The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 266: Proving His Love

Chapter 266: Proving His Love

ZINA

The second stage of the tournament had been announced, and it was everything that Zina had expected and more.

Not only had Daemon conformed to the conspiratory demands of his councilmen who had asked that the second stage be in combat form, but it quickly became apparent to anyone with half a brain that the so called combat was in fact, not any ordinary combat where the strongest man would win, but one where the best man would win.

The flyer for the contest which Daemon had written had read thus;

They’re now over seven hundred contestants, and as a good ruler I am inclined to accept the demands of my councilmen that that second stage of the contest be a hand-to-hand combat that will be decided by due modalities.

But it is true though that The Great Beast Wolf once said, and I quote, that true combat lies on how a man fights himself and how good he becomes at confronting his true abilities.

Hence, here’s my decree; borrowing from the classics of the Self-Combat of the Great Beast Wolf, just as the great Beast Wolf passed through the legendary Mirror, the Labyrinth, and the Room of Whispers, you too shall pass three stages before you can finally stand at the combat arena.

This stage of the tournament will be regulated by the Night Mages of the North, the Tiger Wolf of the South, the Masqueraders of the Central, and finally, myself.

May the best man win.

More surprising than the fact that Daemon was overseeing the second stage of the contest himself was the fact that he was involving three of the five great evils to herald the ten second stage. Zina could only imagine how interesting the ti ur name that was becoming, while at the same time suspecting that Daemon was using this as cover for something else....

....and she suspected it had much to do with capturing the man who had been making the underhanded threats.

Zina was reviewing the ever growing pile of the documents of the Theta’s office that afternoon when Daemon’s message, delivered through Marcus, came to her.

Daemon was asking her to dress up and escort him out of the castle; a message that was as surprising as it was elating at the same time. Zina had never been outside with him, she had just realized. Most, if not all of their interactions, had always been inside the castle.

But then, she also understood why it was a necessity that the Monarch would not roam about outside of the castle recklessly. Not when there were certainly people with traitorous and evil intentions against him... just like the BloodMoons.

Regardless of her reservations, Zina dressed in a deep green dress that brought out the color of her eyes even more. The dress clung to her curves and complimented the white fur cloak she wore over it. The snow had become persistent, turning into more of a blizzard most times so it was pertinent that she was dressed more than appropriately so.

Same could not be said for Daemon though who dressed scantily and stood lazily by the coach house while about a few dozen guards, including Malik Zorch and Zina’s thirty guards stood stiffly by his side. Zina regarded the little crowd warily; were they really moving out with this number of people.

"I see this freezing cold doesn’t perturb you in the least," Zina observed warily while something nagged at the back of her mind.

Daemon was dressed in a sleeveless black leather tunic, his muscular arms exposed to the biting cold. His dark pants were tucked into knee-high leather boots, and a gold-studded belt cinched at his waist.

A black cloak with a subtle sheen flowed behind him, billowing in the wind. His raven hair was mussed, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to gleam with amusement as he watched Zina approach.

"Freezing cold?" he repeated, his deep voice, low and husky. "I’m afraid I’m rather accustomed to it, dearest. Besides, I have more pressing concerns than a little chill in the air."

Dearest? A little chill in the air?

A small smile ghosted its way to her lips at both his endearment and his nonchalance. He offered her his arm, his gaze sweeping over her elegant attire. "You, on the other hand, look stunning. The green dress brings out the fire in your eyes."

Zina blushed but stopped herself immediately while she eyed his outstretched arm warily. "Fire in my eyes?" She said, acting stern, "I’ve been told I’ve ice in my eyes though and not fire. Are you sure you’re not perhaps describing another’s eyes?"

He smiled shrewdly while leaning into her. He whispered directly in her ears, although Zina believed it was intentionally loud enough for their company to hear. "Haven’t you heard that ice is another form of fire?"

Before she could process his words or fathom a response, she was already high in the air as he swept her into his arms in a less than comely manner.

A squeal escaped her lips and she sweated she could have died then and there although their guards didn’t look they were paying them any attention, their eyes instead sweeping their surroundings as if actively searching for a threat. Zina could swear that their attention was on the regardless.

Daemon, ignorant to her protests, carried her into a carriage that was far bigger and grander than the ones that Zina normally used.

"Must you announce ourselves to the world in this manner?!" Zina whisper-shouted once she was sure they were securely in the confines of the carriage.

Daemon smirked. "How bold of you think that we didn’t announce ourselves enough on the night of the peak of your heat. I am sure your screams reached the servants quarters."

Memories of her windows shattering flooded back to her on cue and Zina turned red. She was sure her blush at that moment reached the tips of her toes and could have been enough to kill her. She hit his chest playfully while he caught her fingers in his while admiring it with a devious smile.

"What? Don’t worry, next time I will advise you to tone it down."

"Daemon?!"

"Fine, I shall make you scream loud enough that the Temple will hear you next."

The man was... Zina didn’t even know what to think, but she knew that her face was beaming instead of showing the frustration she was acting out.

"Where are we going to by the way?" She asked as the carriage started to jostle and move forward.

Daemon smirked, placing her fingers against his chest. "I was speaking with Elder Sybril this morning about our marriage," he mused much to Zina’s shock, "and I managed to hear from her that you questioned my love for you. No, you even asked if I knew what love is...."

Zina froze. She believed those were her unspoken thoughts; did she really speak to Sybril about that? And did Sybril really reveal the same to Daemon.

"I... I..." she stuttered, at a loss of words.

Daemon smirked darkly, "Don’t worry though, today, I shall work hard to prove my love to you until not even a speck of doubt is left."