Louisa's POV
"How could you put up with that ghastly man?" Zackery asked.
I sighed and lowered my head.
Will crawled out of my hair and flapped his wings to fly in the air.
"Could you please go out and check him out?" I asked Will.
"I don't want to," Will said, swirling above my head like a little bird.
"You can pee on his face if he's unconscious," I said.
Sparks of light appeared in Will's watery eyes.
"OK," he said with excitement.
Then, he flew out of the cabin through the window.
Akela cleaned the floor and smelt her hair.
"Yuck, I could smell dead fish in my hair. I need to take a bath. I have never sweated so much in my life at this time of the day. It's very not lady-like," She quickly ran out of the room.
Zackery opened the window to let some fresh air get inside.
Then, he sat next to me and said, "What a night."
"I'm worried about Zabel," I leaned against Zackery and said, "I'm worried about Lucian and Gianna. What if..."
Zackery said, "Little girl, you're worried about others all the time. They're all grown-ups and they can take care of themselves."
"What happened to those soldiers? Why did they attack each other?" I asked.
"I guess we've got one more mystery to solve," Zackery said and stroked the hair behind my ears.
"Why are you always doing that?" I asked.
"What?" Zackery stared at me.
"Putting my hair behind my ears," I said.
"You've got a beautiful face and I want to see it," Zackery smiled.
I lowered my head and my face started to burn.
"Has Zabel told you? You look like our mother," Zackery said.
I looked up at him and said, "No, he didn't. He only talked about the Red Queen and King Duko."
A controlling mother and his heartbroken son. Classic.
"Ah, so he told you about our mother after all," Zackery said.
I looked at him with an inquiry.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Our mother. The Red Queen," Zackery said.
"Queen Daliah?! She's... She's your mother?! No way! She's..."
"She's our grandmother, yes. But she's also our mother," Zackery said.
In the dim light, I could see frozen fortitude in his eyes.
"You mean..."
"Yes, she forced his son to consummate with her and gave birth to Zabel and me," Zackery said.
"Wh... What?!" I was stuttering.
"I know, the scandalous story of our family. It just keeps getting longer and uglier," Zackery said. He didn't seem to be very upset at all. Instead, he looked quite relieved.
"Urg. It feels good to finally let it out of my chest," Zackery stretched out his arms. "After the Red Queen cast away Princess Tallulah, King Duko's health deteriorated drastically. The Red Queen was paranoid, so she had to take some measures to sustain his pure Lycan blood. That's why she did what she had done because deeds had to be done. She was a... very sad person. She had a very special point in almost everything."
Zackery took a pause and said, "Did I make you uncomfortable by telling you this, little girl?"
I shook my head, but actually, I meant yes.
After all, this isn't some kind of story that you wake up every day and hear. I thought to myself.
"I didn't want to tell you about any of this, but Zabel insisted on telling you the truth. He has a point. You have to know about our family, our ancestry. Then, you can be prepared for what's going to happen in the next chapter of your life," Zackery said.
"The next chapter?" I frowned.
"Yeah. Lycidas will come and take you back to the court with us," Zackery said.
"But I can't go with him!" I said. "I can't leave Lucas..."
"Well, about that," Zackery said.
"I'm not going to leave him, Zackery," I said determinedly.
"He's going to get married to Akela. The King will be present at their wedding, Louisa," Zackery said.
"But Lucas is my mate! I can't let him marry other women!" I said.
"If you accept his rejection, everything will be solved," Zackery said.
"Is this why you forced Lucas to reject me the other day?" I raised my eyebrows and asked.
"No. I asked him to reject you because I wanted to test his loyalty. Lycidas has received a lot of rumors about his eccentric and disrespectful behavior. I thought he wanted to hurt Lycidas, so I came and investigated him by myself. But then, it turns out that the only one he's able to hurt is you."
"I don't mind. I recover and get stronger every time he tries to hurt me," I whispered.
"But that doesn't mean the damage has never been there in the first place," Lycidas said.
Darren used to say similar things to me. I was so full of myself at that time and I didn't listen to him.
Thinking about Darren, my heart throbbed again.
Where are you, Darren?
Please be safe and alive, because I've got so many things to tell you.
As I was thinking, Zackery's voice continued -
"I can't let Lucas hurt you like this anymore, little girl. His marriage has already been arranged by the King himself, so it's basically an order that he can't say no to. He's not your man, Louisa. The Moon Goddess made a mistake by selecting him as your mate. He doesn't deserve you. He's a bully, a sex addict, a drunkard, and a nobody. Stop wasting time on him and stop imagining that one day he would change, because people like him never change."
"Zackery, you love Zabel, don't you?" I asked.
Zackery didn't reply. He looked at me and stretched out his long legs, putting his crossed hands behind his head.
"What if the King asked you to stay away from Zabel for the rest of your life?" I asked.
"I have unwavering loyalty and devotion to the King and I'll do whatever he asks me to do," Zackery looked up in the air and said.
His voice became mechanical, floating in the air like chanting, reciting some reprogrammed script.