CHAPTER FOUR: VENUS

My mind was still processing what King Leon had just said, Xavier a traitor, that couldn't be true, or was it because he had tried to help me escape? I thought as I felt my rage rise by the minute.

But that isn't enough for them to label him a traitor, so what are these bastards up to? Or was he taking advantage of this opportunity to get rid of the son he didn't want? I wondered as I gazed up at the two assholes at the top of the throne staircase.

This entire situation from the very beginning has been quite irritating, but what vexed me the most was that King Leon had the audacity to look betrayed, when he has never wanted anything to do with him in the first place. I'm sure behind that mask is a man overjoyed at the prospect of banishing Xavier.

If only there was something I could do to stop all of this, Xavier would almost certainly not receive a fair trial because everyone in this room is against him and sees him as a threat to Michael's ascendancy to the throne.

The first time I realized Xavier was not like the rest of his family was during the early years of my marriage with Micheal, when we attended a funeral party where vampires went on a killing spree to exact revenge on werewolves for some reason I don't know till now.

Michael abandoned me during the attack, leaving me to the mercy of the vampires, but Xavier helped me, and we both fought off the vampires and I barely managed to survive but he took me to safety when I passed out.

That's when my friendship with Xavier began, and as we got closer, he told me his story.

Since Xavier was the son of the late and original werewolf Queen, Queen Alison, Michael wasn't really supposed to be in line for the throne; he was just fortunate to be born first.

Michael, on the other hand, is the son of one of King Leon's concubines named Dana; she was the King's favorite, and when she gave birth to a son, he tossed Queen Alison aside and focused on Dana; fortunately for the Queen, two years later, Queen Alison gave birth to Xavier, but it was too late; King Leon had already designated Michael as his heir because werewolf laws state that whichever woman in the king's court, whether the Queen or a concubine, bears a male child first,  that child will be crowned king.

Queen Alison, who was uninterested in politics, was unbothered when her husband named Michael his heir; all she cared about was that Xavier was loved and cared for. But because Xavier manifested his wolf late made King Leon despise him.

He was enraged because he couldn't believe he could have fathered such a weak child, so he denied Queen Alison and Xavier most of their requests and gave Michael and Dana everything they desired.

When Xavier was five years old, he and his mother were returning from a meeting in another country when they were attacked by a group of vampires.

Because they lacked adequate security, Xavier's mother was murdered, and Xavier was transformed into what werewolves despise the most, a vampire. That terrible day, Xavier was bitten by a vampire and transformed into a hybrid; half wolf, half vampire, his green eyes a constant reminder of what he was, which enraged the king.

So he was kept hidden from the public until he was old enough to control his other vampire half, King Leon, who instead of avenging Queen Alison made his favorite concubine, Dana, Queen and they went on with their lives like nothing happened leaving Xavier to grieve alone.

If I had been in Xavier's position, I would have slit King Leon's throat long ago for such disrespect to my mother, but Xavier wasn't me and is a better man than his father and brother combined.

When the King began to speak again, I was jolted out of my reverie.

"A public trial for Prince Xavier will be held so that he receives a fair and appropriate punishment for his actions against the crown," King Leon said.

The throne room doors immediately opened, and Xavier was dragged into the room like an animal by two guards I knew all too well. When they reached the bottom of the throne, Reid, the guard, pushed Xavier to his knees in front of the King's feet.

"May the King live long," the two guards greeted King Leon, but Xavier ignored his father, scanning the room as if looking for someone, and when his gaze landed on me, I saw relief in his eyes, I gave him a small smile, which he returned,

"How are you?" Vee" Xavier asked through his mindlink, his beautiful tired green eyes glowing under the throne room lights, he was covered in blood and had numerous cuts and bruises all over his body, if I had my powers now, they would all be dead for doing this to him.

"I'm fine, but you look like shit" I said through the mindlink, which caused him to smile slightly, but it was so subtle that you couldn't really tell.

"You should see the other guys, they look a lot worse than I do," Xavier said through the mind link, but before I could respond, he was kicked on the side by Michael, whom I hadn't noticed when he walked up to Xavier.

"You half-breed, don't you have manners?" "You haven't paid your respects to the King," Michael yelled, glaring at Xavier, who was still getting over his brother's surprise attack.

"He is no King of mine, brother; I would rather swallow wolfsbane than call this disgusting coward my king," Xavier said this before spitting at the King's feet in disgust.

"Such insolence, are you so far gone to show your father such disrespect?" one of King Leon's advisors said, causing Xavier to burst out laughing, startling everyone in the room.

"Fuck! My ribs," Xavier said quietly, sending a wave of worry through me.

"Are you okay?" I asked through the mindlink,

"I'm fine, Vee," he replied before turning his gaze to the advisor who made that idiotic statement, as if Xavier cares what his father thinks of him.

"That man is just a sperm donor, he is not my father and never will be, the day I call him father is the day I slit my own throat, so refrain from calling this disgrace my father," Xavier said with a large grin as his gaze moved to King Leon, who looked like he was about to blow a fuse, seeing them unhinged made me so freaking happy.

"Enough," King Leon said, and the room fell silent. "Prince Xavier, you have been charged with murder and treason; how do you plead?"

"Regardless of what I say, I'll be seen as guilty, so just go on to the verdict, am I going to be imprisoned like my brother's innocent wife over there?" Or will I be executed or exiled, decisions, decisions, father?"

"You've always been a disgrace to this family," Michael said as he prepared to attack Xavier once more, but was stopped by his father, King Leon.

"Your subjects are watching you Michael," King Leon said, or at least that's what his lips said when I read them.

"Says the child of a concubine," Xavier said with a wide grin, and I nearly choked on my laughter.

"You bastard-" Michael began, but was cut off when the King interrupted him.

"Bring in the criminal who was caught with my son," King Leon ordered, and another man was brought in who looked no better than Xavier. "Prisoner who in this room ordered you to attack the castle?," the king asked, but the prisoner said nothing, his head facing the ground.

"Answer the King when he speaks," the guard who brought him said and struck him across the head with a baton, causing the man to fall to the ground.

"I will ask you again, who sent you?" King Leon asked as the man was dragged to his knees by the guard who had previously struck him.

The man then looked up at King Leon and said, "You will die by the true King's sword, long live Yona," the man said before reciting a very ancient enchantment, and his body began to convulse before being engulfed in blue flames.