Chapter 4 : Queen Mother

The sun set in the west, giving rise to the full moon, the night which excites every breathing soul in the Lycanor Kingdom.

Beatrice, a fifty year old woman dressed in expensive silk gown, adorned by glistening jewels from head to toe walked towards her son’s chambers with a straight back, displaying the crown on her head with pride but none of the royalties on her body helped her to erase the turmoil from her heart.

She pressed her lips tight, swallowing the bitterness and approached the innermost room on the second floor in the castle where her son resides with his mistress.

The ladies in waiting who are following the queen mother shared concerned looks among each other, a hidden tension arising within their hearts as they neared to the forbidden area of the castle.

Beatrice stopped in front of a locked metal door which is rattling as if it is being kicked from the inside and every being standing outside in the corridor knew exactly what is happening inside and lowered their heads in shame except the queen mother.

“Alistair!”

She called out, holding her head high, ashamed of her son’s behaviour on a sacred full moon night.

As a king, he should offer his prayers to the Moon goddess and beg her forgiveness for unleashing his wrath on innocent souls. Only then can he be free from the curse the goddess put on him and find the mate to continue the bloodline of Vane clan.

If he goes astray, indulging himself in unnecessary pleasures, he will lose his kingdom and one day his life.

Beatrice waited, hoping to hear a response from her son but the rattling of the door intensified as if to answer her.

The humiliating reply made the queen mother angry but she cannot do anything when her son is hypnotised by the treacherous woman who cast a spell on him and is using him as her puppet.

“Alistair Vane!”

She called out again, her voice rising few decibels, expressing her displeasure regarding the happening beastly acts.

The movements on the other side stopped and the guards standing in the corridor wiped their sweat, feeling cautious by the silence.

King hates to be interrupted when he is with his mistress and the queen mother knew it very well yet she came here to disrupt the king’s mood.

They only pray Moon goddess to let them live few more years instead of becoming the slaughter pigs to the king’s wrath.

The metal door creaked open and a whole four inches upon six foot tall man in black robe stepped out, his body dripping wet with his own sweat, his breathing ragged, his eyes ablaze as he glared at his mother who interrupted his blissful time with his woman.

“Mother!”

He said, more like a roar, scaring the women standing behind Beatrice as they took a step back in fear.

The king is angry.

His human form itself is scary and they can only imagine the brutality of his beast form.

They only heard about the story of his rampage from few years ago but his voice and presence alone tells them how bloody the massacre was.

Beatrice looked at her son who is reeking of that disgusting woman’s smell and gritted her teeth, disdained by his actions.

Mother?

Good lord! He still remembers her.

He used to be the epitome of the great king but now, he became the very creature who is despised by every person of every pack.

What a disgrace to the royal family?

How did he fall from the great heights to here?

Like every mother, she too wishes her son to flourish and conquer the world, not to become a lapdog of a rogue princess.

She cleared her throat, pushing back her thoughts and clasped her hands before her abdomen in a poised posture as she looked at Alistair who is patiently waiting for her to speak but there is a storm brewing behind his burning blue eyes.

“It’s time for the ritual. Get dressed.”

She said, reminding him of the ritual he is ought to perform on every full moon.

Offering prayers to the Moon goddess is their responsibility because she gifted them with powers no being can possess and they should be grateful and humble to be at her mercy.

The goddess is the reason why they have such glorious lives but Alistair’s thoughts are on par with her.

It wasn’t always the case.

Everything has changed when he broke a war against the rogues to avenge his father’s assassination.

He left with the army in the iron armour only to return in victory but lost his sanity in the war.

The victory came with the demise of Rogue king Riker Throne but her son paid the price by surrendering his heart and soul to the Rogue princess, Maeve Throne.

And nothing is same as it was after her arrival. Especially her son.

Speaking of the siren, a woman walked out from behind Alistair, the smell of roses waffling like poison as she presented herself before Beatrice.

“It’s you, Queen mother.”

Her melodious voice travelled in the air, dissolving Alistair’s anger as he smiled, wrapping his hand around her slim waist.

Beatrice dug her nails into her skin as she witnessed the bashfulness of the Rogue whose shadow isn’t supposed to fall on her Kingdom let alone step into the royal castle but now, the rogue has climbed her son’s bed and is trying to spread her claws into the roots of her Kingdom.

Never!

She will never let a rogue rule her people. Not when she is still alive.

“I shall be waiting for you in the prayer room.”

She said, her voice commanding but Maeve only smiled, her rosy lips displaying a dainty smile, her long blonde hair locks falling behind her delicate back, her slender fingers playing with the hair on Alistair’s chest as she held his gaze with her siren eyes.

“He will not come.”

She answered on behalf of Alistair, making Beatrice lose her temper and she berated at her angrily.

“You talk when I am willing to hear your voice.”

She then turned to her son who is busy looking into the whore’s eyes as if his whole world is trapped in her disgusting grey eyes.

“Make haste son.”

She commanded Alistair but he showed no signs of moving his body but kept staring at the woman who is caressing his chest.

“Will you pray to the Moon goddess love? I don’t want you to leave me alone on a full moon night.”

Maeve said, honey dripping from her voice as she looked into his blue eyes intently.

Alistair shook his head as if he is hypnotised by her and smiled, cupping her face.

“I shall not leave you.”

He said, taking her hand into his giant one and planted a kiss on the back of her delicate hand.

Seeing her son’s submission to the slutty woman, Beatrice lost her composure and yelled at Alistair, agitated by Maeve’s compulsion.

“Alistair Vane. I am your mother. The queen mother of the great Lycanor Kingdom. I summon you to the prayer room.”

Alistair turned a deaf ear to her command and took Maeve back into his chambers, utterly smitten by her.

“Alistair!”

Beatrice called out in disbelief, astonished by his audacity.

How can he disobey her? The queen mother.

“Alis…”

Maeve closed the doors, cutting her off, separating her son from the outside world.

Beatrice clenched her fists, unable to take the humiliation and left the second floor, her legs moving towards the prayer room hastily, her heart wriggling as she thought of the whore’s triumph look.

“Save my son Almighty. I beg you to save my son.”

She bellowed falling on to her knees as soon as she saw the full moon from the prayer room, the statue of the Moon goddess stood tall facing the large window.

“He is the chosen king to the Lycanor Kingdom by you.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she poured out her sorrow, thinking back to the time of her son’s glorious days.

“Your child has taken a forsaken path. I beg you to bring him back.”

She bowed to the goddess, pleading her to show mercy on her son, touching her head to the ground, her soul withering in pain to have him back.

“I beg you Moon goddess. Save my son.”

Her wails resonated in the empty hall, engraving her agony in each brick but for years the Moon goddess didn’t help Alistair Vane because the time hasn’t come yet.

……………….

Sigrid who is sleeping in her chambers woke up to the howls of the wolves. Her body damp with sweat as she looked out of the window.

What the heck?

It is already a torture to live in someone else’s sick body from medieval period and these open windows are depriving her from her sleep.

Her constant worry of a thief jumping in or an animal pouncing on her or an enemy barging in never left her.

How on earth these people live a vivacious life with all the windows open? And there is no electricity or her favourite chicken burger to fill her stomach.

Don’t even get her started about the disgusting medicine the two hateful women shove into her throat every day.

It’s been almost a month since she is trapped in Meliora’s body who is sick, probably effected by seizures since childhood but she has no clue of how she jumped into the past.

Is it because she unlocked a magical chest in her research?

But she only dug a painting of the mysterious king from twelfth century.

Nonetheless, she doesn’t know a way to return to the future and started to adjust to her current life as Meliora.

It isn’t as horrible as she thought except the black potion she was forced to drink which of course makes her sick and weak.

Strange!

Isn’t medicine supposed to cure the sickness?

Nevermind!

She isn’t a doctor to judge old treatment methods. Her job is to make Meliora healthy and strong because she hates to see the skinny woman every time she looks into the mirror.

Sigrid sighed, her eyes darting towards the sleeping Agnes in her room.

Poor old woman.

She is the only person who never left her side and also the person who loves to pamper her. Her apologies. Pampers sick Meliora like a mother which reminded her of her own mother.

She just wonders what is happening in her world. If her soul is here, what about her body?

What happened to it?

With these thoughts, she got down the bed carefully without making a sound and approached the window, the bright moonlight illuminating on her, giving her the warmth she needed in the foreign land.

It’s full moon again.

The last time she saw the full moon was when she was in her own body in her hotel room after seeing the painting of Alistair Vane, the cursed king.

She spent years to dig him out from the burrows and when the time to unfold his mystery came, she is here, locked in a time she doesn’t even know.

Fenrir Kingdom!

Remus, the man who always sticks around Meliora said she is the princess of Fenrir Kingdom, something she never read or heard in the history which only proves that there are many hidden gems inside the earth.

She leaned her body on the windowsill, enjoying the full moon which peaked her interest and thought about Remus.

It turns out he is the stepbrother of Meliora. She got scared thinking that he is her husband considering his concern for her but thank god, she is trapped in a single woman’s body otherwise she doesn’t even know how to deal with the husband or boyfriend or whoever they call in their language.

So far nothing seems dangerous to her in this period except the two devilish women.

While she is basking in the moonlight, she saw something moving in the backyard of the Donjon and frowned, squinting her eyes at the moving creature and when she got the clear view of the creature, she let out a loud scream and ran out of her chambers.

Agnes who is sleeping jolted awoke after hearing her screams and ran after her in worry.

Sigrid felt like her heart stopped beating when she saw the beast roaming in the backyard.

This is the exact reason why she had hard time sleeping.

Donjon is highly secured by guards but still an animal made it’s way into the premises. How can they let it happen? If it happened in her world, she would’ve complained to the police. But what should she do now?

As she ran aimlessly in the corridor, suddenly something landed in front of her and she fell back to the floor with a scream closing her eyes.

“Ouch!”

She rubbed her elbows, her brows furrowed deeply, angered by the bastard who dared to block her path.

When she lifted her head to see the person, she met the very beast she saw in the backyard and her heart stopped beating for a second, her eyes widening in shock and she gulped, seeing the brown beast inches away from her face.

W..wolf!

It’s a wolf.

Her heartbeat increased as she locked her eyes with the wolf’s eyes, her breathing ragged when the wolf closed in, baring it’s teeth, breathing on her face aggressively.

Sigrid doesn’t know how long she held her breath as she froze on the floor, looking at the wolf which is two times larger than the one she saw in zoo which can bite off her head with just one bite.

The wolf looked at Sigrid for a long time and then looked at Agnes who stood few foot behind her with bowed head and stepped back, it’s body changing back into a human form in few seconds.

Sigrid dropped her jaw, seeing the wolf turn into a human, the one she sees everyday.

Remus! Her stepbrother.