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Cyrus

T he screaming never stops. More servants scramble to placate my son as he stands in the center of the room, screaming until he’s red in the face. Fat tears stream down his cheeks as he tosses his head back, screaming at the sky for his mother.

“Mama! Mamama! Mama!” The sound forces my heart to swell as the ache grows deeper.

I am responsible for this. I sent his mother away, leaving her vulnerable and unprotected. And now she’s gone, leaving both of us in disarray.

“Here, young prince!” A servant kneels before Ciel, holding yet another brand new toy. But he ignores it, and her, wanting nothing to do with either. It’s physically painful to hear his wails like this—to see the strain he places on himself. Beast children feel emotions much more intensely than adults. They understand the vast world around them but don’t have the proper tools to navigate it yet. Their emotions come at them in full force, and they are unable to comprehend why or what to do to soothe them.

In all honesty, I feel like Ciel. I felt Annalise for the first time since she was taken. She used my seal. At the time, I was excited that she was using it. It meant she was alive and not giving in to whatever was happening to her. But my initial excitement has transformed into dread as the reality of what it truly means has settled in. Her use of my seal is not good. It means she was backed into a corner and used it as a last resort, not caring about the repercussions. The intensity of the power she called for concerns me. It indicates to me that she was in a panic and had no limit on what her body was outputting.

And now, I wait to feel her again so that I can feed my power into her through the seal. So that she knows it can protect her, and that she is safe using it. It’s the only thing keeping me sane.

I’m pulled from my thoughts when Ciel suddenly begins to radiate a black smog. It’s faint, but it lightly seeps from his skin as his screams grow more frantic. I quickly move from the doorway, dismissing the servants in attendance.

“Everyone out,” I say.

Everyone immediately clears out, and Ciel quiets down to look in my direction as I enter the room. His wide eyes study me, and my chest once again aches as I lift him up, holding him in my arms. He continues to choke on his tears as he tries to calm down, studying me.

“I know. I know you miss her. I miss her too,” I say softly, pushing his wispy white strands from his face. His skin is warm, I note, further pulling my concern. Beast children don’t usually exhibit their ability to shift until they are at least four. But Ciel just did, even if it was for a split second. And he’s only one. This is new territory for me. I don’t know if Annalise, being his mother, has weakened him because she is human or somehow made him stronger, seeing as she was specifically bred to withstand beasts’ power. It never occurred to me that she was anything other than human. But now, I wonder if by using beasts’ blood to create hunters, they somehow created something else.

I release a frustrated breath, wondering if my father felt this lost when raising me. He must have been so terribly lonely, constantly having to plaster on a smile when he looked at me, knowing how lost he was without my mother. Ciel has his mother’s features, making each time I look at him another knife to my heart. I was lucky to have many paintings of my mother as I grew older. But I have no paintings of Annalise. I sent everything that belonged to her away when I banished her to the mountaintop.

Ciel has nothing to help ease his pain. Her scent has faded from the only gown that remains in my palace, and since, Ciel has been irritable. He’s only ever known his mother’s embrace. The pain he feels must be like losing a limb as he’s having to learn to live without her.

I gently wipe his tears, holding him close as I look out the window. I had a garden planted in a private courtyard for her and Ciel to venture into. I know from her time at Felix’s that it was something she enjoyed with Ciel. And it somewhat calms him these days.

Elias left my kingdom in disarray. I haven’t been able to go after Annalise because he destroyed the port and every ship in it. It’s been hell trying to patiently wait for the means to go after her. Especially with Ciel’s daily wails to remind me of the absence.

Hers and our unborn child.

Elias’s depravity knows no bounds to take a woman who is expecting. When Joan told me the news, I wanted to be excited. But Annalise will have to go through another pregnancy without me by her side. And I don’t know that she can survive that. That is, if Elias doesn’t do something about her condition.

It’s what makes the use of my seal all the more nerve-wracking. I know Annalise. And I know she wouldn’t have used it unless she was in a position where she was fine dying if it came down to it. I doubt she would be so rash if she still carried our child. Or if she was even aware of its existence at this point. I’ve tried to come to terms with the possibility, but I can’t fully accept it. Not until I see for myself. And until that moment, there’s a hole in my chest.

“Your Majesty.” I look away from the window to see Joan standing in the doorway. She still has yet to fully heal from Elias’s attack.

“Felix has arrived.”

I’ve grown as a king. Being patient is vital, and it has been more than difficult to be that way in the time that has passed. Luckily, I was smart enough to establish spies in Elias’s kingdom before we left. They have been spread all over, gathering information since Annalise and I departed the first time. None, however, were able to get within the walls. But it won’t matter. Not when I arrive.

“So this is how the other half lives.” I ignore Felix’s quip as he takes in the map outlining Elias’s kingdom. According to our spies, Elias has begun to prepare his army by increasing his defenses.

He’s an arrogant beast. But he has no idea what he’s up against. I don’t need my military to wipe his land out. Elias doesn’t understand that my kingdom has been functioning prosperously for generations. Our world was barely affected, even during the war against hunters and humans. We continued to remain fruitful during that era. Elias may have destroyed the port and all the ships in it during his escape, but he failed to realize that my kingdom is large. And I have more ships and ports in other provinces that lead out to the sea. I’ve been biding my time for weeks as I wait for the ships nearest my kingdom to make landfall so that I can go after Anna. If I traveled to those ports, it would have taken much longer to depart from those locations and make it to Elias’s kingdom—which is why I sent for a ship to travel to the destroyed port. They should be close enough any day now for me to go after Anna and bring her home.

“I will infiltrate the land alone. I’m sure it won’t be difficult to find Annalise once I pick up her trail. By then, I will have taken what’s mine and destroyed what’s his,” I say.

Felix nods, taking a seat across from me.

“And what about the prince? Don’t you think sending me or someone else to retrieve Annalise would be wiser? The prince needs you now more than ever. Especially if his power is beginning to manifest itself,” Felix says.

I release a sigh. He’s right. But Ciel’s power manifesting itself has worsened during his tantrums due to him missing his mother. It would be better for me to bring her back sooner rather than depend on someone else to do it. And destroy any chance of being followed.

“I will be sending Ciel to stay with you. Your household is the only one I trust right now. It will ease his condition to be around familiar faces. And it has to be me, Felix. I want nothing left of that kingdom upon my departure. And I am the only one capable of that kind of destruction,” I say.

Felix nods in understanding, but I can tell he doesn’t like this plan. He doesn’t like sending me into foreign territory alone.

“I will be fine. Just make sure you follow my battle plans should anything go wrong, and we will come out of this successfully,” I say.

Now Felix chuckles.

“I believe in you, Cyrus. I just hope you’re not underestimating him , is all. Are you sure you don’t want to get the full force of our military? Even you have never entered your beast form for as long as it will take to do what you’re planning. It could be dangerous for you… You may not come back,“ he says.

I shake my head.

“A year and a half has barely passed since the war against the hunters ended. I am not sending them into battle for something I can do alone… over a problem I manifested,” I say.

Felix looks back at the map, his eyes narrowing as he takes in the battle plan.

“There will be nothing left on that side of the world if you go through with this. Do you not remember the wars of old? Repeating history would be devastating. You will be wiping out an entire kingdom,” he says grimly.

Felix is very aware of the history of our kind and the original wars that ensued. It’s where my bloodline originated from and why I am one of the few left who are capable of enacting it. It is a deadly power for one to carry.

“I am aware,” I say.

“And what of those who are beasts? Those whose lives have been changed by their king’s greed?” he asks.

I chuckle humorlessly.

“Their kind is the reason humans got ahold of trinkets. Their kind has been trying to rid the world of my kind for generations. They think they deserve to exist over us because they have weakened over time, barely able to reach their inner beast. They are fearful of us. Just as they were with my mother. As far as I’m concerned, they are just as much a threat as their pitiful ruler,” I say, leaning back in my seat.

Felix nods, looking back at the map, and we both study it in silence.

I have grown in my time as king. I have waited and made decisions that I otherwise would not have bothered with in the past. In the past, I would have already made the trip to take Annalise back and do nothing about that side of the world, letting my emotions cloud my judgment as a ruler. But that part of the world can no longer be left alone to exist. They are a threat to us in more ways than one. I will no longer leave my kingdom vulnerable to those who covet what’s mine.

I smile to myself. As I said before, it’s going to be a massacre.