CHAPTER 3

Imelia`s POV

I had seen it in my vision already, one of the lycan princes turned to a mere human. I had prayed to the moon goddess to direct my footsteps and she asked me to bring my daughter, Luna. I was strongly against this as every villager saw the palace as a bad omen. But as her servant, I had no right to disobey else I bear the consequences.

I anointed her head with the holy ashes, ones reserved for dire situations and blessed her feet with cannons, I made her wear the crystal moon necklace, her innocence to protect her and we left. I took my time gracefully striding down the stairs, I couldn`t let anyone not even my daughter know that I understood the reason for King Mateo`s urgent call, I could see the palace maid shivering, her lips caught in between her teeth. I knew what she was trying to do, she didn`t want the attention to be drawn to the situation, so she let me take my sweet time.

At the foot of the stairs, I look her straight in the eye," Why is my presence needed at the palace",

"Pri-, pri-,priestess, I ,I have no idea", her gaze darting across the temple admiring everywhere but my face, the owner of the place. I give her a cold smile and for the sake of the moon goddess, prayed prayers of peace. I give my daughter my arm and we walk to the stable, I had always loved Alex, but I was pratically going into a nightmare and the last thing I needed was my soft side, I stroll over and I see Lola, black mane, fierce eyes, stable hoofs, this is just what I was looking for.

Luna goes round the stable searching for the perfect horse for this occasion but unlike me, her innocence draws a meek horse, I almost want to grumble, and the palace maids remind me once again of the king's call.

We mount our horses, strap our leather shoes to the ridges of the horses and we start galloping, each gallop higher and faster than the last. We pass the villagers seeing the effects of the blood moon, some shops scattered, blood, dark and crimson blood soils the land, families wailing, some still dumbfounded, the older villagers, who had experienced the blood moon more than once were already living their lives like the blood moon never came, some were able to make it, still shivering, they turn their heads to our directions until we become tiny dots.

The gates to the palace were wide open and the guards less strict than their usual selves, if there was any time to invade the palace, this would be the perfect time.

We quickly ride past the entrance straight into the palace. Unmounting our horses, the palace maid takes us to the dungeon and we see him. His skin has gone pale, purple veins, the color of royalty living the prince, eyes as red as moon, his tail swooshes around slower than his breath and I know, he can only make it with the intervention of the moon goddess, luckily, she was on his side, I keep my face as passive as I can, refusing to let any emotion show across my face.

"Imelia, can you help him?", I take another look at him and the sound of the temple gong echoes in my head. The sounds of blessing.

"Yes, your highness, I can,"

I lift my moon necklace to my lips and it suddenly feels hot, I gaze across the room and I see a shocking revelation, Nathaniel, the rejected breed sits on the throne in my vision, he is the heir to the throne and not Lucas, I look at him for a long time and a deadly stare brings me back.

"Imelia, I see you came here to seduce the last breed and not to answer my call"

I almost spill the vision but I know he will murder Nathaniel immediately, instead I smile and I return back to my prayers, I close my eyes, harnessing the energy of the environment, I bless Damien with peace.

Using the energy of the trees and forests, I bless him with life, I pray to the moon goddess to save her subject and I sense a tranquil environment and I know that the moon goddess answered my prayer.

Damien is back into his human form, taking torturous shallow breaths, regaining himself slowly, his lips are dry and parched, I remove my cape blessing it and hand it over to the guards to dress their prince, I bless the lavender oil as well mainly asking for peace and calmness , the ultimate rival of the blood moon.

Nathaniel`s POV

I see her and I forget every other thing, Luna, the daughter of the Priestess, she is nothing like her mother, calm and untainted, her eyes as white as the brightest lunar moon, it makes me remember her name, Luna, she watches calmly as her mother makes incantations and pray, her lips pucker ad her she tilts her head whenever she's confused, I laugh and she gazes at me.

At once, I am sucked into an endless abyss and for some weird reason, I see her past flashing through me I don`t know if this is her ability, her magic or charm or something else is happening, I can't say, but it's pulling me in, in a very comfortable way and I don't want it to stop.

She tilts her head revealing her jade skin and blinks tears away from her eyes and with this, I am sure she's seen my past and maybe my future, we stare at each other, lost in the other's gaze until Father clears his throat rather awkwardly breaking our gaze, I look up to see they've all been observing us and Imelia does not seem happy, I shrug it off and pretend nothing ever happened, Luna`s cheeks are tainted a deep shade of pink and she looks down at the floor, wiggling her toes and searching for what I know not.

This time around, Father breaks the silence, "Imelia," he nods

"Your highness," she acknowledges his nod and bows politely.

He turns to me, "Lead them to the royal stable," and I'm sure he's doing this to get to me, make me fall in love with Luna, use her as a leverage against me and taunt Imelia to do his biddings.

I know him very well and I will not allow the innocent to suffer his grievance. I close my eyes and smile a sad smile.

"My ladies," I bow, hooking my arms with Imelia whilst maintaining a passive face. We stride along the walls of the dungeon, no one greets me, not even the guards, it's a life I am used to.

"I'm sorry, my lady, their behaviors are a bit rusty", I bow my head in shame.

"Oh not to worry, Mother puts a barrier on these guards, she doesn't fancy their attention and impulsive behaviors, they can't hear or see us' '.

I raise my chin up, square my shoulders and look down on her, my voice turning cold

"Thank you", I spare her a short simple glance and turn to face my direction.

"Do you know your destiny, Nathaniel?" I am shocked by this question, nobody ever asks me this question, it takes me a moment to regain myself from my shocked state.

"No, I do not, I`ve never been asked or reasoned with in matters that concern my future, my father says I`m useless and even more of a use to discuss my future, mother had tried to teach me the activities of the lower council herself when I was just nine, unfortunately Dad saw the files and was strongly against it, he locked mom in a dungeon" my voice croaks at the end, I clear my throat, waiting for the next remark from Imelia.

"Your mom was very brave and intelligent, the whole village misses us, she was the only one that could calm your father, she had a very beautiful smile, every day after the blood moon sets in the morning, she`d go around donating foodstuffs, helping the neighborhoods, put a smile on their faces, the village was a lot calmer than it is now, you got your heart and softness from her, you know?"

And for once, I feel at peace, someone had finally said something good about my mother and I was beginning to like Imelia a whole lot, our discussion had brought us to the royal stable and I was sad that they could not stay any longer, I bowed my head in acknowledgement, she smiles at me, "May the moon goddess be with you," she mounts her horse and the "goddess with you, my lady."

I depart to help Luna with her horse, I put my callous hands into her hands that are softer than my feather pillows, I kiss her knuckles and wish her goodbye, she replies goodbye in her throat and if I wasn't a Lycan, I wouldn't have heard. I watch her leave promising myself to steer clear of her, these feelings that was brewing needed to be cut short as I knew fully well it would bring nothing but troubles and pain.

Luna`s POV

I see his past and I wonder how a father can be so heartless, I feel deep resentment in his heart yet his spirit is as white as snow, an irony in itself, I see the path of a leader in his eyes and I can not fathom the possibility of keeping his head on his neck should King Mateo find out that Lucas, his most preferred would not rule but rather the rejected breed, I know I have to discuss with mother as I could feel his magic, strong and powerful, as deep as his resentment for his father though that could potentially be a stumbling block in harnessing his full potential, I am not a baby but I feel something strange the little moment I was with him, I had goosebumps and I'm not sure exactly why, a man has never held my hands before, to say more of kissing my knuckles and I catch myself several times on the road drifting off to what his actual kiss would feel like, I have to restrain myself from thinking even further.

I know I have to talk to my mother about my vision but I'm not sure I'm ready to go back into business mode. I feel the stares as we gallop back to the temple.

Maybe this is the reason I get along with Nathaniel, we are isolated for causes we can neither control nor justify. I wear my cloak hiding my silver hair, leaning into my cape, I slouch forward and I nuzzle the mane of Draco, my horse.

Draco is a girl that is twice as stubborn than a male horse. She let me tame her and then we became best buddies. We arrive at the temple and the priests awaits us with flowers, some flowers meant to ward off evil spirits that may have followed us, some flowers blessing us for our sacrifice, some flowers replenishing our life force and some were meant to glorify the moon goddess, we unmount our horses and walk on bare feet to the altar our legs soaked in hot oils, mother prays, this time for a much longer period. But I understand her reason fully well.

As we enter our assigned quarters, mom fortifies the building with barriers with a questioning look.

"What did you see?"

I tell her everything from his past to the present and the brilliant light of the moon goddess portraying that he is the next alpha of this kingdom and not Lucas, she doesn't look surprised and I know that the goddess has revealed it to her, she makes cicada tea for the two of us as we sit in silence praying to the moon goddess for his protection and guidance, we deliberate on ways to invite him into the palace without alerting suspicions and nothing seems to work, all except one. A dangerous risky one. Marriage