IMPRESS.

Chapter Seventy-Three: The King's Order.

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"I believe you are much safer with the Demon boy than you are with anyone else Andrea, and you will see why soon," Davina deemed, her intense eyes piercing into mine. I nervously swallowed and shifted in my seat once again.

My greatest-grandfather, Daya El Rigo, looked apologetic, he must've sensed the anxiety I was beginning to feel due to the deep frown on my face that I couldn't quite get rid of. Finding out that I was going to have to possibly sacrifice my own life to end the on-going war between the supernatural scared me. Knowing that I had the power to choose whether Asten would restore its peace or not, put me in a position of uncertainty. One selfish decision on my part could end the lives of all Astenians.

Why did I have to be given what was my greatest-grandmother Andrea's responsibility, why did the prophecy have to make me the special chosen one who would bring the peace on her behalf?

"Listen, princess, you have to make sure you keep by the demon's side. As we speak now, the King is hot on your trail, and so is his son the prince. There are soldiers and guards around every corner of Icilia looking to arrest you and your brother," my grandfather informed in the most unpanicked and calmest way he could.

I knew Zac wanted to arrest and punish me for slapping him but I'd like to think that he wouldn't go on to blame Alaric for my own impulsive actions... But, why was the King hot on our trail too? Had he heard about the slap or was it something else...

"Why is the King hot on my trail?" I widened my eyes and pressed my hands against the table-side, hovering over my seat and taken back by the unexpected news.

Harrison leant in, also very interested in why the King and my brother were suddenly involved in all of this. Daya and Davina looked at each other for what felt like years before they finally turned to us and answered.

"Well..." Davina sheepishly drawled out. "Basically-" she hesitated to continue.

As soon as I had heard enough of her stutters, I rolled my eyes over to my grandfather hoping he'd have the guts to tell us why. When he eventually huffed out after I gave him a cold hard look, he went on to explain, "Natalya, I'm afraid King Creon may have finally caught onto who you and Alaric are."

My jaw dropped and I shot right to my feet, cupping my mouth in shock. "What?!" I exclaimed. "Wait..." I said running my hands through my hair, frustrated, "I don't get it, how did he just suddenly figure it out?"

"Yeah, I don't get it either," Harrison mumbled whilst scratching his chin. "Did he experience an epiphany or something?"

"Something like that, yes..." My grandfather sighed, "the King just needed someone else to suspect it first for him to easily connect the dots."

"Someone else?" I slowly leant my head to one side, eager for an explanation.

"The Queen suspected you first," Davina dryly responded, looking ever-so disgusted at the mere thought of Melisandre. "She found the files that you stole from Richard Harris in your room, the ones that had info on your mother Isabella. They were found during the search for the nixonited-ink stake."

I suddenly lifted my head, "They found what?!"

Why had I forgotten to return the damned files? Frustrated, I hit myself on the head and cursed.

"And wait- the nixonited-ink search is still going on?"

I was beginning to suspect Preston had something to do with the missing stake... There was no other way he could have gotten his hands on a nixonited stake as easily as he did. He must've stolen the last remaining one from the castle but jheez- I wonder how and when had he found the time to do that?

It appears demons really are the most underestimated kind.

If my suspicions were right then Preston was in a pretty secure position for the war. Not only did he have the whole Kingdom in a frenzy, searching Asten top to bottom for just the one nixonited-ink stake, but even if the King gets his hands back on it, Preston is already one step ahead since he has somehow managed to get ahold of four more stakes that no one else but he and his close family know about.

"Yes, and I fear the King may assume that you've stolen it to get back at him for planning to publicly execute your mother a while back, so be prepared for his accusations against you and your brother."

"I will," I straightened my back and nodded confidently.

"And whatever you do, do not snitch on the demon boy."

I wouldn't dare snitch on Pres ever, because deep down I know he means well.

"I would never do that but does that mean the King is going to successfully hold me and Alaric hostage back at the castle?" I sat down, not liking any bit of what I was hearing.

My grandfather sighed, "one way or another, yes. In fact, as soon as you leave this place the authorities are going to have cuffs around your wrists. So my advice is that you allow the arrest to happen because fighting the King's order will make it look like you are guilty and are hiding something. As someone who used to be great friends with Creon, I know that when he senses a threat, he seeks to eliminate it as quick as he can."

My grandfather Daya knows best so there is no point arguing with him. The man sees into the future and has more knowledge on this prophecy than anybody else so of course, I trusted him.

"Okay," is all I could've replied with. There was nothing else for me to say and Harrison knew it too. He knew that I had to listen to Daya and Davina.

"Will I see you again?" I wondered.

"You won't see either of us until the great war now," Davina sadly revealed, "however, we will still keep our eyes on you."

I anxiously held my breath and nodded.

"We have one more thing to mention before you go," My grandfather kept us from leaving. "This," he shook the small flask of Nixon in the air, "is staying here. Keeping it in your possession will only kill you quicker."

Davina agreed, "you won't need it anymore. The pendant hanging from your neck will continue to act as your only source of Nixon from now on. Meaning focus on keeping that necklace on at all times as it's the one thing keeping you alive. If it comes off for even five minutes, you'll die. It works to maintain the right dose of Nixon in your blood and means you can stop drinking this poison without having to suffer any severe side-effects..."

"AKA. death." I bluntly stated.

Cathryn's POV~

"So what is the plan for IMPRESS? Because my pack have been keeping me informed about the recent riots that have broken out in the Weimos region due to the delay," Raymond Hunter (the Alpha of his pack) brought up the biggest concern of all Astenians. The IMPRESS competition.

This was the first IMPRESS in history to be delayed as long as it had, so of course, a lot of traditionalists were furious, and most of these traditionalists lived in Weimos which is why nobody was surprised by Raymond Hunter's news.

Mother was not present in today's council meeting, apparently, she wasn't feeling well but I just think she wanted a break away from the chaos. Alexander said mother was probably hiding out of guilt after what happened with the nixonited-ink stake but I was failing to believe that that was the only reason why she'd locked herself in her chambers.

Richard Harris spoke on behalf of our father whose mind seemed to be anywhere else but this meeting. "We have decided that the competition is to be resumed the moment Prince Zachary and Cassandra Pierce return from their ventures."

"Smart decision. It's best we wrap up the competition before marching into battle," Raymond nodded and scratched the stubble along his jaw. He then went on to ask another question. "Also, what's the deal with the King of the Shadowlands then, is the alliance with him still on?"

There was a brief silence before Alexander spoke up

"As far as we know, it's still on," he answered since father had nothing to do with the negotiation that he and Zac had made with the demon king the night of the masquerade ball. "The issue is, King Preston only offered to help us if we promised to gift him Lady Ascelyn afterwards. Which we had no option but to do."

The idea of gifting Natalya to Preston didn't worry me one bit because I knew that I wasn't going to let it happen even if we did win this war. Neither was Zac or Alexander. If I remember correctly, Zac said he'd kill Preston before he could try to take Natalya away from him, and there's no denying that Alexander and I wouldn't help and assist in the demon king's murder too.

"No way will he get his hands on that girl, since learning who she is we have no idea what she could be capable of, especially left in the wrong hands," Father rose his voice, irritated by the idea of Natalya and Alaric being in the possession of someone else.

"Don't worry father, we have a plan," I reassured him and smiled wickedly. "Preston might help us win the war but that doesn't mean he'll survive it."

The council were all nodding approvingly at my answer, I even managed to catch a glimpse of a proud smile on my father's face which made me feel good about myself. The compliment that followed his sincere gesture sent my confidence rising to the mountains. "I raised an intelligent daughter."

The council agreed with father as I smiled... "Cathryn and I will send a formal invitation to the Shadowlands the second we are finished here," Alexander added, helping to make father feel a little less tense than he did initially.

When I thought that Alexander and I had somewhat uplifted father's mood for the rest of the meeting, we were soon proven very wrong. It seemed father was still quite sour about the Ascelyns that his thoughts were spiralling all over the place.

Again, I didn't blame him for being so affected by the news. Father has basically found out in the worst way possible that after the woman (Isabella) that he'd thought to be the love of his life ran away from Aeralin, she had gone and fallen in love with another man before giving birth to his children.

"I bet you those Ascelyns have been conspiring against us for a while now!" Father barked, pointing his finger all over the place, "bet they are the ones who stole the nixonited-ink stake too. It only makes sense, you cannot trust a bunch of traitors. Take it from me, children."

Father looked to me and Alexander before nudging his head in the direction of the door indicating that we follow him out when he exits. The members of the council were a little rattled looking between each other cautious and scared to irk the King further.

As soon as father stood up and marched out of the council meeting, Alexander and I followed his lead after apologising to the council and after slamming the door behind us so they would know not to come and intervene.

"Father!" I called, carefully picking my dress up from the floor and running alongside Xander to catch up with him. "Father, you cannot just call them thieves and traitors for keeping the truth from us. Maybe they had valid reasons and were scared to tell us."

"Cathryn, you don't need me to keep reminding you, you know the law and you know that it is not to be broken for whatever reason. Abusing the trust of royal blood is as bad as committing treason." Father spoke his words like they were the only ones that were valid, and glowered down at us.

I bowed my head and pled, "I know father, I just ask that you give them a chance to speak first before you sentence them to public execution."

Alexander bowed his head also and begged, "yes father, please allow the Ascelyns the opportunity to reason with you before you decide to act. After all, we need to reassure the Demon King that Natalya is well and alive if we expect him to help us keep the throne."

Both Alexander and I hesitantly looked up with pleading smiles, hoping father would feel some kind of regret.

"I'm the King. I make the decisions," father slowly and sternly asserted.

Alexander and I defeatedly sighed a second too soon because as soon as we did, father started to speak again.

"However, I understand that you are worried about the war and what might possibly happen to our family if start to make wrong decisions, so I'll take both your words into careful consideration."

I instantly clasped my hands together and grinned so hard when I heard the rest of what he had to say. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Father did not say anything else, and to be quite frank, I think he'd spoken enough already. He simply nodded his head at us before storming off to the direction of the castle kitchens.

The second he was out of sight, Alexander and I made wide-eyed, relieved eye-contact. "He really is harder to persuade these days," Alexander stated.

I hummed feeling my shoulders relax slightly, "I don't blame him. The war is literally around the corner and we have no idea what the witches are up to."

"Don't worry about it too much... We'll be fine as long as we fully get King Preston and his forces on board."

LATER...

Back to Natalya's POV~

Leaving my great grandfather behind after having finally met him for the first time was harder than I thought it would be. Harrison tried his best to brighten the mood the moment we left them, but it was still up to Preston to pull me into his embrace when he saw me because I was close to shedding a few tears.

Blake, Ava, Kai and Kat had found their way here, but they didn't seem to have a single clue about what was going on, so they couldn't do much else than to detach themselves from the situation for a minute and stand behind Pres. Harrison noticed and went over to talk to them about the situation.

"Baby, are you okay? How did it go?" Preston gently placed his hand behind my head for support while my face was buried in his chest. The words that left my mouth next were muffled but somehow Preston was still able to understand me...

"Thank you for organising this entire thing for me, I'm so happy I finally got to meet him," he slowly stroked my head before I pulled away and took hold of his hands, "I got all the answers I needed, including his approval to be with you."

Preston pleasantly smiled and went on to ask, "well, did he give you any information on your parents or your village's fire?"

I huffed, "no but he did say that he does know everything that happened that night."

"He did?" Preston pressingly questioned.

Nodding, I disappointedly replied, "yes but he said he couldn't tell me since if he did he would be tampering with the fate of this stupid prophecy."

Preston sighed but in a way that made me question whether it was out of frustration or relief?

"But," I continued to hold his hands tightly, "he did advise me to ask you about it?"

Preston furrowed his eyebrows, completely confused and offended. He instantly backed away, pulling his hands out of mine. "Why would I have anything to do with that?"

I shrugged and crossed my arms, "exactly that's what I thought."

Preston and I continued to stare back questioningly at each other for the longest, a part of me wishing that he'd known at least one thing about the incident, and another part of me doubting whether he was telling the truth about not knowing or not.

"We should get a move on," Blake saved us from a jarring silence as he appeared at Pres' side, "when we were coming to meet you guys, we overheard some officers talking about a royal order to arrest the Ascelyns."

"Uh yeah, let's get going," Preston seemed distracted by something before he snapped back to reality. He protectively snaked his arm around my waist and nudged his head at the others to start walking ahead of us.

Daya and Davina had warned me that the King was hot on my trail. With the help of the Queen, King Creon had finally figured out Alaric and I's family tree, and I knew no matter how hard I would want to fight off my fated arrest, one way or another it would have to happen.

"He warned me that this would happen," I suddenly admitted to Preston, pulling him back and stopping him from walking with the others. With his hand still on my waist, he cocked his head to the side, curious. "Warned you about what?"

I guess he already knew that I was referring to my grandfather. "Daya said that King Creon recently found out about me and my brother, and how we bear relation to Andrea Driarco. So he must have sent out an order for the two of us to be arrested by the royal authorities."

Preston pushed my hair behind my ears and tilted my head up with his finger, "well the King can fight me himself because I won't let any single one of them near you."

I frowned knowing that Preston had no other option than to let me leave with the authorities if things were to end right. "No, don't." I lifted my hand to his cheek, "Pres, Daya advised me that if I want things to end well for the two of us, you have to let me go with them. If you don't, you risk tampering with the prophecy which could lead to-"

"-the death of us both," he whispered, placing his hand on top of the one I had softly pressed against his cheek.

Preston looked over my shoulder at the others who must've stopped walking and cluelessly turned back around. "Hey guys, I've got an order for you," Preston yelled from where we stood. "Make your way back to the Shadowlands, gather and ready our troops. We will meet on the battlefield a week from today. Natalya and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"Pres?" I abruptly dropped my hand from his face. I didn't need him to come with me, I could face this on my own. The last thing I wanted was to put his life at risk like I had mine. But then again, Daya and Davina said I was safer with him by my side.

Preston's silver-streaking, ink-black eyes wandered back down and found mine. The seriousness and intensity of his burning gaze made me gulp. "I'm coming with you," he asserted. "After all, they are still convinced that I'm helping them win this war." He reminded me as a conniving smirk crept onto his face.

Why did I even worry about him? I already knew he was one step ahead of the vampires and the witches.

Harrison and I made uncomfortable eye-contact when I propped myself up onto my tip-toes to kiss Preston, and because of this, what I'd wanted to be a long passionate kiss turned into a safe peck on the lips seeing as I was forced to break away so Pres and I could explain the situation to the others.

Although Preston was bummed, I think he realised why I had given him a peck instead of a kiss. We parted and whilst he went to fill Ava, Kat, Blake and Kai in, I dragged Harrison to the side and hugged him one last time. "You heard what my grandfather said in there, so I know that you know why I have to leave you for a bit."

"Don't worry, I understand. I'm just worried, that's all," he admitted as we separated from our millionth hug.

"And you have every right to be," I faintly smiled but then quickly reassured him, "but even if Preston and I do find that we are in trouble which is highly unlikely since we both know how powerful he is, at least I'll know that you'll be safely back in the Shadowlands gathering an army of about 20 thousand troops to come and save us."

"The moment I sense that you are in