The Lycan's Miserable Queen

FULFILLING HER OBLIGATIONS- PART ONE

FULFILLING HER OBLIGATIONS- STARTING OFF ON A VERY BAD NOTE PART ONE

Kingdom of Veildar, Hien City

♤ The royal palace♤

Adelaide stood impatiently outside the high, golden gates of the spectacular Vieldar Palace. Nostalgia finally hit her, but the feeling was yet to sink in when a tall, muscular figure shadowed her own.

"And what business do you have here?"

Adelaide stared at the young man incredulously, unbelieving that he could express such a contemptuously haughty attitude towards her.

"Excuse me?" She wrinkled her nose, her eyes raking down his body once again.

The young wolf stationed outside of the palace gates did not look familiar to her, he must have been new and recently assigned boundary protection duty because from first glance alone it was natural to assume that he was not well trained and was without necessary experience. She hoped that is why he did not know how to address her. She could not rule out the possibility of her father having ordered the palace staff to act like they do not know her and deny her entry to her home. The thought hailed forth a lot of pain from within her.

"I will only let you through once you state the business that brings you here." He continued in the same lofty tone, even going as far as raising a brow at her as she looked askance at him. Adelaide excused him, he looked to at least be eighteen years old, so he probably did not know her.

"Let me through, I am here to see my father." She repeated what she told him upon her arrival and he corrugated his brows as though she had said something preposterous.

"And who is your father?" He questioned snidely and Adelaide was just about to take out her frustrations on him when the call of a familiar voice captured her attention.

"Princess Adelaide? Is that you?! Are my senses deceiving me?" Cron emerged from behind the post and quickly shoved the guard aside in his haste to get to her. Her advisor was ever delighted to see her and after all these years apart, he was so excited to see her, he acted out of character and pulled her into his arms to welcome her with a tight, warm embrace. "It is you! Oh Blytt and Cumia are going to lose their minds when they see you! We were just talking about you this morning, the Goddess finally answered our prayers! Oh forgive me, your highness," his excitement had tuned down as he apologized and quickly stepped back awkwardly, "I was too excited, I didn't mean to-"

"It's quite alright, Cron, I am so happy to see you!" Adelaide exchanged him her sweetest smile, peering over his shoulder. Beholding the beautiful garden and knowing that the palace and possibly her parents were just a few miles away had her stomach in knots. "This young man right here was giving me a hard time, I thought I was not going to see a familiar face but you arrived right on time. "

Cron threw the young guard a sternly reprimanding, narrowed- eyed stare. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Ultrin! Let the king not to hear about this or he will have your head for dessert. Your sole purpose for living is to make her highness' existence easy and without stress, not to give her a hard time. I will decide on your punishment."

"That will be unnecessary," Adelaide calmly chimed in before the guard could speak, "he probably did not recognise me, it has been five years."

The young guard was shocked by her leniency. King Warbon would have never let such an affront to go unpunished, he would have ripped out his guts without a single heartbeat of hesitation.

"Thank you for sparing me, your highness." Ultrin bent both knees and reverently bowed his head. "I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I do beg for it, I promise you this will never happen again."

Adelaide nodded her head, awkwardly diverting her eyes to Cron. She was no longer used to people fearing her and always groveling in her honour, living amongst humans had definitely softened her heart. And her father strictly objected to impunity and showing pity towards those of a low status. King Warbon found compassion an unnecessary weakness. She could tell that Cron would have preferred she allowed the guard to be punished, he found her actions odd.

"You are lucky princess Adelaide is in a mood to be merciful. Watch yourself, young wolf!" Cron turned to her after giving the warning.

Shall we go inside, your majesty?" He offered her his hand and she accepted it and tittered nervously as he helped her unhook the tool of her gown from the sharp metal welding.

She thought it would be appropriate to wear a glamorous evening gown much like the princess gowns she used to wear all the time, but now she could not even take a few steps without stepping on it. Such a minor hiccup made her a hundred times more nervous about seeing her family. She was definitely not the poised, perfectly mannered princess she used to be. And that is what she worried about the most- not being able to fit in, not being able to redeem herself after the terrible mistakes she had made that had tarnished her once immaculate, enviable reputation.

Cron led her through the gates and tried to engage her in conversation as they sauntered through the large garden but eventually gave up on expecting her to grant the responses he desired. The princess was very quiet, which was unusual, she had definitely changed. Which was expected seeing as it had been five years.

"Wow…" Adelaide's lesser thoughts echoed in one word while she awed at a beauty that was once so familiar to her. Cron perked up, hopeful to get more words out of her.

"As you can see-" his much taller frame twisted towards hers as he proudly pointed around- "not much has changed, some new statues were erected and ahh of course, your aquarium has been well taken care of, I ensured so myself-"

"Aha …." Adelaide was so engrossed in surveying her surroundings that his voice faded to a background noise her mind was too occupied to register. Everything was so… surreal, even the blades of grass sweeping at her shoes.

The feeling of nostalgia once again squeezed at her chest and stole her breath, when the high doors parted as gracefully as structures of crystals and metal can move and she finally stepped inside the palace. A moment too long she took to awe at the magnificent, aesthetically pleasing design of the Veildar Palace and the exquisite details of its interior. White, gold and crystals in abundance for the eyes to behold. There was only one palace more grand than the residence of king Warbon: the Lycan Palace.

This was home.

She constantly had to remind herself. Minutes standing by the foyer, she spent feeling like a foreigner, like she did not belong and was not worthy of belonging. Her mind was inundated with a flood of memories, memories too sweet and evoking not to bring a smile to her face. Too soon, that smile fell, those memories no longer as saccharine, but more jarring. At the sight of her father, her trepidations worsened, and her tormentor was not even the Alpha King of the Pure Bloods in the flesh, but an exceedingly grand, dashingly beautiful statue of him. Her father was somewhere around these inexplicably lavish luxuries, he could be mere meters away from her. Adelaide could feel her chest getting heavier, so did her breathing. She was not as prepared as she thought she was to face the man she feared and revered the most after bringing him so much shame.

"Shall we proceed, your highness?" Cron only received a nod as response, though her angst shackled her feet and she remained firm in place until her royal advisor had to repeat himself.

Reluctantly, one foot was placed in front of the other and movement began. She knew where the seemingly never-ending, lit, golden white flight of stairs led to, so she trembled and bit her bottom lip to keep herself carrying on. The moment the glass wall made way for them, she was more aware than ever that this was not a casual visit back home, that there was no welcome - home confetti waiting to splash her in the face beyond the glass border. This was judgement day. Her shaky fingers were crossed, her hope quivered, but at least it remained, that her mother would be the first she sees. She was always the more lenient parent and they could face the Veildar clan patriarch together. She needed that moral support.

Unfortunately that was not the case, until Cron had to announce himself and reverently acknowledge the highest power in all of Veildar.

"My king, please forgive my interruption, but it is urgency and much disbelief that has demanded me in front of you."

Adelaide shielded herself behind one of the self- glorifying sculptures as Cron excitedly apprised. A few seconds later, her heart dropped to her stomach. Fear thundering at the commanding sound of her father's voice. He sounded far more terrifying and choleric than she remembered.

"You are not making any sense, what brings you here? I cannot imagine how disbelief could have afforded you my annoyance, Cron." King Warbon was frustrated. She knew him too well, she could pick out that emotion in his voice amongst many doppelgangers of emotions.

"Forgive me, my king," somehow Cron maintained his excitement, "never a day shall my intention be to annoy his highness. I will be brief and gladly take my leave at your permission; I have brought your daughter to you, my Lord! The princess is finally home!"

King Warbon's frown deepened, sense he found not in Cron's eccentricity and utterances. "What be with you today, Cron? Quesce is yet to leave the palace. Again, what affords you my annoyance?"

Adelaide drew a deep sigh and her body peeked from behind the sculpture as Cron struggled to enunciate his thoughts. "My king, I do not speak of princess Quesce, I speak of-

"He was referring to me, father." Adelaide interjected, managing one of the bravest moments of her life. She emerged from the sculpture and took slow strides towards the God of Veildar.

Before she lowered her gaze, she caught his eye and nearly died on the spot. King Warbon sat on a throne unlike any other, a throne worthy of a man who regards himself as almost an omnipotent being, as close to the highest authority as mortals can get. He had not aged a day. Decades had missed his face, had missed him physically due to the Lycan blood surging through his veins. His white hair remained only in few streaks amongst healthy strands of jet black. His crisp, silver- blue eyes were swords honed by the Devil himself, blades hot from enduring the infernos of Hell.

King Warbon's silence was unexpected. Nothing had ever rendered the Alpha King speechless, but eery silence had befallen the throne room. Adelaide could only feel those blades of eyes getting sharper and sharper, the longer they were focused on her.

Now Cron's childlike eccentricity made a whole lot of sense. She had always been his favourite.

Just when Adelaide thought to brace herself for the worst rebuke and vituperation; her father shocked her. Her knee was yet to bend, when King Warbon rose to his feet quickly and addressed her.

"Do not kneel, Adelaide. Let your head rise and look at your father. Is this what half a decade has done? Done away with your desire to meet my eyes and be assured that I am still very well and very much handsome?"

King Warbon Veildar was smiling, a smile so close to genuine and not the deceiving genuineness of a monster indeed glad to have its prey in presence. The Goddess indeed still lived. Adelaide thought to herself, as she was quick to offer silent praises to the ever merciful Goddess.

Adelaide was in great disbelief, so much so, when her head tilted up and she entertained her father's eyes much longer, she started to question if this was a dream or within the realms of reality.

As if her incredulity was not enough, Adelaide witnessed an abnormality. Her father's stance was far from his own with his arms extending out, beckoning her to his chest. Unshed tears stung, emotions lumped up in her throat as the moment overwhelmed her. Her father had not desired to embrace her in the longest time. The last time she made him proud was too long ago, she felt unworthy.

But she also craved, longed to be his favourite again, his little princess and that's exactly the exalting satisfaction she got when she crumbled into his arms and he held her tightly, yet lovingly. She wept onto him, onto his garments of unaffordable fineness and he did not push her away, he did not let her go until she ceased to blubber.

"Welcome home, First Princess, my first heir. I thought you did not live, that you had left me without a White Blood." King Warbon's voice, as fear inducing as it was, strummed her ears gently. She was still his White Blood, the first in line to the throne, the first female Alpha Veildar will have when her father's time expires. She felt so unworthy, the most regretful she had ever been about her past blotted with the worst of mistakes.

She had been young, back then, she never knew that this day would come. Her rue was unknown to him and she needed him aware, she had to share some of her thoughts to him. Perhaps he could understand, he as well had once been grappled by youth and rapt by its temptations.

Adelaide thought to explain herself and overwhelm her father with apologies, he needed to know how terribly sorry she was and that her defiance and deviation had not went unpunished. It tortured her mind without moderation. Her lips were yet to move aside from the rapid trembles they suffered, but her father's voice rose before hers.

"You may take your leave, Cron." King Warbon dismissed, a much softer undertone mollifying his strong voice. Cron bowed his head and gave thanks, before leaving, surely more content than when he entered the sacred throne room. Adelaide drew in a long draft of air, timoriously meeting her father's eyes. This was her moment, before his heart hardened to stone again, before his leniency ceased to be.

"Father…" Her voice quivered along with her entire being. It was comforting how he held her hand, but in too great of a sense was strange to her. "I have so much to tell, I just wish for your time, not too much of it as I imagine you must have much more demanding affairs to-"

"I cannot believe that you think this can be fixed just in time! Leave my sight this instant. " Princess Quesce's harsh voice blared throughout the room, her exasperation clearly defined even in the infuriated manner of her gait. The young seamstress she berated did as she was ordered and dashed off in shame. King Warbon diverted his attention to his second daughter, while Adelaide remained facing away, waiting for her sister to notice her.

"Father, you will not believe what that dim- witted scass (barren woman) has done! Because of her idiocy, I fear I will not be ready on time and-" She trailed off, Adelaide heard her approach, her scent was much stronger, she knew she was right behind her, that her gray eyes were on her. "Well hold on, is this who I think it is, father?"

"It is." King Warbon spun his daughter around and Adelaide faced her younger sister with glaring chagrin. She had disappointed her as well, Quesce used to look up to her so much, she must have lost all respect for her.

"Oh my Goddess!" Quesce exclaimed incredulously, for a second convincing Adelaide that she was delighted to see her. Until her arms crossed over her chest and a sneer became the main feature on her beautiful face. "What is she doing here? After all these years?" Words most indisputably acrimonious led Adelaide's angst and monachopsis to resurface.

"Cease your interrogation, Quesce." King Warbon's word was final, as angry as Quesce was, she swallowed her words and apologised. "Adelaide, my dear, will you join us in the dinning room?"

Bashful, her voice was characterized by so, hence it came out in low, wavering waves, "Of course, father."

Adelaide felt a hefty weight be unloaded from her chest, if she had known that her father would be this welcoming, she would have came back home a long time ago and never became estranged from them.

Finally, she was back home.

She was going to rebuild herself again, reconstruct her life and the most exciting prospect about starting on a clean slate; was finding her fated mate and erasing Bovigan from her mind for good.