As Zeidan lay there on his bed, he could feel the peace that seemed to have surrounded the palace. Within weeks of Lyne's return, things had changed for the better. His health had improved after Lyne had somehow suspected something was not quite right about all that was going on in the palace. If only he had listened to Lyne before she went missing back then, perhaps things wouldn't have even gotten this far. She had warned him about Luana and had emphasized the need to arrest Luana and lock her up for all the initial atrocities she had committed. Although it would have been a difficult thing to do owing to her father's status as the chief of army staff, it did not mean he could not get her arrested. He only chose not to push for the arrest. He tried to erase the thoughts of him making Luana the queen before Lyne's arrival. He had been so delusional.

He was now feeling better and could do a lot of things he could not do before. There was no doubt about Lyne now, she was his queen and Aurora was his royal princess. All thanks to her, perhaps he might be dead by now or close to dying. He had gone to check on the crystal stone and he saw that it was glowing again which further confirmed that he was truly getting better. The guards have not been able to locate Luana or Stevenson since the day he found out they were traitors. He has vowed to make them pay for their evil deeds.

The door creaked open and Aurora entered the room.

“Hello, daddy.” She said as she approached him, her blue eyes dazzling with smiles on her lips. Her brown hair had been well combed and she looked radiant. She wore a cream-colored blouse that was laced with wine-colored edges. 

“Hi, baby girl.” She moved to sit beside him on the edge of the bed.

“You look beautiful and your dress too.”

“Thank you.” She replied. 

She was very beautiful and an exact replica of Lyne, except for her hair. Zeidan could recall how he had fought with Lyne when she had gotten pregnant. He had told her he didn't want a child just as he was not ready to perform a fatherly responsibility. He had even gone as far as threatening Lyne to get rid of the baby. As he stared at Aurora beside him, he regretted ever doing all of those. He was grateful Lyne had not listened to him or succumbed to his threats. 

“Do you feel better daddy?”

“Of course my dear, I am very strong now.”

“Oh really? Ok then show me how strong you are.” 

“You want to see how strong I am?” Aurora was laughing now as she already knew what was next.

“Yes, I want to see how strong you are.” Zeidan stood up almost immediately and lifted Aurora in the air. She giggled loudly as he threw her up. He then returned to his initial position with Aurora still giggling beside him.

“Are you convinced daddy is strong now?”

“Yes, I am.” They both laughed and Zeidan could feel nothing but pure love for her. 

“So tell me Aurora, did mummy buy you lots of ice cream back in Los Angeles?” She giggled, 

“Yes, she did a lot.”

“Daddy please can you tell me a story?” Zeidan rolled his eyes in a funny manner that made Aurora chuckle. 

“Ok princess, I will tell you a story. Lie beside me here and place your head on my chest, then listen carefully.” She immediately did as she was told. Zeidan cleared his throat and began in his most gentle tone of voice. 

“A long time ago, in a vampire kingdom, a kingdom that had a beautiful creek that ran through it. Many vampires that dwell in the kingdom drank from the creek on hot days as they went about their daily activities. The kingdom was flourishing and was ruled over by a vampire king. He was a good king that put the needs of his people first. There was peace in the vampire kingdom as there was no threat from any other vampire kingdom. They also had neighboring wolf kingdoms and they maintained peace with them all. They avoided clashes with the neighboring vampire and wolf kingdoms and only sought peace even when trouble was lurking around the corner. This made the kingdom flourish more than the rest of the other kingdoms. The other kingdoms started getting jealous of the good kingdom's progress and wanted to fight against them.”

“That's terrible daddy.”

“Yes it was, but you wouldn't believe it. The kingdom still avoided troubles. The king had a son, a very handsome prince, and an heir to the throne.”

“What's an heir daddy?” Aurora asked as she lay still with her head on her father's chest. 

“An heir is a person that is legally entitled to the property or rank of another person when the person cannot rule again. In this case, a king, when a king cannot rule again, his heir takes over and inherits all that belongs to the king. You're a princess my darling, one day, you will rule over this city when the time is right.”

“Yes daddy, I want to be a good king.” Zeidan laughed as he noticed her ignorance. 

“You are going to be a queen, my dear. A lady becomes a queen eventually.” 

“I'll be a good queen then.” 

“That's more like it. So as I was saying, the king had a prince, a very handsome one and the rest of the kingdom thought of killing the prince so that they could overthrow the king and take over the kingdom. 

One fateful day, the vampire prince went hunting with his father's guards. After a while, he decided he would go to the creek to get water to drink and probably try to see if he can also get a fish for the king. After they had gotten to the creek and while the prince was trying to catch a fish as he had planned, suddenly, they were surrounded by some wolves and some vampires that came out of the woods that led to the creek. They had come from the jealous neighboring kingdoms to kill the prince. The guards tried to fight them off but died in the process. Although they managed to kill almost all the bad people leaving only one wolf. 

Just then, a beautiful lady about the prince's age came out of the woods where the bad wolves and vampires had come from and fought the wolf. It defeated the wolf and saved the prince. The beautiful lady was also a princess from another good kingdom. Her guards took the prince back to his father and that was how the princess and the prince became friends. When they grew up they got married and gave birth to a beautiful daughter named Aurora. That was how I met your mother. She saved my life.”

Aurora snorted as she was now asleep. Zeidan smiled. He carried her and laid her beside him. She mumbled some words that made him chuckle. 

“Thank you Lyne for not listening to me.”