IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy
Chapter 81

Axel

Threedays later we sat around a large wooden table in King Gaute’s palace. All thekey role players of the latest events were gathered.

Theroyal family, including the king, queen, and four princes sat on the one end ofthe table, clad in their finest royal attire.

Onthe other end, sat Dire Mountain. Alpha Blake, Luna Enola, Dorian, Gabby andme. After John’s betrayal and death, Alpha Blake has asked me to step in as hisnew Beta, explaining that I was the most qualified for the job and that it wouldhelp prepare me for when I would one take over as Alpha.

Coyneseemed to be the odd one out, seated in the middle of the large table withempty chairs on both sides of him. He didn’t seem to mind and toyed endlessly witha lighter and box of cigarettes in front of him.

Sincehis harsh withdrawal, Pam had been working on a project of her own, dilutingpoison extracted from fallen Aqrabuamelu and processing it into smaller, moresustainable doses for the king to use whenever his body started craving thetoxic substance. She had explained that his cells had grown accustomed to thepoison over the years and didn’t know how to function without it anymore.

Heneeded the poison like the rest of us needed oxygen to breathe. It had become apart of him, and he used it in the same way humans used chronic medication fortheir illnesses.

Pamalso explained to us that he would be needing it daily for the next few months,if not more, and that it would require him ingesting it in some way or another.It tasted awful, so making some sort of salt or drink was out of the question.Pamela had initially manufactured shots for him, but people got uncomfortablewhenever he pulled out a syringe around the dinner table. Her second attemptwas cigarettes, and it was also his preferred method since it didn’t scarepeople away and seemed more socially acceptable.

Iwatched as Coyne tapped his fingers on the rectangular black carton. Againstthe side of the box, Pam had stuck a large white icon of a skull, indicatingthat the contents were in fact poisonous and should not be ingested in any way.Even if the substance were diluted, I did not doubt for a second that anyoneother than Coyne taking a drag of it would peel over and die.

TheKing of Shadows and Whispers sat by an open window, waiting for the meeting tostart, with trickles of blackened mist trailing behind him. The black mist wascoming from outside, grouping together in tendrils and seeping into his skin,returning to their master.

Coyne had drained his powers to save his son from certain deathwhen Locke attacked him in the woods. The king hadn’t spared it a secondthought when he had sent the bulk of his magic out to shield them as he threwhimself in the way of Locke’s onslaught. It had worked but not without injury.The act had left him vulnerable and completely drained. Powerless without hismagic.

My gaze travelled over his exposed forearms, now pale and withvery few swirls of darkness beneath his skin. How strange it was to be able to seethe magic within him. See it moving around like a living thing.

Coyne’s dark energy had begun returning to him about two daysago, slowly rebuilding his energy levels and filling the coffers of his magic insideof him once again. It was an agonizingly slow process.

He seemed patient with it though and stayed mostly where the particlesreturning home could easily replace him. Outside on the porch, lounging on abalcony or just like now, sitting beside an open door or window.

Every hour he looked better. More alert, more like his usualself.

“Right,since we are all here, let us begin,” King Gaute said, silencing the room anddrawing everyone’s attention towards him. “We will keep this meeting brief anddepart within the hour to attend the mass memorial service held for all of ourfallen friends and pack members.”

Dorianand Divan had planned the memorial service together. It would be held at thesouthwestern furthest corner of Lighthaven, beyond the rolling fields ofgrasslands, flocks of sheep and their Mansoor shepherds.

Thebodies of the deceased had been prepared early this morning by loved ones, whowrapped them in lavender-scented linen and laid them out on large woodenstructures for the ceremony. During the memorial, these structures would be setalight by magic fires, which would ultimately consume the body and structurewhole and according to the fae, send the energy of the fallen back into theworld.

“We have a few matters to discuss, the first of which being thecommander of our enemy’s army currently sitting in my prison cells,” KingGaute said, turning his attention to Coyne. A silent question to the king onwhat he intended to do with the man.

Lockealso turned to face Coyne.

“Heis my offspring, and I couldn’t kill him,” Coyne simply replied, shrugging. He hadspoken from the heart. Blunt, but honest. “The Serpent Queen had fed him lies,manufactured a monster out of him. He deserves at least a chance.”

“Achance at what? Attacking us again? Killing more innocents!?” Prince Gerek spatin defiance.

“Achance to live! To get out from under her skirt and make decisions of his own.Informed decisions!” Coyne countered with the ferociousness of a wild animal.

There was a low buzz of electric tension in the air as it rippledoff Gerek in static rage. In answer, the room darkened slightly, all shadowsgrowing darker, more prominent, making their presence known.

Gerekand Coyne glared at each other, unmoving. King Gaute’s eyes flicked between thetwo, until he finally exhaled and said, “I don’t want him in my kingdom. Youhave two days to either kill him or remove him from Lighthaven. Consider itmercy on my part.”

Coyne’s jaw clenched, but he dipped his chin, acknowledging theking’s wishes. It was his kingdom after all, and he had the lastsay in who stayed and who left.

“Very well. Then we shall depart in one day’s time,” Coyne finallyspoke, dragging his golden almond eyes away from Gerek. “Besides, I haveunfinished business to attend to, he might as well accompany me since he isbound to me anyway.”

Unfinishedbusiness. The other half of Coyne’s body and soul trapped somewhere in a glass ornamentalball. An impossible thing to track down. Something so simple and yet sovaluable to the right person.

KingGaute nodded and went on to the next item on the list of discussion points. Theretaliation of Dreams and Seduction.

Asombre atmosphere fell across the room at that. Deep down, we all knew thatthis wasn’t the end, but merely the beginning.