DUSK'S POV
I stared at the name on my paper for a while before turning to her.
"Are you aware of what you're saying now?" I asked, and she gave a little smile.
"Nahte. Your Alpha's most trusted companion. A friend who has sworn to stay by his side. Someone who always has his back, trying to comfort him from his pains, is actually the one who joined hands with Dnalor to overtake the throne." She said, and I closed my eyes and took a deep frustrated breath.
"Roland wants the whole Kingdom, he isn't planning to give it to Ethan." I said firmly.
"Dnalor. Nahte. I don't know the names you just mentioned." She said, and I clenched my fist hard.
"Dnalor wants the kingdom for himself. He isn't planning to give it to Nahte." I repeated, changing the names.
"Unfortunately, Nahte is going to help Dnalor's men invade. Dnalor would have two Kingdoms to himself, using Nahte as a cover. Nahte will have Dnalor's men swear loyalty to him and will overtake Dnalor's Kingdom, so he'll be the one in power. I understand you probably didn't expect sweet Nahte to be so ambitious, but that's what he has become." She said, and I sighed in frustration.
Her words weren't making any sense. This was someone who always stayed with Lucius, comforting him, helping him. If I couldn't believe it, then how was Lucius himself supposed to?
"Stupid Ksud, still not believing, even after I probed it to you. I'm annoyed. And right now, I'm leaving you on your own." She said, and stood.
"Wait Matilda, I..." I stood up and moved towards her, but she instantly withdrew the sword from her walking stick and pointed it at me.
"One more step, and I won't hesitate to cut you down." She said, and I knew she meant it.
"I'll come back later. Just for now, calm down. Actually, I believe you! It's just that I don't want to believe you! This is crazy, it's insane! How can... How can... But, I guess it's true. You see the inner intent of people. But, you've never met Ethan." I said, and she smirked.
"Foolish indeed. Do you think people joining hands to overtake a kingdom won't have met once?" She asked, and all my hopes of her being wrong fell.
"What can we do? How did he become so ambitious?" I asked.
"The same way you felt rejected was the same way he felt. Your dead King saw him as nothing. No one really saw him as anything except for the man who followed the Alpha's son around. It was so bad he wanted to prove them wrong. He began to like the dark, think by himself, stay away from everyone. He went feral and conceived thoughts of treason." She explained, and I understood it all.
I was also rejected, but what marked us as different was that he wanted to prove them wrong and have his revenge, but I wanted to have nothing to do with him.
"Isn't your Alpha planning on sending a letter home? Home to the evil one." She said, and I gasped.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed and ran out of her room.
I ran down the hallways and corridors to Lucius' room.
"Lucius Eth...!" I started to say, but he wasn't in his room.
"Oh no!" I exclaimed and left the room.
"Uh... Have you seen Alpha Lucius?" I asked a maid who was passing by.
"Yes, I have. He asked me for the way to the birdhouse." She said, and I held her shoulders.
"Where's the birdhouse? How many minutes ago?" I asked, but I seemed to scare her.
"Please follow me." She said, and I tried to maintain my calm.
I didn't even know why I was trying so hard to protect a Kingdom I hated, but thinking about it, it was for him.
Anyone would think I was in love with him, but I knew myself best. I had forgiven him, but I wasn't intending on being his Luna. I just didn't want to see him crumble.
Now I knew his men meant everything to him. The good person I was wanted to help him as much as I could.
"Here." She said, and I rushed inside.
"Lucius!" I called.
"Dusk?" He asked, and I followed the sound of his voice.
He had tied the letter to the bird's leg and was about to throw it out.
"Stop! Stop, don't throw the bird." I said the moment he set the bird free, and it was amazing how he reacted quickly and nearly jumped out the window to catch the bird.
I immediately snapped out of my awe.
"I have shocking news, and I need you to believe me. It might be so hard, but you have to trust me." I said, and he took the letter from the bird's leg and turned to me.
"Who is it?" He asked, catching on immediately.
"If you don't want me to send the bird, then definitely there's someone who has joined hands with Roland back at home." He said.
"Ethan." I said and watched the shock run through his face.
"It's hard to believe." He said, gritting his teeth, but I could see he was already believing it.
"Damn him!" He said finally and left the birdhouse.
"Lucius!" I called.
"Pack our things. We're leaving immediately." He said, and I ran to his room. He had packed his things already.
I took his briefcase and then took mine.
I went through the back of the Palace to avoid people seeing us and looked up at Matilda's window, which could be seen from there.
She was staring at me, and she waved with a smile.
A full smile that I had never seen on her.
This was it. It was goodbye.
LUCIUS POV
We arrived at the Palace early the next morning, and I went into a rage to find Ethan.
"Why did you do it!?" I asked him, and he turned to me.
Ethan was no pretender, and I could see he didn't bother lying.
"Do what?" He asked.
"Join hands with Roland." I said, and he bit his lip.
"Because you can't control this Kingdom. You're weak. If you want to fight with me, let's fight." He said, taking off his robe.
"Fight?" I asked, and clenched my fists.
He was daring to fight the Alpha of the Kingdom.