The Royal Revenge
Chapter 219: A Restless Night Again

Chapter 219: A Restless Night Again

"Animals?" Elys exclaimed in disbelief. "How did she even do that? I don’t think any of the Northern people ever knew how to speak to animals... well, not unless training them for domestic and military use could be counted."

Aleksander shook his head at Elys’ speculation.

"She didn’t have to learn anything at all, my queen," her husband said, "she only had to find a certain type of animal and talk to it, somewhat report things she deemed important."

Elys’ brows scrunched up as she processed the information that she was currently being fed. How could Cordelia do that without telling her anything at all?

Was it truly just because of her involvement with the vampire, Aleksander Ardorlean?

Her eyes veered towards her husband, and to her surprise, Aleksander was already looking at her. The vampire had a sullen look in his eyes, as if he felt hurt for his wife.

He knew Cordelia was a precious person to his queen, and yet the old woman had actually been against her master’s wishes all along.

"Are you alright, Elys?" Aleksander asked her.

His hand reached out to his wife and touched her soft cheeks. Elys felt the coldness of his touch, but the gesture itself felt warm. It was quite bizarre how Aleksander could show her such a side to him knowing he could snap into the tyrant that he was against his enemies.

She let out air through her nose and heaved a sigh as she leaned her head and held Aleksander’s hand on cheek.

"I am fine, Aleksander," the young queen finally said, "It is just a lot to get my head around to."

The vampire king understood the shock that Elys must have been trying to hold off since yesterday. There was a heavy burden that was upon her shoulders, and it was as if the problem of Cordelia’s treachery was the last piece on the stack.

The camel’s back snapped soon thereafter.

"What should we do with her now?" she asked him, the worry in her eyes evident.

Despite Cordelia’s infuriating choices to sabotage them, the old woman was still a person Elys held close to her heart. She wasn’t ready to hear Aleksander repeat his wish to keep Cordelia in the dungeons, but now she knew there was no other choice.

Aleksander reached out to her and patter her head fondly, like that of an innocent child.

"Don’t worry, my queen," Aleksander said with a wide smile, "As what you were concerned with, I had a separate room inside the Rose Palace cleaned just for Cordelia."

Elys’ eyes widened with surprise.

She didn’t think that Aleksander would think that far out for her maidservant. Moreover, she was even more shocked that Aleksander had prepared a room inside the Rose Palace.

He had argued with Elys back then regarding where they should lock up the old woman, but now it seemed like too good to be true to Elys’ ears.

"I will have her put under my spell so she could not escape or think of other things that may cause problems for us in the long run," Aleksander continued.

Elys couldn’t help but to smile at the vampire king’s plans for her maidservant. She reached both her hands towards his face, and then all of a sudden, brought his lips towards her and then kissed Aleksander lightly.

The vampire was flushed as he didn’t think Elys would even initiate such an act with him. It had always been him who tried to get her started.

"Thank you, my dear husband," Elys said to Aleksander, "I will be sure to repay you with the kindness that you have shown me and my maidservant."

The young king scratched his chin as his eyes sheepishly looked the other way to avoid eye contact with Elys. After he was able to compose himself, that was when they continued with their conversation.

"How serious are the information she gave to Sir Noa and that of the Eastern Kingdom? More so, how serious is the Eastern Kingdom with this threat of a war they are waging?" Elys asked him.

Aleksander’s face turned grim as his free hand curled into a tight fist of rage. Elys saw the hesitation in his expression, and understood even without words that Cordelia might have actually brought them a huge problem.

"She gave them a lot of information of the kingdom’s geography," Aleksander began, "the terrain, the people and the vampires that lived there. The knights and military personnel stationed there as well."

Elys scowled at the thought of the Eastern Kingdom trying to attack the Western Kingdom. Were they not the ones who said they condemn violence and the use of weapons and magic?

Why were they suddenly resorting to such ways then?

It was a move that was very unlikely of a kingdom that proclaimed themselves that they were against violence.

Could it be that there was more to the Eastern Kingdom’s elusive nature from the rest of the continent, to the ways they lived inside their thick walls? It was a possibility that was more than just likely to be true.

"What else?" Elys prodded her husband.

"Did you know one of the reasons why she had been delayed back when you had Lady Catalina tailed was because she had met with Sir Noa near the borders?" Aleksander added.

"Did she now?" his wife responded as emotionless as she could.

"Yes, and on her way back, she had met with Henry out on a mission under my instructions as well..." the vampire king trailed off, his voice slowly vanishing from Elys’ hearing.

Everything seemed to be quite too much for Elys right now.

Aside from the anger that she felt for the Eastern Kingdom’s fallacy regarding their philosophy on non-violence, Elys also started to feel resentment towards her maidservant.

It was a feeling she never would have thought possible except now, she was actually experiencing it.

Cordelia may have served her since she was a baby, but the act of deceiving her with what she really thought about Elys’ choices hurt her so much. And to think she even got to the point where she was sharing intelligence with the enemy kingdom.

Was it purely genius that Cordelia was able to slip right under Elys’ nose undetected? Or was it just her negligence and the fact that she trusted the old woman blindly due to the history they shared?

Perhaps it was a bit of both.

"Well, the good thing is I was able to station our forces out into the borders right away, keeping those wretched Easterner animals out of our walls," Aleksander explained. "It seemed like Sir Wiriam had encountered some trouble towards the side leading to the Eastern Kingdom too..."

The young king continued to speak about the things he had done to prevent further problems arising in the Western Kingdom, but then he noticed that his wife was somehow drifting in her thoughts.

"Elys?" Aleksander called out to her; his voice raised higher than what he would use in any ordinary conversation.

"Yes?" she responded, her eyes blankly staring at him.

She was looking but yet her head was somewhere else. Aleksander could tell even without reading her mind. Despite her expertise in showing a cold and collected demeanor, Elys still had flaws and sometimes her real thoughts spill without even speaking a word.

"You were spacing out," Aleksander said to her, his eyes concerned as he looked right into her face, "I was explaining about what you had asked earlier, but it seemed like you were elsewhere."

Elys exhaled deeply and then said, "My bad..."

"What do you need? I can get you anything you want," Aleksander offered her. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Elys shook her head. She lifted her feet off the ground and tucked them under her skirt. Leaning sideways, she took Aleksander by surprise as she laid her head on his lap.

"Let me rest for a while," she said as she closed her eyes, "my head is swimming in a vast ocean. She is lost... so, so lost as of the moment."

"Is she scared as well?" Aleksander asked her.

"Maybe," Elys responded after a few seconds of silence.

The young queen kept her eyes closed, but she could feel his hand gently caressing her arm. His fingers traced the silky soft fabric of her sleeve, and then squeezed her hand as if to reassure her he was there for her.

"Then rest for a while," Aleksander said, "I will be here whenever you need me."

"I know, Aleksander," she said.

Now that silence filled the room, and only the sound of embers dancing in the air accompanied them, Elys suddenly felt her tiredness come at her. She felt heavy, and it was not just some burden she could easily unload anytime and anywhere.

It was a burden that she forced on herself to carry.

Aleksander could hear her heart beating inside of her chest, and he could tell that his wife was worried. It was going to be a restless night again for her.