窃情谋欲

The grand chamber, Royal Palace, Summer Kingdom

"Changes are happening, it\'s happening all around the world." A deep and old voice reverberated through the large room, the voice contains concern and worry.

"What changes?" Another voice asked.

"Plague," the first voice answered. "Plague is spreading across the land, and soon enough, we\'ll have to face the consequences of our actions. It\'s time to act, and we must do it now before it\'s too late."

"Are you sure of this? What if we\'re wrong?" The second voice questioned.

"I\'m certain. I\'ve seen the signs, and I have been told about the plague by \'things\' I trust. We must act swiftly before we lose everything."

·ƈθm "I understand your concerns, but how can we possibly fight against the plague?" The second voice asked.

"By acting, we shall find a solution. But first, we need to gather our forces, and we must prepare ourselves for battle. Let us start with the nobles. We must convince them to join our cause."

"Very well, we shall begin immediately," the second voice agreed. "But, your reverence, how is it possible? The plague has been wiped out of the face of the world centuries ago. How can we expect to find a cure?"

"We don\'t know where it came from, and we don\'t even know what causes the plague. But we do know that it\'s spread like wildfire, and we need to stop it before it spreads any further."

"Yes, Your Reverence," the second voice said, bowing his head.

"Now, go and tell everyone. Call the nobles, and convince them of our cause. If they are not convinced, cut them out."

"As you wish," said the man, bowing. The gem on his crown glinted as the light from the window shone upon him.

"And one more thing," the deep voice added, voice stern and serious.

"Yes, Your Reverence?" The second voice asked.

"The girl. She\'s in the Spring Kingdom. Bring her here. She\'s the one."

"I\'ll bring her here, Your Reverence," the second voice said, bowing once again. "If she doesn\'t comply I\'ll burn down the entire kingdom."

"Good. Good."

A small and husky chuckle echoed through the empty halls, beads of sweat trickled the bowing man\'s face, and his brown skin darkened in fear.

*** 

The Zadkiels arrived at their estate by nightfall, their wagon rocked as they passed through the little rocky hump below the estate gates.

Damien was trying to keep up a conversation with his mother, but it was difficult as both of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Though there were lights on the castle, something felt very off.

Even the guards seemed a little scared.

"Why\'s the air so chilly," said Daenys, hugging herself.

"Sir Duncan," said Damien. "Are you sensing something?"

The middle-aged man was the best chance to find something amiss, as his senses were heightened.

"There seems to be..." he paused for a moment. "the castle seems to be...thrashed."

"Thrashed?" Damien repeated.

"Yes, sir," Sir Duncan said. "It looks like someone has gone mad and destroyed everything."

"What does that mean?" Damien asked.

"I\'m not sure, but I think the servants are cleaning up the mess someone made." He put a hand on his chin, thinking deeply while his steed moved rhythmically with the wagon.

"Who would dare?" Daenys said. "Who actually has the courage to do such a thing?"

"If someone thrashed the castle, then why is no one on the outside? Where are the soldiers and knights? Where are the servants?" Damien asked.

"They\'re probably inside the castle, trying to clean up the mess," Sir Duncan said.

Damien frowned. Feeling something really really wrong in the castle.

"Something is definitely wrong," he whispered.

"You there, come here." Sir Duncan called out to a servant, who had a bucketload of rocks and debris.

The servant hurriedly scuttled towards them, clutching the bucket tightly in his as to not drop anything.

"My lord," the servant bowed.

"What happened here?" Sir Duncan\'s loud noise startled the servant.

"Th-the..." the servant shook as he tried to find words to describe what had happened. "The young lady is here." it was just a whisper but everyone inside the wagon heard the title very clearly.

Even the sleepy Duke woke up from his slumber, looking alert and fearful.

"Young Lady?" Damien said, his eyes wide open.

"Dear gods!" said the Duke, clutching his head. "It\'s going to be hell around here."

Damien was taken aback by the title. Other than Daenys, the young lady of the duchy is the youngest kid of the Zadkiel family.

Danielle Von Zadkiel.

\'Well, well, well, this is going to be fun!\'

Danielle was a loud and rowdy one. If she doesn\'t like something, she destroys it. It doesn\'t matter if you\'re a king or a queen or duke, if she doesn\'t like you then gods be blessing you.

Even Daemon and Daenys doesn\'t like her, she constantly destroys things, and since it\'s the dynamic duo we\'re talking about, their reunions are bound to be a disaster.

And her being the most prodigal and potential star of the entire Zadkiel duchy only increased her notoriety.

In all, the only thing that remained constant is her love for her brother, Damien.

Yep, that\'s right, she\'s a bro-con.

A huge one at that.

Maybe, that guy, the original Damien knew about her potential, or maybe out of familial love, or because he wanted to feel some connection or something. It was like he basically raised her.

And it has been repaid him a large time.

If it wasn\'t for her being caught up in the politics happening inside the kingdom, then maybe the original Damien wouldn\'t have died in the novel.

And he\'s about to rewrite that by having her close to him every time.

But the thing is, she doesn\'t like other people showing Damien love and affection, she can be wild and erratic but...

\'If I can tame her, then...\'

Unbeknownst to him, he was having an ear to ear smile.

"She has returned from the academy?" The Duchess asked. "But why?"

"I don\'t know the exact details, my lady but," the servant said, still bowing. "She has been talking about recent events revolving around young master Damien."

All eyes were on him now, everyone was looking at him like he was a caged exotic animal in a zoo.

"Cough- cough," he cleared his throat. "Let\'s get moving before she destroys more stuff."

Everybody silently agreed, and they all moved towards the castle with wildly beating hearts.

***

The main hall was clear, everything was normal there.

"Seems like everything has been restored," Damien said, scrutinizing the room. "Where is she?"

"Probably sleeping," came a voice from the darkness of the corner. "Please don\'t wake her up." The sound felt like a plea.

"Daeron?" Duchess said.

A shadow slowly made its way to the light, revealing the large build of a man. The white hair and beard made him look like a wise old man.

"What happened to you?" Daenys asked as she saw the dark circles under his eyes. The eye itself was bloodshot.

Daeron moved slowly and carefully, like each step of his body was an effort.

"I\'ve been running around the whole day," he said, his voice hoarse. "I didn\'t even sleep last night."

"What happened?" Damien asked.

"Our dear sister is here," he said. "At first, she said she was just here due to some internal issue at the academy. I didn\'t say anything and she didn\'t ask anything. Weird. I know. I should\'ve questioned it there." He sat down on the couch, meticulously and gently. "Then the raven came with the news. I thought she would explode then and there, but that too didn\'t shake her. For a moment, I thought she has changed but after that day, she somehow came to know about your abduction and subsequent actions, and..." He sighed. "Everything came crashing."

He opened his hands widely, "For a moment I thought this was going to crash down. But she somehow restrained herself."

"Are you...okay, brother?" Damien knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I\'ll be fine," he said, shaking off his hand. "I just need a good rest."

"I see." He said. "Where is she?"

"After two days of the rampage, she must be exhausted. She\'s sleeping." He clasped Damein\'s hands. "Please don\'t wake up her." He pleaded.

"I won\'t, brother," he said. "I need a good rest too. We\'ll deal with her tomorrow. Okay?"

Daeron, the old, nodded his head and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

"Goodnight, brother," Damien said as he left the room.

Everybody bid goodbyes and left to their room for a good night\'s rest, as they all know when the sun rises there would be another round of carnage and destruction in the duchy.

Though everybody thought she was asleep, she was, in fact, not asleep and was hearing all that conversation from deep within the corners of the stairs.

\'Ah, brother is here.\' She giggled.

Though Damien made sure the door was locked...multiple times, it was of no avail, as he found what he feared on his bed the next morning snuggled up to him in deep sleep.