The Bitter Truth

 

It was night time in the kingdom of Alteria. The atmosphere was quiet and ominous, a mysterious energy present in the air. Everyone slept soundly in their homes, their windows and doors bolted heavily, heedful of the rumoured assassin.

It was no different for Ezekiel, the one and only Oracle of the mystic nation of Alteria. His compact dwelling was protected by two paneled, wooden doors. In addition to them, there were also two watchmen vigilantly guarding his house, courtesy to his position in the High Council.

Ezekiel was a light sleeper, thus, he heard the swish of the thick curtains even in his exhausted sleep. He moved towards his right to grab the candle torch but having overestimated the breadth of the bed, he fell off his bed, just in time to avoid a razor-sharp sword coming right at his neck.

He gasped and looked in the direction from which the sword had appeared. A lean figure stood there, cloaked in black, leather attire. A golden masquerade mask covered his face and in his hands were twin swords.

He studied the figure thoroughly and could not help but take a sharp breath as he came to realize who it was. This was the Assassin rumoured to have been murdering individuals across the realm! Snapping out of his contemplation, Ezekiel quickly stumbled back when he saw the Assassin raise his swords again. He raised his staff shakily and stood in an awkward stance. His mental capabilities were exceptional, but the same couldn't be said about his physical fighting skills. With high amounts of adrenaline pumping in his body, he made a hesitant, yet brisk swipe at the perpetrator. But the assassin was quicker. He jumped over the bed and was on top him in no time, his swords placed at his neck and right above his heart respectively. He was absolutely terrified by then.

In a last attempt to save his life, he flapped his hands and one of them struck the Assassin's face. To his surprise and to the assassin's horror, the mask fell off his face.

When Ezekiel saw the Assassin's face, he was stunned to the core…….. It was the Princess!

After knowing this, he felt like a fool for not realizing this before. Of course, it had to be someone from the Royal family, as they were the only ones who had the spare keys of every house in the kingdom. Thus, with the keys, the princess had been able to get inside the houses without being detected and do her sinister work.

The assassin too looked at Ezekiel in shock. This was the first time someone had not only escaped death from her hands but also uncovered who she was. She had to give it to him, he was a smart one. Everyone always went for the hands, which was very predictable, but he went for her face, one thing she was not prepared for.

"Princess Iris....You are the Assassin...?" He whispered. 

Iris ignored his question and circled him predatorily. "You are the only one who has ever discovered who I really am, Ezekiel." She mused. He gulped, he couldn't tell if it was a good thing or bad. Before he could think anything else, she continued. "So, as a gift, you could say, I will let you live.......on one condition"

He pondered upon her words, and timidly asked. "What is the condition?"

She smirked at this and answered. "A little birdie told me that you have a secret skill no one is aware of.....necromancy. I want you to use that power to contact the innocent boy whom you killed!" Her eyes darkened at the last sentence. 

He felt confused and offended, so he relayed it to her. "Innocent boy I killed?  ! I have never killed anyone in my twenty four years of life!" He exclaimed. 

Iris' face turned red with anger and she brought her hand to his neck, choking him. "Yes, you did! You killed my brother! Father told me the truth today! You killed Asher! " She roared. He tried to get her hand to leave his neck, but to no avail. 

"I did not..k.kill h-him! Your...f-father did!" Ezekiel choked out. 

Iris tightened her hand around his neck. "How dare you lie?! That too about my father, your King!" She gritted her teeth. Ezekiel could not be serious! Did he really think he could lie to her about such a big thing? She thought.

Ezekiel felt pitiful for Iris, for she did not know of her father's cruel acts and even though he did not want to ruin her father's image in her mind, he had to tell her to truth. "Servants of the Moon...d-do not lie! I speak only the truth, Princess. If you still doubt m-me, then answer t-these questions of mine! Who sent... P-Prince Asher to the Mystic caves? Who stopped y-you and the H-High Council from going there when we h-heard nothing from him even after three w-weeks?" He asked confidently.

Iris' hand loosened and her eyes turned conflicted as she thought of the answer to all those questions. Her breathing deepened and perspiration coated her forehead as she realised the answer to all his questions.

Her father, the king had been the performer of all those deeds........

Thankful that she had stopped choking him, he immediately took in large gulps of air. He was still panting harshly when her low, confused voice reached his ears. "But...Why would he do that...?" She asked him. He heaved a heavy sigh and looked into her eyes with as much truth in his eyes as possible. "Princess Iris.....Prince Asher was not your biological brother..."

Iris' eyes nearly popped out of the sockets at the new revelation and her mouth opened to ask him if he knew how inconceivable his statement was, but he just shook his head and gestured her to listen to him completely.

"Prince Asher was the only child of a ruler whose kingdom was conquered by your father. His mother had died due to childbirth and when his father was killed by yours, he was left with no one to take care of him. When your mother heard of this, she couldn't bear to let a one year old child suffer, so she took him under her care. King Anthony was not happy with her decision, but he could not deny his beloved wife, so he legally adopted Asher as well."

Ezekiel looked at Iris to see that she was paying full attention to him. He continued. "But your father has always been wary of Prince Asher, he was afraid that Prince Asher would kill him like he did to his father, in cold blood. That wariness only increased when your brother became of age, last year. So he devised a plan to kill him, and put it into action three months ago, when he told him to go on a pilgrimage to the Mystic Caves to spend a week, seeking blessings of Lune, the Moon Goddess."

"The Mystic Caves have two chambers, one in which resides the Enigma of Divinity, that is the essence of the Moon Goddess herself and another similar chamber which is spelled by ancient witches. Anyone who enters the second chamber is cursed to turn to wolves or rather lycans on every full moon." The wonder in Ezekiel's voice matched the awe that Iris' eyes showcased.

"The possibility of one surviving the shift is very rare. Prince Asher was specifically led to the second chamber by your father two days before the full moon, but no one here knew that, not even me." Bitterness coated Ezekiel's voice when he said the last sentence. He was angry at the fact that the king had forbid him from going with Asher, even after repeated imploration. But he was more ashamed of himself for not realising the matter sooner.

"Anthony waited for three weeks and claimed time and then, he sent large troops to the Caves, just to make his story more believable. But there were no troops deployed at all. Once all the commotion in the kingdom dulled, he declared that Prince Asher was dead, all the while immobilizing   any efforts made to search for the prince" With this, Ezekiel concluded his disquisition and silence ensued once again.

After listening to Ezekiel, Iris felt a myriad of emotions, betrayal being the most prominent one. Betrayal from her father. Although he wasn't really an affectionate person by nature, she couldn't believe he would stoop so low; that he was such a vile man! Agony consumed her being and her eyes stung just thinking about how her brother must have suffered. Her hands fisted and her body went rigid.

Ezekiel, having noticed the distress her posture portrayed, laid one of his hands on her clenched fists wanting to provide any kind of comfort to the traumatized soul. Iris felt his hand touch hers and closed her eyes tightly, wanting nothing but to let the dam of tears break. His touch was soothing, calming even, and she could understand why everyone gravitated towards him. Although she tried not to respond to his touch, her body betrayed her and moved a little bit closer to him, wanting more of his comforting presence.

Seeing her step closer to him, Ezekiel hesitantly stepped forward and wrapped his arms loosely around her frame, pausing to look for any sign of discomfort from her. His shock was delectable when she just wrapped her own arms around his waist and placed her head in the crook of his neck. He felt pleasantly surprised that the princess accepted his show of affection. Though, he also felt great relief; the princess had become very emotionally detached after receiving the news of Prince Asher's death, so this was definitely an improvement.

After a few minutes, when she had calmed down a little, she lifted her head from the crook of his neck and stepped away. Even though she believed that whatever he said was the truth, she couldn't let go of one thing though, a possibility that gave her hope. "Ezekiel, you said that the possibility of a person surviving the shift is very rare.....but.....isn't there a chance that Asher might-....might have survived?" Her voice broke just a miniscule- almost undetectable- showing just how much she hoped this possibility was the reality.

"Yes, Princess, there is a possibility, but it is almost next to negligible-" Ezekiel started but was interrupted when suddenly a loud and long howl resonated in the air. Startled, both Iris and Ezekiel ran towards the window and tried to locate the source of the howl. When they did, they both gasped unanimously.

In the front balcony of the Royal Palace, standing majestically on four legs was a humongous, wolf-like creature, its claws piercing the king’s chest. Its snout was pointed up at the full moon, a victorious, howl coming from inside it's being. With a jolt, both realised who that was; Asher. He had survived the shift!

Iris had a resemblance of a relieved smile on her face, even though her father was being mauled to death. Her brother was alive and back! That was all that mattered to her at the moment. 

Ezekiel on the other hand, stared long and hard at the huge wolf, and then averted his gaze to the moon which glowed brightly as if celebrating the occasion. Even the stars seemed to twinkle more dazzlingly, following their mother Moon's lead like joyous little kids.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and placed his right hand on the left side of his chest, where his heart was coming back to its original pace from before when it had skyrocketed at the sight of Asher. 

He finally understood why Mother Lune had showed him the truth through his visions and now, he also had an explanation for the mysterious markings on his back that had appeared during the past three months. 

He smiled cryptically as he remembered the one sentence which always seemed to resonate in the background in his visions.

"The reign of the Lycans had begun......"

 

~Niharika P-11 ISC