Chapter 41: Sebastian's POV / Mathew's POV
2559 Words
"What are gryphons doing all the way in the Northern Inkling kingdom?" I was shielding the little girl from the gryphon that was standing right outside our borders.
The tall, husky man narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. "We're here on King Killian's orders", the man said. "We've brought food, medicine, healers and warriors. We're here to protect the inklings. Now are you going to let us in or should we turn around?"
I looked at Susan and the other survivors. The gryphons have never concerned themselves with other magical creatures. They would be the last people to help others.
"Come in", I heard Susan say before I had time to respond.
The gryphons started setting up and spreading themselves in the Silver city and around our borders like professionals. They didn't need any help getting things done. Watching them work, was like watching a well oiled machine.
Within a couple of hours, the gryphons had healed our injured, cleaned up all the rubble, rounded up the dead, fed the remaining survivors and secured our borders. We were all amazed.
"Are you finally going to let me heal that hand?", one of the gryphon healers said to me.
I had insisted that they help everyone else before they got to me.
"Yea, sure." I sat down and watched the man heal me.
My purple deformed hands slowly started returning back to their normal colour and the bones in my hands started healing. Within a couple of minutes my hands looked as good as new.
"We both know it will be a couple of days before you can heal anyone with those hands", the healer cautioned me.
"Thank you so much. You've saved my hands!"
The man just gave an emotionless nod and walked away.
Susan kept feeling my hands, not believing that I was actually healed.
"Sebastian", someone called out me.
When I looked behind me, I saw one of the special unit members that protect the royal members of the kingdom. If he was here, it meant the Queen was also here.
"Queen Merrida wants to speak to you...and the gryphon."
I nodded my head and went to fetch the man who was leading all the gryphons. They all took orders from him and not a single thing was done without being approved by him.
"Hey, uhm..." I realised I never even got the man's name.
"Andrew", the man said when he noticed I didn't even know his name.
"Andrew", I repeated his name. "I'm sorry I didn't get your name earlier. There's just been so much going on."
The man just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Andrew, I'm assuming you're in charge of this whole operation. Queen Merrida would like to have a word with you. Please follow me."
***
"Sebastian", Queen Merrida said as we entered the large secure tent she was in. Her long black hair which was usually always in a tight bun was now loose and disheveled. Her long silver gown even seemed a bit creased, something that would never happen. "The latest report says the casualties are in the hundreds. Is this true?"
I just looked down. It was true.
She understood my gesture.
"The girl, did she make it out out of here?"
I knew she was referring Liz. She didn't say her name because we couldn't be sure that the witches weren't spying on us right now.
I nodded my head and she gave me a relieved smile.
Queen Merrida and her predecessors all hated magic. She only allows it in the gravest circumstances and its use must be monitored by her personally. She said the only reason she allowed Liz and Mike to enter our kingdom is because when she saw them, for the first time in a very long time she felt safe around magic.
She turned to look at Andrew, the gryphon that arrived with me. The man exuded power and authority.
"I am Queen Merrida. Queen of the Northern Inkling Kingdom. I would like to thank you personally for helping us in our time of need." She extended her hand to the man and he held it; eyeing her curiously.
"Queen Merrida, I am Andrew; King Killian's beta and second in command." He kissed Queen Merrida's hand after saying this and his lips lingered a bit too long on her hand.
We all gasped. It was one thing for the gryphon king to send us help, but a completely different thing for him to send his second in command. This could mean that the Silver kingdom is important to the Gryphon kingdom.
Queen Merrida tried to hide her surprise, but Andrew had already noticed. "What uhm, what made King Killian bring his beta here?"
Andrew had a curious smile on his face. "He found his mate. She proved herself worthy of him and so he granted her this wish -that the gryphons help the inklings. Truth be told, she has proven her worth to all of us."
"Well I should thank this mate of his personally. You truly helped my people today."
Andrew nodded his head. "I will pass your gratitude to the king and his little Star fire." He smirked and I could have sworn a blush appeared on Queen Merrida's face.
"Well, I am about to discuss some very confidential matters concerning my kingdom, but you may stay if you want to." Her voice sounded dismissive of the man and yet, her eyes stayed on him. She and Andrew were staring at each other like the rest of us weren't even in the room.
"Sure, if you want me to stay then I'll stay", Andrew responded.
"Sebastian", Queen Merrida sighed. "It seems my family and I were wrong to abandon magic. You've told me King Mathew is a dear friend of yours. Are you sure he will still agree to the alliance; especially given the harsh words I said to him when he tried to visit my kingdom?"
I almost rolled my eyes. I was the one who convinced Mathew to approach the Northern Inkling Kingdom for the alliance. He wanted to go to the other Inkling kingdoms first because he knew that the North had abandoned magic and we needed magic to fight Raphael and the witches. I was mortified by how Queen Merrida responded. At the time, she thought because she had abandoned magic, the witches and Raphael wouldn't be a threat to her and the kingdom. Now, after hundreds of inklings were killed and drained of their magic to feed Raphael, she realises we will always be magical creatures.
"My Queen, we have to convince him to enter into an alliance with us. The entire Werewolf kingdom is immune to the witches' magic and they can't be drained of their magic. We saw in the recent battle that only me, Susan, Mike and Liz were immune against the witches' magic. We need that alliance" I paused to emphasise what I was saying. "and this kingdom needs that immunity."
Andrew scoffed before Queen Merrida could respond.
We all stared at the man.
"Pardon me. It's just, this Werewolf King is full of surprises. If he's this strong without having found his fated mate, the man will be absolutely unstoppable one he finds his mate."
Queen Merrida pursed her lips. She has been in denial about the extent of Mathew's strength and influence. He's only been in power for three years, but he's achieved things that would take other royals decades, if not lifetimes to achieve. And now he was being praised a royal gryphon; the beta of the gryphon kingdom. It was very clear that she made a huge mistake turning him away.
"I guess I have no choice but to attend the coronation now." She hesitated for a bit. "Royal beta Andrew, will you and King Killian be attending the coronation as well?"
A smug smile appeared on Andrew's face. "I doubt King Killian will attend the coronation given his last encounter with King Mathew. As for me, my orders are to protect your kingdom. I must stay here."
She looked disappointed to hear his answer.
"Andrew, can I ask you something?" I was afraid to ask this question, but I had to know.
We had no idea whether Mike and Liz made it to the Gryphon kingdom. Liz was in pretty bad shape when she left here. If she didn't get a healer in the Gryphon kingdom, then she's probably dead right now.
"Sure" He was talking to me, but his eyes never left Queen Merrida.
"We sent two people to the Gryphon kingdom. A man and a woman. The woman was poisoned and was on the verge of dying. Did she make it? Are they okay?"
This time he turned to face me.
"Your'e talking about Mike and Elizabeth", he said with a light laugh. "Trust me, they are more than okay. There's no need to worry about them." He turned to face Queen Merrida again; refusing to look at anything else.
She looked flustered.
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Mathew's POV
CORONATION PART I
"King Mathew, thank you so much for inviting us to you coronation. The Nymph King sends his apologies for not being able to attend himself."
The representative from the Nymph kingdom bowed his head slightly at me.
It was a slap in the face that the Nymph King had not even bothered to attend my coronation in person. Of all the magical kingdoms, his was the most under threat from his enemies. But I didn't care about that right now.
I stifled an annoyed growl. "Hopefully he'll make the time to meet me in person before it's too late", I said to the man.
I heard Keyon and Kendrick chuckle lightly to themselves as soon as I said this.
The Nymph king was being stubborn and stupid for not wanting an alliance with the Werewolf kingdom, but hopefully he would realise his mistake before it was too late.
I looked out into the huge grand ballroom that was decorated in gold, green and white. I couldn't help but admire it as I thought of crowning Elizabeth as my Queen here soon. It was unfortunate that I wouldn't be crowned with her tonight, but I would make it up to her by throwing her a coronation that is much more grand and luxurious than my own.
We had the alphas and ranked members from each werewolf pack in attendance tonight. The heads of each witch coven and the Mother of Seers was also here.
And then I saw him - King Killian actually came to my coronation. This didn't seem possible. The man was too stubborn to reason with. His father was also with him and woman who I'm assuming is his wife was standing next to him.
"Ken, how the hell did you manage to get Killian and his dad to attend the coronation?", I asked Kendrick through our mindlink.
"Boss, I sent the finest whisky and cigars money can buy. I guess the man must love his alcohol." He also sounded shocked that Killian was actually here.
"King Killian", I said as soon as Kendrick, Keyon and I reached him and his dad. He did not look happy to be here. "I'm surprised to see you here, but I'm glad you came." It was good that he came, but that didn't mean I liked the man. His kind had a disdain for werewolves and his disrespect towards me when I was in his kingdom proved that that disdain ran deep through the Gryphon kingdom.
He snarled at me. "I'm only here because I was told by my seer that my little Star fire would be here. As soon as she gets here, I'm taking her and leaving this place."
Kendrick was about to step infront of me to address Killian's disrespect tone, but I stopped him. The last thing we needed was to fuel the tension between our two species. Also, whoever this little Star fire is, she brought Killan here. Having him here opened the door for us to discuss the alliance with him. That's all that mattered right now.
"I hope I get to meet this little Star fire", I tried to smile, but he could probably tell I didn't mean it. "Whoever she is, she brought you here and that's good because you and I have a lot to discuss."
He huffed. "It's my mate; and perhaps you're right. She would at least want me to hear your proposal regarding the alliance." He extended his hand to me and we shook hands; something that's never happened before. This was a step in the right direction and it was thanks to the man finding his mate.
When he left, his father, former King Maxwell remained to talk to me. Unlike Killian, he seems a bit more reasonable.
"King Mathew", he extended his hand for me to shake it, "I would like to introduce you to King Killian's mother. This is Anha." He pointed to the woman standing next to him. I hadn't noticed the similarities between Killian and this woman because he's the spitting image of his father. However, when I saw the woman's crystal blue eyes, I knew those were Killian's eyes. They had the same anger and defiance in them as Killian's.
The woman curtly nodded her head at me. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she chose to stay quiet.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Anha. This is my beta, Kendrick and this is my delta, Keyon." The two men slightly bowed their heads to the women.
Anha and Maxwell greeted Kendrick, but as expected, they did not greet Keyon. His ability to go unseen by seers and others was essentially also like a curse. A lot of people forget him the second they meet him or after they've spoken to him. It's made him effective at infiltrating almost any place undetected, but it's led to a very lonely life where only a few people remember him.
"I have read your letter to my son, asking if he knew how to track down the kelpie kingdom", Maxwell suddenly said.
This peaked all three of our interests. The kelpie kingdom has been very illusive. It's almost like the seat of the kingdom keeps moving.
"Do you know how to find the kingdom?", I asked him.
He chuckled, almost like he was amused at my eagerness to find out more about the kelpie kingdom. "Yes, we gryphons have a lot of knowledge about the kelpies. I think it may be time to share that knowledge."
I was about to reply, but I saw Queen Merrida and Sebastian. No matter how important finding the Kelpie kingdom is, it would never be more important than finding Elizabeth. She was spotted in the Silver kingdom a few days ago, so Queen Merrida had to know where she was.
"King Maxwell, I'm very happy to hear you say that" I was trying my best not to seem too eager to leave this conversation and go straight to Queen Merrida. "Unfortunately, I have to discuss something very urgent with one of my guests, but please take Kendrick here and tell him all you know about the Kelpie kingdom."
King Maxwell and Anha seemed to have understood my rushed tone and they peeled off of me with Kendrick.
- Writer
