Chapter 168 - Etaya
Kralj Palace
Kingdom of Vilinski
After ten days Maple reached Vilinski with the help of some rogues. It took a long time for her to cross the harsh lands of Sgiath Biò. It was only with the help of the rogues she had nurtured over so many years that she was able to reach Vilinski. Since she was not one of the descendants of the fae rulers, she wasn't able to create a portal in Sgiath Biò. That only maddened her. The pain she experienced in her was beyond excruciating. They were tattered and burnt and also locked. That one week of hell made her swear that she would kill Anastasia next. She didn't care if her brother wanted to marry Anastasia or not. It was going to be her personal revenge.
When she reached Vilinski, she had to enter through the rear side of the palace during night when everyone was deep in sleep because she was not able to put her glamor back. Her bat-like wings, though locked, showed. She cursed Ileus for the millionth time. Moreover, she had to enter like an intruder very quietly with the help of a rogue vampire.
As soon as she was in her room, she locked it and shouted at her handmaiden to send the message to the crown prince. "Ask him to come here now!"
They looked at her with wide eyes in terror. They couldn't believe that her wings had turned so black and like that of a bat. And they looked like she had dragged them from hell. "M'day," the handmaiden bowed. "The crown prince wouldn't take it lightly if I disturb him now." She was quivering with fear.
Maple charged at her and curled her hand around her neck. She peeled her lips back and bared her fangs. "Do you want me to kill you right now?" she said seething in anger. She lifted the handmaiden in the air.
The woman choked and her face became red. Somehow she managed to say, "Please…"
Maple left her and the woman crashed on the ground, coughing badly. She scrambled back, got up and rushed out of the door. Maple waited for her brother to come, but he didn't turn up. Her chest was fuming with so much anger that she shattered every piece of glass in her room. And every time she moved, the pain in her wings reminded her of Anastasia and Ileus. Exhausted, she finally sat down on her bed and waited for hours for her brother to visit her.
Vilinski was shrouded with dense gray skies on a permanent basis. It would snow heavily and thunder and lighting had kind of made home in its skies. The night turned into a dull gray day as snow drifted on the ground. Maple didn't move from her place and continued to wait.
When the doors of her room opened, she looked up and flared, "Brother, I—" But her eyes became wide and mouth snapped shut. Aed Ruad walked in along with their mother, Etaya. She was seeing her mother after almost a year and she was filled with… fear.
Etaya walked to her daughter as Aed Ruad went to sit on a couch in front of the bed. Glass pieces crunched under his footfalls. He smirked.
As Maple stared at Etaya coming towards her, she could feel her heart pounding against her chest. Her mother had gone to collect taxes from the various districts of the kingdom and had returned after a year. Though she wasn't due to return, Maple was sure that she came back after hearing about Anastasia's escape.
When Etaya came and stood in front of her, she looked at her with eyes that bore pain. With quivering lips she said, "Mother…"
Etaya raised her hand and the next moment Maple was stunned as a resounding slap sounded in her bedroom accompanied with a sharp pain on her face. She covered her cheek with her hand and looked at her mother with wide eyes. Another slap struck her. She yelled as her skin burned with pain. "Mother!"
"You cretin!" Etaya yelled back. "Do you know what you have done?"
Maple blinked her eyes, as her gaze traveled to her brother and then back to her mother. "I tried my best to capture her," she said in a hoarse voice. "Ileus shackled my wings and Anastasia burned them."
"No you didn't try your best!" Etaya's chest was rising up and down as seethed with anger. "Because of your one bloody mistake, we lost Anastasia and now—" Etaya tightened her fists and turned. She walked away from Maple and through her clenched teeth said, "Anastasia has married Ileus! Your one fucking mistake has cost us heavily. You are good for nothing!"
"What?" Maple's mouth fell as her hands slumped to her side. She couldn't believe what she heard.
Etaya spun and said sharply, "Yes! And only because you couldn't get back the weakest fae of this kingdom. That bitch was given pills to suppress her magic. We had shackled her wings. Do you know how weak she was, and yet— and yet you failed to capture her?"
Maple wanted to speak something, but her mind stuttered. She snapped it close and looked at Aed Ruad. He was glaring at her with his cold, gray eyes. When she found her voice she asked, "H— how did it happen?"
"After you were thrown into the portal at Óraid, we didn't know where they had gone. My spies tried to find them everywhere, but for a week they weren't seen. A week later, some rogue vampires spotted in Tongass. They attacked them, but it was reported that Ileus took her to Ivorpool. I requested Kar'den to send his army of demons to retrieve her, but it seems that the girl has unlocked her fae powers. While attacking and killing the demons, she showed her wedding ring to them. She has married Ileus."
A gasp left her lips as her body shuddered. "Now what?" she asked, bewildered as hell.
"After she was attacked, Ileus and his cousins helped her to kill Kar'den's army. Do you know how crazy Kar'den is at the moment?" Etaya snapped. "In order to distract his mind, I had to convince him to send Dolgra to Ixoviya for a competition that would impact Ileus emotionally. I had to draw him out and he took the bait. He also went to Ixoviya to help his sister-in-law, Dawn." Etaya paced the room nervously. "Ileus is still in Ixoviya helping Dawn. We thought that he must have brought Anastasia with him, so I sent Aed Ruad to Ixoviya to find her, but he had hidden her somewhere. She wasn't there. And that clever bastard Ileus—he asked Aed Ruad as to where he had hidden her!" She punched a table. "We couldn't find her anywhere."
"But Dolgra is the heir of Zor'gan. Why did you send her for this competition? Is it so important for a princess like her?" asked a stunned Maple, with wide eyes. She knew of her mother's continuous efforts of putting Dolgra under the line of fire of her father. She wanted to project Aed Ruad as the heir of Zor'gan even though there were more heirs in the line after Dolgra.