Elo

"She needs to know Koren!" I yelled staring at him in disbelief.

"Keep it down Elo damn!" Koren hissed

"Koren we can't keep something like this a secret." I tried again.

"I know, but she is entirely too stressed right now to deal with this. Besides we have no clue who tried to kill her!" Koren explained

"If we don't tell her we are potentially putting her and the baby at risk," Ren stated

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

Allayna, our sweet darling girl, is pregnant! As exciting as this news is I cannot forget her fearful gaze as she explained the figure that tried to kill her.

Trying to kill the Queen!

At this point the court was in an uproar, the council was interrogating anything that could form sentences. To say the least, it was a shit show.

"We cannot tell a soul about this, if the perpetrator finds out they could aim for her even harder," Koren explained.

I am not liking this in the least bit.

"Our main priority is keeping her safe. I have doubts she is even safe in the palace, but at this point, we have no other options." Koren stated

I turned and headed back into Allayna's room. She was in bed staring at the wall. She looked so sad and so tired. My heart twisted in sadness at seeing her seeming so pathetic.

"Allayna honey are you hungry?" I asked

She slowly turned to stare at me a moment, her eyes not seeming to even register my presence at first.

"Yes, please Elo." She whispered

I nodded and quickly made my way to the hall looking for the nearest servant.

"Hey!" I called to a small woman holding an empty basket.

"Yes, my lord." She said bowing.

"Please get the queen some food would you? Something with lots of meats and cheeses." I requested

She nodded and ran off down the hall towards the kitchen.

I re-entered the room to find Koren snuggled up to her petting gently on her stomach. She did not seem to find that weird since Koren was always so physical, but I knew it was more. It was as if he was soothing the growing life in her stomach, already looking so loving.

I settled next to her letting her rest her head on my shoulder

"Allayna darling you are aware we will not let you out of our sights again, yes?"Koren asked

She actually smiled at that.

"I am aware." She said resting a hand on my thigh.

"Also you need to start taking care of yourself Allayna. Eating better and resting more. It will help you heal." I suggested

"I suppose." She answered distractedly.

"Allayna!" Prish singsonged as he entered the room.

He crawled into the bed from the foot and snuggled under the blanket.

I watched as he wiggled up the bed and settled his head on Allayna's stomach.

"You seem extra snugly today Prish, something up?" Allayna joked

Prish smiled before shaking his head no.

I could appreciate her change in attitude. Though she still looked tired the sadness has left her eyes, at least for now.

"Nothing's up Allayna, I am just feeling the need to touch you today." He admitted.

We sat in relative comfort for a while chatting about mundane things. Ren made his way in eventually settling in a chair off to the side. He looked to be distracted with his thoughts so we made not to bother him too much.

"You guys are hiding something from me," Allayna said suddenly during a lull of conversation.

"What makes you say that?" Koren asked clearly panicked.

"You are all dancing around each other as if you are afraid one of you will let something slip." She stated

"That's ridic-" Koren started

"No, let's tell her," Ren said suddenly standing up.

"Ren," Koren growled rage overtaking his features.

"Allayna it is as simple as this-"

Suddenly the door burst open and a guard clambered through out of breath.

"What's wrong!" I asked panicked

"I apologize for bursting in your majesty, but it's the king!" He cried

"What happened to the king?" Allayna asked sitting up.

"You must come to the throne room an emergency council has been called!" He announced

"She is still healing, she cannot go," Koren argued

Allayna put a small hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine I will go, it is just down the hall. " She said softly already pulling herself from the bed.

Koren and Prish fussed over her as they helped her pull on a gown and fix her hair.

Though she seemed okay to walk, we still helped her to the throne room. Once we entered the noise quieted down as everyone watched Allayna make her way to the throne and plop down in the seat.

We stood off to the side noticing the old king and queen already by Allayna's side almost protectively.

"What is going on?" She asked

A councilman stepped forward.

"Your Majesty we received a letter by carrier just moments ago. He was not from our kingdom. Once he delivered it he fell to the ground in death." The councilman stated as he presented the letter.

The old king snatched the letter reading through it quickly before speaking.

"It says that they have Ari, and in exchange for him, we must give them Queen Allayna. "

Ari

It was a stupid plan to being with, I knew that.

It was simple Tori and Allon were to go into the kingdom under the guise that they were traveling clergymen from the southern kingdom. Once inside they were to do some investigating, and gather intel. Erin and I lie in wait right outside the palace in case anything happened. What I had not expected was the ambush.

We made camp a little ways outside the palace grounds. Erin took the reigns on it since he had experience.

Apparently, he did some traveling and participated in a few wars in neighboring kingdoms.

We made sure to move every night in an effort to leave no trail. If anyone did see us we pretended to be a band of travelling merchants that were there for the festival. Apparently, we came during the Winter Solstice Festival. The festival was a big deal in this kingdom as it is a memorial for the previous king and queen. I thought it sickening that the current king would hold a memorial for the brother he murdered.

It was a cold winter night, we could hardly sleep a feeling of dread settled over the camp. I had sent twice as many patrols during the day, but they all came back with nothing. Even then I could not shake the feeling that something bad was to happen if we stayed there any longer. It was too cold to really set camp anywhere else and my men were getting tired, weary, and sick.

"Your majesty this is the fifth patrol today," Ingrid questioned obviously worrying over me.

"I just cannot help this bad feeling," I admitted

"We cannot move your majesty if something happens we have to believe we can defend ourselves." She stated

I nodded but something in me did not believe this.

It was in the middle of the night when they attacked. Considering how many of my men were down and out it was the perfect time.

All I heard was a distinct whistle before they bared down on us like a pack of hungry wolves.

It happened so fast the screaming and blood. I drew my sword fighting off the first two fools that challenged me. I managed to fight my way to the center of the camp and surveyed the scene. It was bad they attacked us with far more manpower than we had. Then again we were just a small group there to help get Tori and Allon out if need be. It was a massacre, and I was glad I left Mir behind.

"Stop!" A voice bellowed over the sounds of fighting.

I zeroed in on where the voice came from and watched in horror as a familiar face slithered from the shadows.

"Ari Ari Ari, You are rather bold aren't you?"