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Chapter 8: Back to Origin!

“Are you okay?”, Demetri asked in a hushed tone, clearly worried about Selena.

Only in name sake was Demetri the General’s right hand because he had pledged his alliance directly to Selena after she had saved his life.

Though it was the General who had found him and took him in, it was Selena who had saved his life and was at his constant back and call. She didn’t treat him as just a bodyguard. She treated him sincerely as a friend…..as a colleague and so did Demetri.

Though the vampires of their clan always gossiped because of their closeness, Demetri and Selena had a purely platonic relationship. Growing up together and training together, he treated her as his little sister who he wanted to protect from all harm.

“Selena?”, he tried again, a worried look on his face.

Selena looked famished and spent. Well, it was obvious after her display of power.

Selena gave him a weak smile and nodded at him and Demetri swore internally.

“You are clearly not okay. You literally just set the whole forest into fire. The entire forest is destroyed and the trees are just ashes now.”

Selena winced at his words as she saw the barren land in front of her filled with ashes.

She didn’t mean to but she ended up letting it all out. Though a part of her felt guilty for destroying a beautiful forest, a part of her was relieved that this time it wasn’t a village where humans lived.

No matter how many years passed, she never could let go of that incident nor stop blaming herself for it. She had started training intensely only after that incident since she wanted to have absolute control over power and not cause an incident like that ever again when she lost it.

“You knew about all this, didn’t you?”, Selena asked in a small voice and Demetri froze, taken off guard.

He nodded meekly at her and Selena let out a sigh and replied, “I thought we agreed no more secrets between us. Was I the only one keeping that promise?”

Demetri widened his eyes guiltily.

It wasn’t his choice to keep this from her.

“I just wanted to protect you. All these years you foolishly believed that your parents had lost you by accident and were looking for them literally everywhere. It would be a blow straight to heart when you found that they had abandoned you on purpose.”

Selena let out a snort. She was feeling out of sorts and muddled up. She didn’t even know what to do next. A part of her wanted to go into the palace to seek revenge for her sister but she didn’t want to fall prey to the Queen’s schemes and end up getting used just like her sister.

“Are you going back to the palace?”, Demetri asked uncertainly, suddenly feeling worried.

He was well aware that Selena was stubborn, conniving and can be cold hearted and devious when she wanted to be but no matter her indifferent attitude, she would also risk everything for her friends and family.

Demetri didn’t want to put her into that position where she would have to make difficult, hard cut choices but he knew deep in his heart, that she would be a great empress.

Selena raised an eyebrow tantalizingly and asked, “Why? Want to go with me?”

He let out a huff in indignation and replied proudly, “That’s a given. Wherever you go, I go.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The moment Selena stepped back into the General’s house, everyone stopped talking and an eerie silence filled the air.

“So, I got the report there was a sudden forest fire nearby?”, The General stated disapprovingly and Selena flinched.

Demetri let out a fake cough and she shot him a death glare, immediately silencing him up. Demetri closed his mouth firmly, already aware that he was already on thin ice with Selena as it was obvious that she hadn’t quite forgiven him fully for keeping everything from her.

Selena then bent her head shamefully and replied, “I made sure that there were no living beings before I let it all out."

The General let out a sigh and Selena relaxed visibly as she saw that the General wasn’t going to reprimand her today. He was going easy on her because today was her sister’s funeral.

The Queen then waved her hand and the General nodded at her and switched on the computer placed on the table in front of him. Selena shot a surprised look at Demetri who looked just as surprised at her, not knowing what was going on. He shook his head at her bewildered and Selena bit her under lip uncertainly.

The Queen then came forward and said firmly with an air of righteousness to her tone, “Selena, it’s not just the people who commit the crimes that are guilty. The people who have the power and ability to change everything but still does nothing but watch the crimes happen from afar silently should also be held accountable.”

Selena winced….That was a straight jab. Despite her strong powers, Selena had never once set a foot outside of her clan and certainly not helped anyone in danger except maybe the Queen this morning.

The General pointed at the computer and said in a serious tone, “My dear, I know of your troubles and I know you don’t want to leave this place and go back with your mother. But before you make up your mind, I think that you should now everything that has been going on outside of this clan. Make the decision once you are fully informed so as not to regret in the future”

Selena nodded meekly at him, unsure of how else to respond. All this time, she had desperately wanted to escape the shackles of the General’s men but now when the opportunity presented itself, she found herself hesitating and wavering.

A part of her wanted to shut herself in her room, not knowing what was happening in the outside world but a part of her was curious.

She quietly sat herself next to the General and the General clicked on a video.

She watched in silenced horror as she saw her sister being abused by her father and her step mother. Then she watched the videos of several vampires and humans alike being enslaved by the current king, her father and forced to do his bidding.

She was enthralled and disgusted while watching the video. Vampire laws clearly stated that they must keep their presence a secret from humans and here was her father openly abusing the humans as if they were his pets. He wasn’t just feeding, he was playing with them.

Selena paled as she realized that she had a monster for a father and an ice berg for a mother.

“The king has only a few months left to survive. He had been attacked by his own people and poisoned with back ivy which comes as no surprise considering the reputation he had. That’s why the sudden attack on Mia. The King has two daughters and one son. Natasha, the King’s concubine wanted to make sure that her son ascends the throne so she pulled Mia out of the way since Mia had the strongest claim to the throne.”, The General stated icily, displeasure clearly showing on his face.

Selena tilted her face confused and said, “The king isn’t from royalty. He only has the power because he married the Queen, then doesn’t the decision to appoint the crown heir also lie with the Queen?”

The Queen let out a sigh and replied, “The decision to appoint the crown heir lies with the council of elders. The king and Queen has the power to influence their decision but ultimately it’s still their call.”

“Basically, you want me to stop her son from ascending to the throne?”

The Queen nodded and replied, “Andrew is a good lad but he is a mere puppeteer of his mother. If he were to ascend, he would be easily controlled by his mother as well as the council.”

“I am willing”

The Queen raised an eyebrow at her and Selena repeated, “I am willing to come back with you but I have a condition.”

“State it”, The Queen said without hesitation.

"I need you to grant me a wish. When the time comes, I would use it and you have no choice but to fulfil it"

The Queen narrowed her eyes at her daughter and smiled. Her daughter clearly wasn't an easy person. A Queen's promise worth was priceless.

“You have my word”

Selena smiled smugly at the Queen and whispered, “You are going to regret this”

“I trust you”, the Queen replied simply.

Selena grinned at her maliciously and replied snidely while clicking her tongue, “You really shouldn’t”

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