Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1691 - 133 : Too Late

*Kryzen*

I stood in front of a group of our most skilled soldiers. Many of them had been training one-on-one with Drius and received top marks on all of their demonstrative tests. These were the most ruthless and powerful of our military.

I was about to send them on the most important mission.

“Thank you for agreeing to take on this assignment,” I said, my voice echoing through the palace throne room. “It will be a difficult one since we don’t have much in terms of leads, but that is why I have carefully selected you all.”

The men and women straightened at my words. I had no doubt that it was partially due to their pride. I was stroking their egos a bit.

“We don’t know much about this Demon Lord Malphas,” I said, lowering my voice as if the bastard could actually hear it. I narrowed my eyes dangerously. “We were all under the impression that he had died at the hands of Queen Briella’s mother. I want you all to fan out and search for any kind of sign of dark magic. Report anything suspicious back to General Drius or myself.”

After giving them a little more instruction, I dismissed them, straightening as they filed out to search the land for any sign of the Demon Lord Malphas.

I felt my entire countenance darken as I stared after them, feeling the anger course through me again as I thought of the possibility of Malphas getting anywhere near my mate or daughter.

That wasn’t happening. I had to trust myself to make the right decisions concerning the safety of my family and kingdom.

I laughed once without humor, realizing that I had never felt more like a king than I did at that moment in the very real and ugly face of danger. The threat of losing everything that mattered to me was so overwhelming that it was nearly suffocating. Maybe that was why I was chosen to be king. When faced with some kind of threat, my response was to act.

It made me extremely grateful for my training up until this point. I knew I would fight. It was in my blood, and my father instilled strategy and ruthlessness in me well.

I looked up as the huge doors leading into the throne room opened. A moment later, Drius strode in. His head was held high as he crossed the large room over to me. He bowed once he was before me.

“Good morning, General,” I said tersely. “I trust that preparations are in place for our departure.” I smirked a bit, making my tone light to let Drius know he didn’t need to be formal since we were alone.

“Yes,” Drius said, straightening and smirking right back, the grin one of camaraderie. “I sent a couple of soldiers down to scope out the obsidian castle as you instructed, and there is little sign of life from the outside. I ordered them to wait for our arrival and not to proceed without backup.”

I nodded in approval. “Very good,” I said, straightening as well. “Then I see little reason that we shouldn’t leave immediately, do you?”

“None, sir,” Drius said. I could see the fire in his eyes.

I wasn’t surprised by his anger. He cared about Briella fiercely and wasn’t going to just stand idly by while some ruthless dictator threatened her.

“I can think of one reason why you can’t leave yet.”

Drius and I turned toward the voice, both of us softening at the sight of Briella striding toward us. She looked every way like the queen she was, her head held high and her wavy dark locks cascading down her back like waves made of shadows. Her bright green eyes were focused on the two of us as she approached.

“Where is your escort, wife?” I asked sternly, but my tone had a touch of teasing to it as well. I had wanted to make certain that unless she was in the safety of our bedroom, Briella would have one of the palace guards with her at all times. I could never force her to have a guard in the room with her but did consider it. If Malphas could reach her through her dreams, I had to take every precaution.

I respected Briella too much to invade her privacy like that, and Alyna was with her most of the day anyway.

Briella just rolled her eyes. “I don’t need a guard in my own home,” she told me firmly.

I decided to drop it immediately. I was about to leave and didn’t want to fight with her before I did so. We did our very best not to quarrel when we would be separated for a while, even if it was for a day.

Drius smirked at her and bowed low. “Good morning, Your Majesty.”

Briella grimaced and punched her friend in the shoulder. “Get up, weirdo.” She laughed and threw her arms around Drius when he obeyed and straightened.

Drius chuckled and hugged her back, but I noticed he glanced at me a little warily as if he expected me to intervene out of jealousy.

I just scoffed and rolled my eyes in response to the look. I had absolutely no reason to feel even the least bit threatened by Drius. It was very clear to me that Briella viewed him as a brother figure and even Drius seemed to be looking at her as one would look at a younger sister who needed protecting.

“So why are we not allowed to leave yet?” I asked Briella when she turned to look at me, even though I already knew the answer.

She looked a little embarrassed but crossed her arms. “You haven’t said goodbye to me yet.”

I quirked an amused eyebrow. “I was on my way up to say goodbye to you both,” I said, referring to both her and Emberly.

“Alyna just put her down for her nap,” Briella informed me. “But I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being woken up to see you.”

I smiled fondly at the thought of my little girl but shook my head. “There’s no need for that,” I said. “I’ll be back in a couple of days.”

Briella’s lips tightened as she stared up at me. “You better be,” she muttered. She stepped up to me and wrapped her arms around my back, pressing her face into my chest.

Drius cleared his throat awkwardly. He jerked a thumb behind him. “I’ll make sure the team is ready to leave, Your Majesty. We’ll see you at the gate.”

Briella pulled away from me to launch herself at Drius, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You better be careful,” she said fiercely.

Drius just laughed but hugged her back. “Of course, I will,” he said. “Who do you think you’re talking to, Bri?”

Briella snorted. “A reckless male,” she said simply.

Drius shrugged unabashedly and then turned to go but not before giving me a knowing look.

I opened my arms to Briella once Drius was gone. She immediately stepped between them, allowing me to hold her against my chest. I dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m not going to let anything separate us,” I told her gently. “We’re just going to scope it out and search for clues. If Malphas happens to show himself, he won’t know what hit him.”

Briella’s eyes rounded at the thought of Malphas actually being there, but she nodded bravely. “I still feel like I should be going with you,” she said. “He’s likely after me.”

I gritted my teeth at the reminder. “That’s exactly why you aren’t going to be there,” I told her firmly. I took a calming breath and bent to kiss her. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

Briella took a breath herself and nodded. “I’ll see you later then. That’s a promise.”

It took more than a day for us to make it to the large, ominous obsidian palace. It was evening when we got there. I stared up at the building hatefully, wondering why I didn’t have the old abandoned building knocked down as soon as I became king. That should have been my first official order of business.

I was surrounded by my small but elite team of soldiers with Drius to my right. He narrowed his eyes at the castle as if thinking about the pain it had caused Briella already. “I kind of hope he’s in there so I can tear him to shreds,” he admitted quietly to me.

“Me too,” I admitted back. My fists were curling at my side, longing to pull the blade from where it hung at my belt.

We stealthily entered the palace, all of us on high alert as the door creaked open. Drius and I led the way, our weapons poised and ready in defense.

It was quiet. The inside of the palace looked untouched. It wasn’t even dusty or grimy, even though it had been left unattended for the past couple of decades.

At least, that was as far as we knew.

“It definitely feels like we’re not alone,” Drius said in a low voice. He looked over at a couple of the soldiers next to him. “Stay alert. I have a bad feeling.”

I didn’t echo the thought aloud, even though I was having the exact same one.

Almost as soon as Drius spoke, the sound of a haunting breeze sounded around us. I held my palm out in front of me, conjuring a blade with my magical purple energy. It sizzled and crackled just as a shadow creature appeared in front of me, screeching angrily.

Drius barked some orders. I couldn’t make out his words, but I was sure it was something to the effect of scattering not dying.

There had to be over a dozen of the shadow creatures. I swung my blade wildly, clenching my jaw in satisfaction when the shadows disintegrated before my eyes.

Screeches seemed to be exploding from all sides. I watched one soldier try to fight off against two shadows. He backed up against the wall, swinging his blade back and forth, his eyes wide as he realized he was outmatched.

I sprung into action, putting myself between the young man, who looked no older than twenty, and the shadow monsters. I sliced one cleanly down the middle and lopped the head off the other. Both creatures rose up in a puff of smoke.

And then it was deathly quiet.

I took a breath and looked around at the group. “Everyone alright?”

I got affirmative nods and wide eyes. No one appeared injured, which was good. Drius’ jaw was clenched, his eyes wide with anger.

“He’s got to be here somewhere,” he seethed. He then yelled, “Show yourself!”

It was silent for another second before loud, boisterous laughter echoed through the large room. It was evil and caused a shudder to pass through me.

“You’re too late,” it said with a sinister chuckle.

My blood ran cold. “No.”

He knew. Malphas knew where Briella was. I was cursing loudly and rushing out of the front doors of the palace, Drius hot on my heels.

I prayed desperately to the Goddess that both my mate and daughter were alright.