Salazar's Caged Love

49

Salazar

Sleep was long gone for me.

With my back resting over the headboard, I laid Alexandra on my chest. The morning breeze flitting her hair, hiding the side of her face from my view every now and then. Intuitively I kept locking them behind her ear, only for the breeze to tousle them. Lost in thoughts, I was looking at Alexandra, who was in a deep sleep. Her body was exhausted beyond its limit, and before I could lay her on the bed, she was unconscious in my arms already. She looked peaceful while sleeping, but why do I have a feeling this was the silence before the storm.

One thing was for sure, Liam told her something which disturbed her but what? I know I hid many things from her, and if, for argument sake, I say he told her about the heir theory, her reaction should be anger instead of silence. Instead of making love to me, she should have yelled or raised the issue with me. She was not a reserved woman who would suffer in silence; she would always stand up for herself or anyone else.

I was still in my thoughts when I felt Kingsley's presence outside the door. Laying Alexandra back on the bed carefully, I got dressed and walked out of the room. Kingsley maintained silence till we reached my study room, and once the door was closed, he said, "Someone among us is involved in the last night's attack."

"What do you mean?"

"The rebels were well versed with the castle's layout. They knew about the blind corners where we don't have guards and could infiltrate easily," Kingsley said, and I couldn't suspect his theory. They indeed were well prepared.

"Why would anyone among us support them? They are in a literal sense our enemy now," I asked.

"The rebels knew how to infiltrate, but once we got the control, they were clueless how to exit the premises. And that makes it more suspicious. Someone wanted them inside the castle, not to attack but divert," the moment he finished, I couldn't help add more to his theory, "Or to create a rift between the vampires and humans, so there won't be peace between us."

I wasn't sure, but my gut feeling told me the attack was staged to create a problem, an excuse to go on war with humans, and only one such person had the motive, Liam. That was the same time when he was alone with Alexandra. I had to talk to her at the earliest, but I had to talk to the King before that. Without proof, I can't accuse Liam, but this has to be reported.

"Arrange a meeting with the King; I'm afraid this can't be delayed," I ordered before adding, "and Kingsley, ask Xavier to meet me at the earliest once we are back," and walk back to my room.

Alexandra looked like she won't be up soon, and I felt relieved. At least she can rest till I address the issue with the King and then sort it out with her later. By the time I was back in the room, the maids already prepared the bath. I freshen up and changed into fresh cloth to take leave. Giving a last glance to sleeping Alexandra, I continue toward the teleport room along with Kingsley.

In the King's castle:

"You are accusing one of our kinds of treachery," King Arthur said sternly.

"We have reasons to believe," I replied.

"So have I listened to your reasons. It never happened in our realm ever before. I simply couldn't believe it unless you have proof to associate with it."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any to show. Till I find them, I suggest Your Highness be vigilant. There might be another attempt to sabotage the treaty or an instance to instigate a war between the Vampires and humans. I will go along Kingsley to survey the place we caught the rebels and also the place from where they entered the castle. I'm hoping to find something substantial."

King Arthur was skeptical still; he approved us surveying around. I went to the place and found an underground passway, wide enough for one person to pass through it easily. Kingsley, along with a few guards, and I crawled through it till it ended inside a forest. The forest air was filled with trees and numerous human scents.

"Let's follow the smell and see where it's leading," I told Kingsley, and soon we set out.

The trees' thick bark showed we were walking into the deeper forest, and at one point, the smell was coming from two different directions. It was a risk to blindly follow the human trials, but it was crucial to take this step to gain the information. Dividing into two groups, Kingsley and I continued to follow different paths. I don't know how much time elapsed, but I reached a barren ground following the smell. From the look of it, someone stayed there for a long time. The unburnt woods were scattered on the ground, and I could see various footmarks on the smooth ground.

What intrigued me was that I couldn't smell the human beyond this place, as if they ceased to exist beyond this point. I couldn't fathom if I could smell and reach here, then why can't I smell them beyond this point.

"Scatter around, look for any clue," I ordered the guards and carefully moved ahead, looking around to check for an ambush.

I was still glancing around when I was hit with a pungent smell; it wasn't a human smell. Human scent is sweet due to the blood flowing through their veins. For a vampire, the smell of blood would be sweet; however, the vampire scent will have a strong, pungent smell. When I glanced around for the source of smell, I noticed a thick block of wood that might have been used for sitting. I moved closer to it and realized that the faint vampire scent was coming from this bark. It meant my assumption came true; there was a mole who was giving information to the rebels. The smell was faint and belonged to someone whom I never met before; otherwise, I could have guessed the owner.

With only a faint trace of a vampire as the clue and with Kingsley finding nothing, we walked back to the passway and entered the castle. King Arthur was in a council, and I had to wait till he was free to report my finding. Something was missing, something I was so close to finding yet I couldn't put my finger on.