Still on his throne as the sun was setting, Zeidan in a fresh royal attire sat on the throne, face thoughtful. The arrival of his back chief of army was announced and he sat up wondering what news he brought. The four hundred and fifty-seven years old man with agile looks walked in with a smile on his face. Strange.

"The Effinton I know does not know how to smile. What has happened, Eff?" Zeidan called out to the man who stopped some feet away from his throne and bowed waist level.

"Your highness, the Werecats have retreated."

He smiled inwardly but worried as they might attack again, this time with force.

"How did you do that? I mean, they attacked through the front gate."

Effinton straightened and his smile widened.

"Her royal majesty held them off, my Lord." He tilted his head slightly in salutation. "She tricked the Werecat into thinking she had the Onyx..."

"And made herself to be the bait?!" His heart skipped plenty of beats as he thought of the large number of vicious cats running after Lyne and probably beating her up before she finally succeeded in holding them off.

"Apparently, yes. But she did a good job and should be fine, except for a few bruises here and there." Effinton explained casually.

Zeidan bit his index finger, thinking of what to do. He should have been more conscious of the fact that Lyne might want to be involved in the war or should have tried harder in stopping her from fighting. He had failed as a King and probably as a Father if her baby doesn't survive. 

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Obviously in the royal infirmary whining about her sprained ankle and slightly bruised arm. I warned her." It was Luana striding in, steps majestic.

"What do you mean?" 

She climbed the steps and stood by his side, folding get arms against her chest.

"Lyne is not suitable for the war field. She was meant to just be in your palace, acting all pretty and fancy. You married her to get her Father's army. It's a pity you forgot that so soon."

"I...Luana, we've been over this." He began but when he looked to his side he saw Effinton was still there. 

"How guarded is the back gate?"

"My Lord, the bridge is severely destroyed, and may take a fortune to repair it. Even months to erect a better one." 

"Why?"

"I believe building a stone-walled bridge will make Vampire city more secure. What with an iron gate and strong ropes to hold up the bridge."

Effinton explained.

"You mean, give the Werecats a better chance to penetrate the city without a Luna to break it apart to let them off again?" Luana pointed and then scoffed. "Nice try."

"Miss Luana, if you won't mind, may I ask if you have a better opinion?" Effinton looked at her, eyes steady.

"Nothing. I mean, I don't have much relevance in the city. The King has just proved that."

"Your Father was the Chief of Army in this city. Soon, you'll take over. There's no running around." The older man said, igniting a deadly glare from Luana.

"I'll rather die than take that post. I do not deserve it and the moment my Father chased me out of his home, I became an outcast." She replied, anger evident in her voice.

Why did that happen? Zeidan mused. Had her Father been against her marrying him or becoming the Queen? Surely, it's what every Father wants for their children. How different is Luana's?

"You left home because your Father chased you out and not because you received my invitation?" Zeidan asked her and she looked down at him.

"Well, until you decided I'm no longer of use to you. You invited me and I took it but my dad wanted me to just be his puppet. Unfortunately, looks like you think the same of me." Luana replied.

"I didn't. We never talked about official marriage. I just needed you to be my Queen."

"Is that still functioning? You know, that's what I thought when I came here. I felt I had found a place I can finally be myself..."

"You were horrible, Luana. You didn't have the traits of a Queen and you're still lucky you are walking around freely. Wait until Lyne presses charges against you at the courthouse. Only then will you know this isn't a game." Zeidan reminded her.

Much as he would love to pity her. He just can't. Not with all her horrible attitudes, wickedness, and bullying. If she didn't have a hundred percent chance of tossing the charges to Lyne's face for being Tyson's daughter. The good news is, you're no longer his daughter and there's every tendency, you will be behind bars weeks from now."

"Zeidan!" Luana yelled, her eyes laced with tears. "Arrest...for what?!"

Zeidan rose and faced her, towering over her. "For bullying the Queen, disrespecting the King, poisoning the Queen, plotting the escape of Wikh..."

"You're blaming me for that? Why don't you ask his defendant who could have helped him escape to prevent the execution?" She looked up at him, obviously pained.

"And killing Hudson?"

There was total silence. One that can make the drop of a needle be heard. 

"She killed him?" 

They turned towards the direction of the voice only to realize Effinton was still there.

"Leave!" They both chorused and he left after bowing slightly.

"It's high time you own up to your wrongdoings, Luana. You murdered someone and should be punished for it."

"I didn't murder him. He threatened to kill me and...and you can ask around. His people were there. Why do you think the other Wolves didn't come here to report the killing?"

"Because they weren't there?"

"No!" Luana moved an inch closer. "Because they saw what he did. He was lusting after me."

"That's a big lie!"

"He called me a witch."

"Not enough excuse to kill someone. Just accept the fact that you're a murderer!"

"No!" She let tears roll down her cheeks which further infuriated him. 

"What? Playing the victim card now?"

"Yes, because I am the victim. He fought me but I had to defend myself. Should I call the witnesses?"

"No. We'll do this in court. And you're lucky I can't go inside your head, you would have been dead meat."

He turned to sit back on his throne.

"All because of Lyne?"

"You can't mention her name. It doesn't have anything to do with her. It all boils down to you being a bad person."

Luana chuckled and sniffled at the same time. 

"Yeah. I should have known. I should have stopped myself from advising you to go to the South Jungle in the first place."

"Whether or not you didn't advise me, I would have met her either way."

"Then why invite me? Why did you offer to make me the Queen when you knew I wasn't fit?"

Zeidan rubbed his hand against his face,  letting out an exasperated sigh.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Marrying Lyne seemed like a good idea to me too. But now, I regret bringing her up. She deserved to still be with her Father, living like a slave that she is."

"You will not call her a slave. Not in my presence!" Zeidan clenched and unclenched his fist to be stable. He has had enough.

"But that's what she is..."

Before he could stop himself again, he wrapped his strong hand around her neck, squeezing it with his energy. He felt his claws digging slightly into her skin and blood dripping down her neck. Her glassy eyes looked up at him but she smiled anyway.

"One day, you'll understand that you weren't meant to be together in the first place."