Two

Chapter 2

Hope

Darius looked like he was in the mood for killing. Killing me. I gulped down on my saliva as I stared at him, not knowing what else to do.

My parents had rushed to my aid, trying to create a barrier between the King of the Lycans and myself.

"Your Majesty, never mind Hope. Light must be playing somewhere around the castle. You know that, don't you? That she plays a lot." My Father said with a rushed tone, then added a nervous laugh.

He sounded nothing like how a person who bore the name 'Vitalis' should sound. Then again, for the past few hundred years, the Vitalis' had not upheld the glory of the name. My Mother also let out a nervous laugh, supporting my Father.

Darius regarded them as specks of dust. He walked right past them and stood a few paces in front of me. His red lips were pressed into a thin firm line as he looked down at my short figure. Compared to his six-foot-seven height, I looked like a child. Hells, every Human who stood next to him looked like a child.

Lycans were known for their tall height and unreal muscular buildup. Darius seemed like the one who got all those traits perfected to a fault.

"Where is she?" he demanded. I stared at him blankly as words seemed to fail me at that moment.

He didn't look pleased at my lack of answer. His nose flared up, and with one simple stride, he was an inch away from me. He wrapped his large palm around my left forearm and gripped me tightly, evoking a pained noise from my lips.

"Do not make me repeat myself." He said, and I suddenly felt the urge to cry but I contained myself.

"I do not know. I went to her chambers to retrieve her for the wedding but I could not find her. I ran here immediately." I said in short gasps as pain sprang up my body.

Darius became more aggressive. "Do not lie to me, you excuse of the Vitalis name. I know you helped your sister escape from this castle. Tell me where she is now, or else…" There was no need to complete the threat because I already felt beyond threatened.

"I swear, I do not know where she is. I didn't even know that she wanted to escape. She was eager to marry you. She loves you. She wouldn't have—"

"Nonsense!" he boomed, cutting me short. "What does that deceitful wench know about love?" He sneered, referring to my sister, and I could not stop the dramatic gasp that escaped from my lips after his words.

"My sister is not deceitful, nor is she a wench. She loved you. She wanted to marry you." I defended Light, seeing that Darius was in the wrong.

He scowled at me, then flung me away, causing me to totter till the back of my legs hit a table, evoking a hissing sound from me. Darius turned his attention to my parents.

"You will find your daughter this instant and bring her back to me. Not only did she run away, she took the Morati knife with her!" he yelled, my parents and I flinched at the tone used.

"Your Majesty, the Morati knife?" My Mother repeated with a horrified tone.

"Why would you even think Light stole the Morati knife? She would never do anything to upset you. She loves you." I croaked out, causing the Lycan King to throw a vicious glare my way.

"She had come to my room earlier in the day, demanding to get married in an instant. I declined, of course. It is of the Lycans to wed at night when the full moon is at its peak to receive special blessings from the goddess. I explained this to her, I could not change traditions for her sake.

"She was angry, threw a fit, and tried to drag me to the altar but she failed. I discarded her and she ran away from my chambers. Perhaps she must have taken the knife there and then." Darius said to himself, rather than to my parents and me as he paced all over the room.

I shook my head in disbelief, finding it hard to believe the Lycan King's words. I took small steps forward before I spoke.

"Light loved you. She didn't take your Morati knife. And even if she did, what would be the use? She would have no use for it before it can be used to hurt you. And she would never want to hurt you."

Darius tsked as he stared at me as though I was some useless child. "She would never want to hurt me," he repeated with amusement laced in his tone. "You foolish girl, the one thing your sister wanted the most in this world was to kill me." Darius stated. My lips parted.

"Wh-what?" I stuttered as I shifted my gaze to the ground. Light loved him. What was he talking about? Did she want to kill him? No, no, no. The only thing Light wanted was to marry him. "That is not true. Light never wanted to hurt you. She loves you!"

Darius frowned. "You have been repeating the same words over and over again. I do not want to hear them again. All I want to hear is the location of your cunning twin." He pointed at me as he spoke.

I grimaced a little. "But I do not know where she is. I have been saying that since the beginning!" I cried out loud. His onyx eyes narrowed at my figure as he took slow, threatening steps toward me.

"You will tell me where she is right now, Little Human or I will have my guards escort you straight to Moratia's palace and throw you in the dungeon where you will rot for eternity for not telling me the truth." He threatened as he stopped walking when he was within an inch of me.

My heart palpitated as I looked up at him. My vision turned blurry as my eyes were glassy. "I swear on my life, I do not know where Light is. I—"

"Tell me the truth!" he boomed, cutting my sentence off, and I choked, breaking into a sob.

I could not control myself as large drops of tears cascaded down from my eyes, and my body shivered all over. I heard my Father suck in a huge gulp of air through his teeth, as though he were hissing. He was disappointed in me, I knew it.

It was not like I could control myself. I hated how I always turned to crying when I got frightened or hurt slightly. I became a crybaby. I slowly looked up through my teary eyes to stare at the Lycan King who was looking down at me in disgust.

No one liked a crybaby.

"I d-do n-not kn-ow wh-here s-she is. I p-pro-mise." I said in between sobs.

"Do not act coy with me. Tell me where Light—"

"Your Majesty," my Father interrupted the Lycan King. Darius turned slowly to face my father as I kept on crying. "I have a proposition for you." He raised a finger.

I used the back of my palms to wipe the tears from my eyes so that I could get a good view of the scene, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. I could make out Darius nodding at my Father.

"Well, you see. It is not wise to banter over spilled milk. Even though Light is around, the wedding must go on. I suggest Hope take her place, and in the meantime, I would have some of the guards around the castle and the entire kingdom for Light." My Father proposed with a strategic voice, and my tears immediately froze.

As much as my eyes hurt and had turned puffy, I could make out the desperate looks on my parents' faces. They wanted me to marry the Lycan King instead of Light.