Chapter 178: You Took Her

Vaughn Olsten had a sour look on his face as the messenger from Verlassen gave his report. The sour look soon turned to horror.

"Do you know who may have stopped the tsunami?" Vaughn asked as he gripped his seat.

"It’s not part of the official report, Your Eminence, but the rumors point to the High Alpha’s daughter, Maya, and right now she is missing. Taken away, if you will, by some strange woman with black hair and blue eyes. Alpha Keenan pleads with Your Eminence to give him any information if the description means anything to you."

"Where is he?" He asked through a tight jaw.

"Grendale," he replied. "He went to speak to Alpha Claude."

"Send them a message to come to me as soon as possible. It shouldn’t be later than today."

"Yes, Your Eminence."

"Is there anything else?" Vaughn asked as a strange coldness spread all over his body.

"No." The messenger shook his head.

"Be on your way then."

The young messenger, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, bowed and stepped out of the Alpha King’s privy chambers.

Vaughn leaned back on his seat with a hand to his mouth. It shook slightly, and with his free hand, he gestured toward the guard behind him.

"Get me the High Alpha."

The guard nodded and stepped toward the closed door. He opened it, and Vilhelm appeared with his cane.

"High Alpha," he said with a bow.

"Leave us! All of you," Vilhelm ordered as he stepped into the privy chambers.

They all turned to look at the Alpha King. "You heard him," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, Alpha," they said with a bow.

"And don’t come in until I give the order," Vilhelm yelled before shutting the door.

"You had her!" Vaughn’s voice echoed in the small space. "The whole time, you had her." He grabbed the arms of his seat hard enough to snap the wood.

"I saw the messenger. He gave you the news from Verlassen, didn’t he? My daughter has been kidnapped."

"What? Have you lost your mind?" Vaughn yelled and jumped from his seat. He marched toward Vilhelm. Poking him in the shoulder, he yelled, "She is not your daughter, and you know that."

Vilhelm swatted his hand away. "Yes, she is."

"You are a lunatic. How did I not see it? Did you do it then? Did you kill Virgil?" Vaughn asked with wide eyes, his face devoid of color.

Vilhelm glared at him. "Step back. You are in my face. My daughter is missing. Stop accusing me of something I didn’t do and focus on what’s important here. We have to send out troops to the Mad Witch’s Kingdom. She is the lunatic that has relentlessly attacked us for years. She killed Claude’s father for no reason."

He covered his face with his palms, shaking his head. "You killed him, didn’t you? That night she was so convinced it was one of us he went to see, but I refused to believe it. I mean, you hated their union, but surely not enough to kill your own brother. Then you sent Claude’s father. You knew there was a curfew. What did you say to him that convinced him to go?"

"Vaughn, calm down. You are making untrue assumptions," he said and placed his hand on his shoulder. "She is just doing this to get back—"

"Don’t touch me!" He stepped back with wide eyes. "You knew there was a curfew after her husband was brutally murdered, but you sent Claude’s father. What did you say to him? How did you convince him to go? You know Azura isn’t merciful. You were counting on that, weren’t you? You knew she would execute him, no questions asked. She was looking for her husband’s killer. Anyone who broke the rules must be him."

"Vaughn, you are letting her get to your head. She is just a murderous Mad Witch."

"You used the execution commotion to kidnap her baby! You did it! It wasn’t a lie. All these years, you took her."

"I didn’t take anyone, nor did I kill Virgil. I only sent Claude’s father to help. She was convinced one of us did it. I wanted her to see otherwise."

"But there was no otherwise. You did it. And pushed us to have a war. You insisted she was crazy and a lunatic and must have killed Virgil so she could do this—to take over our lands. You said a lot of things, Vilhelm."

"Listen to me, Vaughn," he said, stepping closer. "We have to get my daughter back. Send the troops. She attacked Verlassen. If it weren’t for Maya, the town would be destroyed and, worse, the kingdom. That was her plan all along. She and her evil powers."

"We will do no such thing! I’ll have you executed! You killed Virgil! Your own little brother! How could you? How could you do this to your family?"

"Executed? Vaughn. Did you not hear what I just said? She is turning us against each other."

"I’ll send for the guards this instant and have you thrown in the dungeons. We have no need for a trial."

Vilhelm’s dark eyes darkened some more. "You wouldn’t dare? I didn’t kill Virgil. You’ll be killing me because you let the Mad Witch get to you."

"Gua—"

It was so fast Vaughn didn’t have a chance to protect himself. Vilhelm lifted his cane and struck—but it wasn’t the foot of his cane. The outer shell had fallen off, revealing a spear, and Vilhelm had plunged the sharp tip right into his heart.

Horror drained the blood from his face faster than his bleeding heart. "Vilhe—"

The shiny silver glinted as blood poured out of his chest. He staggered backward, spilling more blood, and Vilhelm plunged the spear deeper.

He stretched out his hand, but he couldn’t reach his brother. He clawed at the air as his heart struggled to beat against the obstruction and failed.

He grabbed the spear. "Ellie," he gasped. His arm slid off, and he collapsed to the ground.

His blood poured out in a rush, staining his clothes and the embroidered carpet that covered the floor of his privy chambers. The light in his eyes went out as his heart stopped beating.

Vilhelm stood over his brother, watching. He was careful not to step on the blood that was spreading over the carpet.

He wiped the silver blade on Vaughn, getting off the blood as best as he could. He stared at his brother with indifference as he stepped back and left the room, locking it.

---

"Tragedy has struck!" Vilhelm’s voice echoed all over the courtyard as Claude and Keenan arrived at the palace.

Guards were lined up on the grass, and Eleanor stood in the corner, inconsolable. Her maid kept trying to hold her, but she flung herself on the ground.

As soon as Keenan had arrived in Grendale, Claude had requested they go to the King. They didn’t even meet the messenger before they set off.

"Oh, terrible tragedy has struck. Not only was Verlassen attacked by the Mad Witch, but the Alpha King has been murdered!"

Eleanor let out a loud cry that echoed all over the courtyard, and guards whispered amongst themselves.

"I do not know how she infiltrated the castle, but a Mad Witch she is. We can only assume she used some of her evil magic—the same one she used to attack Verlassen."

He paused as he stood on the podium overlooking the members of the palace who had gathered in response.

"We thought this war was over, but alas, she was only biding her time. We can’t let this go without due justice. Our Alpha King was murdered! Justice!"

"Yes!" Cheered the crowd.

"Tonight we mourn, but soon, we prepare for war. We won’t let her come to us. We will take back what we are owed!"