Chapter 30 Queen Avalyn

Queen Avalyn

Avalyn

"You did good, my child." A sweet voice told me.

I turned around to see the same blue-eyed and white-haired lady smiling at me. I envied how she was always so at peace.

"Don't worry, Avalyn. I am you. You will soon find your own peace too." She said with a soft smile.

How did she know what I was thinking?

"That's because we both are the same, I can hear your thoughts." She replied. "I am so proud of you for yesterday Avalyn. It's time to wake up now, it's time to fulfill your duties. Your people have arrived, they need you."

My people? What does that mean?

"You'll know when you wake up." She said.

"Save Nikolai."

"Lead them all to victory."

"Lighten the darkness."

"The time is coming."

Then she faded away, just like last time. Slowly, and then all at once.

My eyes fluttered open and I saw Nikolai sitting on the bed, his one arm around me and the other on his lap. His head was rested against the headboard as he rested. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me.

"You scared all of us Ava." He breathed.

What was he talking about? I got up from my sleeping position and sat beside him. Then I suddenly remembered what happened yesterday. Shit.

"I killed him," I whispered in shock. "I killed a king. I killed Vladimir's father."

I got off the bed and ran out of the door in search of Vladimir. I crashed into him in the hallway. I took a step back and looked up at him.

How will I ever get him to forgive me?

"I'm so sorry." I apologized. How could I have killed his father? What was wrong with me? "I- I don't know what happened, it was as if something took control of me and I killed him," I said in a small voice.

"Don't be sorry Avalyn." He told me softly. "He had it coming."

"But you don't deserve it."

"Maybe. It was his decision to strip me away from my position as his son and as the prince. That was a decade ago. I assure you, there is not much affection in me left for him." He smiled sadly.

"He was still your father. I didn't even have a good enough reason to do it." I whispered.

"Of course you did. He was hurting your family Avalyn. And as a Luna, you are bound to be protective. He was also going to take you away to keep you as a..." he coughed. "If he had been successful, there was no one in this entire world that would be able to get you out of there." He said softly.

My eyes widened.

"I'm still sorry," I told him sincerely.

"It's alright." He said. "There are some people who have come to meet you." His eyes flickered behind me. I turned around to see Nikolai standing there still in his boxers with a small smile on his face. I looked down at myself and saw I was in a nightdress. I blushed and ran inside my bedroom.

"We will be down in a few." I heard Nikolai tell Vladimir. In the next second, he was inside the bedroom and the door was locked shut.

"Never run out like that, in that again." His eyes darkened and I quickly nodded. "Sorry!" I squeaked.

"Let's go shower." He murmured but didn't make a move.

I lowered my head as I walked past him to enter the bathroom when he slapped my butt. I jumped around with a blush. He just arched his eyebrows, asking if I had a question. I shook my head and rushed in.

We both showered silently and quickly. I kept stealing glances at him, still wondering what he was thinking. The last conversation we had was in the forest which didn't go as well as it could have gone. I didn't know what took over me. When I realized what had actually happened, I was back in the estate and Sofiya was standing in front of me, asking what happened and where I had just come from.

I couldn't answer anything because the guilt of talking rudely to him was overpowering. But I didn't feel guilty to actually stop him. I just could have handled it better. I knew that knowing what happened to Viktoria angered him and hurt him, and I know firsthand that people make irrational decisions when they are hurt. I can't hold that against him.

We both dried ourselves and got dressed. "I know we have a lot to talk about, we will do it after we deal with the vampires that have come to meet you." He said quietly. "I hope you know that killing a long reining Vampire king was not as easy as you made it seem like. You are something else." He whispered and kissed my lips. Electricity buzzed through my lips which made my toes curl. I had missed him. "The vampires that Vasilik sired and were accountable to him are now under your rule. You are their queen now." His thumb rubbed my jaw.

I blinked. What?

"You killed a king Ava, it's not something everyone can say. And as much as a good thing you did by breaking his tyranny, you took on a huge responsibility." He murmured. "If you need, I will help you in every step along the way."

"I don't know anything about ruling anybody," I told him, still in shock.

"Contrary to your belief, you've done a great job in handling everything— the kids, Rhazien and Vasilik. Dimitri was very amused at how you handled him with your polite words. Give yourself a chance, give them a chance. Meet them, talk to them, they are your people now."

Your people. The lady in my dreams also said that.

"Alright, let's meet them." I looked into his deep grey eyes and smiled. Our hands found each other's before we made our way downstairs.

I went downstairs to see four Vampires, including Rhazien sitting on the couches. On our arrival, all of them quickly stood up and bowed deeply.

I looked at Nikolai with wide eyes, not used to any of this. He just squeezed my hand in reply. "Rise." He told them.

The four Vampires straightened and looked at me with straight faces but they had...hope in their eyes?

Two of the vampires were Vasilik's subjects that had come with him. Fear grew in their eyes when they saw me recognize them.

"Forgive us, my Queen." One of them gulped. "We were merely following the orders of the former King." I could see that they were worried about my reaction.

I gave them a small smile and shook my head. "Think nothing of it, you were just doing your duties," I said and he visibly relaxed. "Please introduce yourselves."

"Of course. I am Lord Leiko's." He said. "I was in charge of the finances of the Mozog Kingdom." He was a tall, well-built man and had a certain smartness in his eyes that comes only after years of experience.

"I am Lord Darius, I was in charge of arms, ammunition, and wars." The next man said. His large frame scared me, he was even bigger than Nikolai but I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

"I am Lady Ezra, I was in charge of the people of the Mozog Kingdom." She was a middle-aged, kind-looking woman. I was sure she was more than a couple of century-old but she looked like she was in her mid-thirties. She had a warm, welcoming aura around her that I liked.

"I am Lord Rhazien, my Queen." He smirked. "I was in charge of foreign affairs. And this is Prince—"

"No!" Vladimir snarled as he cut him off. He cleared his throat and clenched Sofiyaa's hand in his. "I do not belong to the Mozog kingdom anymore." He said, his face impassive but I could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves.

"He was wrongfully banished from our kingdom by our former King and his father but I assure you that he deserves to be a part of the kingdom again, he can return home again." Rhazien kept his eyes on me and ignored Vladimir.

"I am home. This is my home and family, it has been for a long time." Vladimir told Rhazien in a controlled voice. He swiftly avoided my gaze.

"On what grounds were you banished, Vladimir?" I asked him softly.

His eyes slowly met mine and I could see the pain buried underneath the tough exterior. He had been strong for too long, it was time to accept help.

"For falling in love with a werewolf and mating with her." He replied. "Vasilik and Queen Zakyra had promised to marry their firstborns to unite their Kingdoms to make the strongest empire the Vampire world has ever seen. I broke that promise when I mated Sofiya."

My lips parted when I heard his first sentence. How could his father be so cruel? He knows he had made out there! And to make this promise without consent is just wrong! How could he neglect his own son's right just for power?

I knew there was much more to the story than he was letting on. This was just the tip of the iceberg. I could only imagine how many troubles Vladimir and Sofiya would have to go through. No wonder he treated Sof like a princess.

"Vasilik is not the king anymore. Alpha Nikolai is." I told as I looked up at my mate and gave him a small smile. He smiled softly at me in return. "He is the King to my Queen," I told the men in front of me.

"I lift your ban Vladimir, you can go to your Kingdom whenever you please," I announced.

"The people of Mozog won't be very pleased." He said cooly before shooting a glare towards Lord Leikos, Lord Darius, and Lady Ezra. All three of them looked guilty.

"Not everyone had the balls to go against Vasilik's orders, Vladimir. You should know this first hand." Rhazien sighed. "This practically rules Ezra out." He smirked and everyone let out a small laugh. Lady Ezra smacked Rhazien on his arm from beside him.

"You were his son that's why he only banished you. Sorry to say this brother, but the truth is, for whatever reason, what you did was an act of treason and you should have been executed for it, Crowned Prince or not." He said sharply. "You were lucky to be spared. Taking your side would be pure suicide. I did it because I consider you my brother and Vasilik knew better than to cross me."

"We are deeply sorry for what happened Vladimir. The entire Kingdom mourns for your loss and wishes you back." Lady Ezra told him softly.

Vladimir was as stiff as a statue, the only thing that gave him away was how hard he was clutching Sofiya's hand and his clenched jaw.

"Vladimir can take his time to decide for himself and his mate," I spoke for him. I am sure he needed to talk to her about this as well. He gave me a small appreciative nod.

"Forgive me, my Queen but we do not have enough time. We need to have a coronation ceremony for the throne cannot remain empty for a long time." Lord Leikos said highly.

"Lord Leikos, Vladimir will take the time he needs," I spoke coolly. "If he decides to return to his Kingdom, we shall forfeit our rights to Vladimir and Sofiya, the rightful King and Queen. He was born to be a Vampire King and trained his entire life to take the position, unlike myself or Nikolai. If he decides to stay here, where he is always welcomed despite who he is or who he is mated to," they flinched, "then we shall remain the King and Queen. We will choose a representative who will rule the kingdom on our behalf, who will look after everything but will still be accountable to us." I finished.

"But—" he argued.

"I believe your Queen has spoken, Lord Leiko's." Nikolai arched his brow. "Is there anyone else who has questions regarding their Queen's orders?" He further asked. No one dared to question him. There was just something about him, his glare and his voice that intimidated others. I loved it.

"No, King Nikolai." The three of them murmured.

"Now that all the formalities are done with," Rhazien rubbed his hands together, "I am hungry." He smiled. "For your type of food."

I chuckled. "Yes, I'll ask the maid to set the food."

"And quit with the Lords and Ladies will you? We are all family here." He grinned. I looked at the rest of the vampires and they nodded at me smiling. Although Leikos didn't look as pleased, I didn't bother much, he would come around.

"The food is set, please follow us to the dining room," Sofiya called with a smile.

We all entered the dining room and settled in our places. The four vampires sitting across from us. Lunch was pleasant and I learned more things about vampires—they could go without eating but they ate anyway because they liked the taste.

I learned that only a few vampires—mostly the high rankers could walk in the daylight, the rest were confined to roam the earth during the night.

During the olden times, the vampires and werewolves hated each other but after some prophecy which was most probably not true, they worked together and realized that the other was not all that bad. This resulted in the old generation still not being fond of werewolves and recent vampires— recent being under the age of a hundred years, being more open-minded

I suspected Leikos was one of the older ones.