Chapter 1: The Chaos Begins

“No, Ophelia. You can’t go,” Demitri told me with firm voice when I insisted that I should go fight with them.

“But—”

He shut me up by putting his index finger on my lips.

“No buts. Please, you are pregnant with our child for Pete’s sake. I don’t want to put you in danger. Stay here and wait for my return. We will be back shortly after we are done with that bastard Ren Lancaster,” he promised and muttered a curse. Utmost lividity was evident in his dark sea-green eyes at the mention of the man’s name.

Ren Lancaster is now the one who holds Frostville, a kingdom at the south near the werewolves’ kingdom. After raising rebellion and killing the king, he proclaimed himself as the new king. At that time, David was there and he protected the princess he was fond of. But with Ren’s dark magic, the people in Frostville were no match to him.

Ren has also mastered the power of manipulation and manipulated the princess to fight David. With the princess under evil influence, David couldn’t bring himself to fight back and hurt her. Ren had the opportunity to seal David’s soul with his soul sealing sword—the sword that could put even the most powerful person into endless sleep. Though his body will remain unscathed as if he’s alive, he will never be awakened. Ren purposely did that because he wanted it to remain a proof of his dominance, a reminder of what he’s capable of. That’s why he put David’s coffin in the heart of sacred mountain where no one could enter.

We were so mad when we found it, especially King Arthur, Demitri and Martin. The Queen fell ill and has been locking herself for days. Demitri planned to slaughter Ren and wipe out all his followers and traces, but the day before their supposed attack, we were caught off guard when Ren suddenly ambushed Solterra’s village and killed many innocent people. I was so enraged I thought about killing him myself, but then Demitri is right. I can’t fight with my situation right now. I can’t put our child in danger just because of my anger. After all, I’m sure they will be able to successfully avenge David and the people who died.

“I heard Ren has mastered power of manipulation, and who knows what other evil antics he has under his sleeves. Promise me, Demitri. Promise me that you will return,” I said, my chest tightening. As much as I want to fight with him, I don’t want to risk the life of our unborn child.

He held my hand tight and kissed my forehead. “I promise, my love. I will return. I will come back for you and our child. I won’t fail.”

“It’s about time, brother.”

We both looked at Martin. Gone the smiles and playful smirks in his face. He looked morbid, so dark and so ready to shed blood. Like Demitri, he must have felt so bad about what happened to David. The three of them were so close, I could imagine the pain they are going through.

Demitri nodded and looked at me.

“We need to go.”

“I want Raja to go with you,” I said.

‘Whatever you please, my lady,’ Raja spoke in my mind.

“No. He should stay here with you. Like you said, we don’t know what other evil antics Ren has under his sleeves. You can’t lower your guard while we are away. With Raja with you, I will be assured that you’d be alright.”

I wanted to insist but with the finality in Demitri’s tone, I knew there was nothing that could change his mind about it.

With the darkness looming in the sky, I watched them as they left with Solterra’s best troops.

When I married Demitri four months ago, I thought everything would be alright and we would have our happy ever after from that day onwards. We would have our own family and live peacefully. I didn’t think that it would not last long. But despite with all that’s happening, I still hope that at the end of the day, Demitri will come back to my arms and assure me of a forever with him.

But I guess hoping for that was too much. Fate is cruel as well as this world we live in. Happiness isn’t a given. It comes with a great price.

And this is the price I need to pay.

“Crown Princess! The palace barrier is broken!”

I stood from my seat abruptly when a palace guard hurried to the hall.

What? Broken? But it was built by the king himself! It’s an invisible protective barrier that surrounds the whole palace, forbidding the outsiders to go inside without permission.

“What do you mean? Who broke—”

My jaw dropped when the next moment, the palace guard I was talking to fell in the floor with a sharp blade pierced through his chest.

I heard Raja’s angry growl and my gaze immediately drifted to the entrance of the royal hall.

I’ve never seen Ren Lancaster in person because I didn’t have the chance to. I just heard things about him. Even so, right that moment, I was so sure that the person walking towards me was him.

His hair was red and ponytailed. He has three piercings in the right ear and has a tattooed symbol at his left temple down to his cheek. He was wearing a black cloak tainted with a lot if red stains, which I’m sure is blood. The thought of whose blood is it terrifies me. By the way he looks, he obviously just came from a war. But why did he make it here? Does that mean…

No. It can’t be.

Red smoke went out from my necklace. The next second, Raja’s growl echoed in the whole palace. His tail surrounded me in a protective stance.

“So it’s you,” Ren spoke with a sly smile on his face. “The famous Crown Princess of Solterra, the only one alive who can summon a fire dragon. The mistress of fire. Now I see where those rumors came from. You have an incomparable beauty indeed.”

“Ren Lancaster,” I uttered his name with disgust.

“Right.” He nodded. “I am Ren Lancaster, the king of Frostville and will soon be the king of all kingdoms. And you…” He smirked and advanced a step. “Shall be mine.”

The poison of anger was quickly spreading throughout my nerves I felt like I was going to explode.

“I am a married woman. I can’t be yours,” I said, gritting my teeth. “And you are not a king. You are nothing but a despicable creature who’s thirsty for power.”

“Of course, you can be mine. Your husband is dead. You are not married now.”

I felt shock at first… then I felt hollow and cold, it was followed by so much heat that I almost couldn’t breathe, and the next thing I knew, my whole body was on fire.