised the people peace and safety and yet one of the villagers murdered their own.

At times Alexander felt like the king forgot he was just a human and many of these events were beyond his abilities as a king. There was only so much a king could do.

Alexander knew the guards could not stop every incident that would happen. It was foolish of the king to give that promise to the people. The guards roamed the streets day and night but they could not predict what happened in the homes of villagers.

Guards would need to enter the homes of the villagers by law and inspect their homes but it would only cause the villagers to grow tired of the constant checking. Alexander believed there was such a thing as being too safe where the villagers would feel suffocated by the king's orders.

Alexander tried to be the voice of reason for the people to the king, his old friend. The perfect kingdom Darius envisioned meant a lot of people would die or be imprisoned for one mishap. For example, the young girl who died tonight.

There would have been no way to save the girl even if she could've survived. She ruined the peace in that village and the king would've punished her for it.

Opening the door to the king's room, Alexander motioned for the guards to be on alert. No one was to request to see the king right now. Alexander knew the king would be furious right now because of the events which occurred tonight and it was best he tried to calm down the king.

Entering the room, he saw the king standing by his balcony overlooking the land he ruled. King Darius was given the crown at age twenty when his father passed away two years ago. His blond hair and blue eyes showed signs of the royal Harlow family trait.

Taking the crown at twenty, he was determined to follow the footsteps of the kings before him and even more determined to overshadow them. Darius wanted to go down in history as the greatest king of his time. People would know of him for generations. No king before or after him would have a reign like his.

"Your majesty," Alexander greeted, going down on a knee, his armor making a loud noise as he moved. He placed his left hand to the right of his chest showing his loyalty.

"I've heard you had a very interesting night Alex. You followed some thieves who ran into the dark forest only for a murder to happen while you were away. Are they alive?" Darius questioned his childhood friend.

If it were to be anyone else, he would've yelled at them for their failure. He wanted to torture the men with his own hands to make them speak of what they saw on the inside.

"Only the thieves. The girl killed herself," Alexander answered, not moving from his position as the king didn't command him to. Even though they were old friends, Darius was the king and he was a general. Formality should not be forgotten.

"How unfortunate she didn't get to plead her case. I don't want this to spread to other villages. I'll have to start a festival or something just to distract them," Darius thought deeply about this issue. "Promising them safety was such a stupid thing. All they do is steal and kill each other. But I want to protect the innocent Alex. Rise."

Alexander moved to stand on his feet hearing his orders.

Darius continued to look over the land until his eyes rested on the forest. It was the one thing he couldn't control. People who went deep into the forest never came back out.

He knew there was something in there and he wanted to know what. More importantly, he wanted to know how he could control it. Some things you didn't need to kill if you could make it your servant.

"I heard the guards say the thieves came running out of the forest," Darius said to Alexander, anxious to know if they spoke of anything. How did they survive?

"They spoke of a demon chasing them. As we took them to the palace they said it was a demon woman," he answered as much as he knew about the situation. Alexander didn't have any time to question the men due to the murder.

"Demon?" Darius replied, chuckling at the thought of their being a demon so close to his palace. Did demons even exist? He was more on the hunt for a God. "Do you remember my father telling us about Gods?"

Alexander nodded. "He wanted to hunt down every last one of them. I remembered him saying the Gods were actually evil and if we didn't get rid of them, we would all eventually die."

Darius rested his hands behind his back moving away from the balcony. He walked to a table and spread a map across it. A map his father had given him before his death. It was passed down for many generations as the hunt for Gods began.

"My father traveled around the kingdom hunting down God's and anything related to them. Every x on this map is where he and his fathers before him found something except for here, the forest. None of them made it into the forest," Darius explained looking at all the places filled with x's.

Any God or person who knew the Gods was murdered. Anyone who even thought of sending any God a blessing was murdered.

"So you think a God is in there?" Alexander concluded as it would explain why people went missing there.

"I don't think Alex, I know. It's been in there all this time and I plan to capture it," Darius stated, which in return made Alexander look at him. Of course, anyone would look at him as crazy for attempting to capture a God. Killing one was already a hard task.

"If it's been in there that long it must be powerful. You won't be able to just capture it," He stated the obvious. This was what he meant when he believed the king forgot they were just human.

"That's why I am planning something. It will take time but that God would be mine. I would be more powerful with the help of a God," He answered, planning something big.

"Before I took the crown and you became general, we promised to do whatever was right for the people. We need to capture this God or more people will die. The forest is not safe."

Alexander still wasn't sure about it and this was evident by the frown on his face. He placed his hand in his dark hair, tugging it as if to get his mind running for a clear answer. This plan Darius had would only get people killed. It would be better to seal off the forest so no one would enter.

" The lost villagers must be somewhere in there Alex. We have to save them," Darius said, trying to persuade his friend. He wanted Alexander to completely be on board with him.

"I will follow your orders." Regardless of his opinions, Alexander had to follow the king's judgment and see what would happen before he completely went against the idea.

He wanted to see what the king was planning on doing in regards to the forest. Whether Alexander agreed or not he knew the king would still move on with his plans. For now, it was better to agree with Darius and keep a close eye on his plans.

Darius smiled, patting his friend's back. "I will prepare the plan. For now, you just wait for my command. Let no one know of this. We don't need to scare the villagers."

Darius knew he didn't have to say this. Alexander would forever be loyal to him.

"Catherine sent more letters for you Alex. It's a shame she writes you more than her own brother," Darius couldn't help but laugh seeing the irritated expression on Alexander's face.

Alexander couldn't help but be annoyed with the princess who was infatuated with him. He rejected her countless times and yet she still tried to make her way into his heart. It was pointless. He had no time for love.

"Excuse me, your majesty. I must go see if the prisoners are secured," Alexander excused himself.

"Why are you avoiding the topic of my sister Alex? One day you might be my brother-in-law," He joked but surrendered once he saw the dark expression on Alexander's face. "You're dismissed."

When Alexander left the room a voice in the shadows said, "You trust him too much."

The smile on the king's face disappeared at the sound of the person making their presence known. "Alex is loyal to only me."