Lucy Wickshire 182 Chapter Twenty-Two 3

"You wish to kill me for my throne? You may be your mother's son, but you lack her skill." the king sneered. This angered the prince greatly.

"Do you really think you will be able to escape this situation? Oh.. I forget. Your new wife has some sect behind her. The Jade hand, they are called? Look again, father, those behind me are much more impressive."

"Them? No, ancients? The Ligrel clan? Even those behind you; this is the home of Lady Wicks.h.i.+re! Do you think it possible for anyone to attack this kingdom without her giving them a hand?" the moment those words left his mouth, a pressure descended upon him. It felt like he was carrying the entire Ruins of Kallor on his head. His eyes rolled and he fell on the marble floors, bleeding from all holes in his body, including his pores. Prince Thelmus could feel that the man behind him was angered by his father's words. It made him wonder if they held water. The pressure only stayed a second, yet it felt to King Larken, as though a century. He gasped for breath the moment the pressure left him, struggling to sit up in his blood soaked clothes. Soon, his heavy breathing morphed into mad laughter.

"Who rules this kingdom in the end, she already has him in her pocket! Do you think I was truly king? You do what she intends you to! She has no more need for me, I see. So, this is how I die. You wish to be king? Did you ask her? Did you crawl to her feet and beg for it? Ha ha.." the king could not contain his laughter. Prince Thelmus' vision turned red, as anger engulfed his being. He pulled a silver dagger from his side and attacked the king. The king mustered all his energy to escape, crawling backwards till his back hit the shelves.

"Don't..." he tried to say, but Prince Thelmus held unto his b.l.o.o.d.y grey hair, lifted his chin and stabbed under the lower jaw, into his skull, in a single full jab of his silver dagger.

"This dagger, it was your gift to me on my twelfth anniversary, instead of naming me your heir. It is only right that I gift it back to you on your last day." Prince Thelmus said viciously; the feeling of the dagger and his hand covered in his father's blood, exciting beyond compare. He stared into the unwilling eyes of his father; a testament of his last thoughts, relis.h.i.+ng the G.o.dlike feeling of taking a life. A rush of satisfaction washed his being. His anger half satisfied, he turned and looked up at the man in black.

"Next is that woman." he said. He could not wait to give her a death more gruesome than was given his mother.

But, the Jade hand would not be a fearsome group if they were not alert to this danger. Under the cover of night, Lady Teel could be seen escaping through thick forest, her daughter held tightly in her arms, forty Jade hand agents matching her unreal speed through the trees.

"Mother, we must go back!" Queen Raine protested.

"Shut up!" Lady Teel struck behind her daughter's neck, sending her into an immediate sleep.

"The cottage?" she asked one of the Jade hand agents.

"We are arriving." he said, taking the lead. Soon, they arrived a dark cottage hidden in the forest leaves. They hurriedly entered and locked it behind them. Tension could still be smelt in the air.

"My lady, it is as we are told. No one can see this cottage without a key." one of them said. Only then did Lady Teel sigh a relief.

"Lady Wicks.h.i.+re chose us to survive this; there must be a reason. Let us wait."