The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 203. Be strong.

Chapter 203: 203. Be strong.

Oh how much he must have hated her at that moment, Neriah thought.

She walked to her shelf, opened a cabinet and brought out a small wooden box. She opened the box and inside was her dagger. The very same dagger she kept stabbing Barak with in her dreams.

She had no idea how it had left her possession, but it was all Lyle. She knew that because at one of those times when she was slipping in and out of consciousness, she had seen him twirling the dagger between his fingers and he had spoken to her then, "Tis a special dagger. Because it is the one that caused the greatest wound on the dragon, the one straight to the heart. Keep it safe."

Life, Neriah realized, was infinitely painful. The more the days passed by the more her pain grew. The longer it took them to bring back any news of Barak’s whereabouts the more she thought of Lyle with hate and anger.

It had started as an insignificant feeling, one she could ignore, but as days transcended into weeks and weeks into months, her plaguing dreams persisted, and as her longing for her husband grew, her hate for the man who had brought so much pain to her grew even more.

Her hate for Lyle grew to the point where her mind would randomly wander, and thoughts of a million possible ways to get back at him were what filled her head. And each and every time such thoughts filled her head, death was always the answer.

She barely left her room.

Her parents and her in-laws had come to an agreement. Seeing how Lyle had carried out his plan, it was certain that what he wanted was to cause enmity between the two kingdoms, to break the peace that had existed for years. He must have expected that they would treat Neriah badly and even punish her for the death of their prince. Maybe even death...

Thus incurring the wrath of the king and Queen of Avelah who would want to protect their child. Then a war would break out eventually...

However for some reason she would never understand but was grateful for, her in-laws believed her. And they forgave her transgressions too.

They had realized that this was his plan. So they had come to a conclusion to play along with his plan. To make it seem like Neriah was hated and to be punished for the lost or dead prince. They had agreed to make it seem as though Avelah and Trago were both preparing to go to war against each other just to fool whoever was watching, because it was almost impossible to know if Lyle had his men watching them all.

They would seem as though they were working against each other and when the time was right, they would join forces to attack Niles.

At the moment, Lyle was still on the top of the wanted list. They were searching any and everywhere for him. But just as they were yet to find the body of Barak, they were yet to find him too.

There plan to make everyone believe Neriah was to be punished for the lost or dead prince Barak was one reason why Neriah remained inside her room. She was not to be seen roaming about freely. But also, she really didn’t want to leave the room, nor did she even have the strength to. Apart from Aria and Riri who were mostly with her, and the other members of the royal family who visited her occasionally, she no longer interacted with anyone.

Her companion remained her unborn child and the portraits of its father hanging on the walls. She would sit there for hours doing nothing in particular, just staring and thinking of a million ways to kill Lyle of the Niles.

Just like she was doing at the moment with the dagger in her hand.

"My Lady, I am coming in." Aria announced. She waited for no response from Neriah, she walked into the room and her eyes instantly went to the dagger in Neriah’s hand.

"MY LADY!" She screamed, running to Neriah’s side as quick as her feet could take her. "Please give that to me." She sounded as though she sought permission but in truth, she did not wait for a response. Aria carefully took the dagger out of her mistress’s hand.

Neriah needed no mind-reader to tell her what Aria had concluded in her head. Seeing her holding a dagger in her hand, Aria must have thought she planned to harm herself.

"My Lady, please come to your senses! Even if it is for your child alone. What in the world were you planning to do with this?!" Aria said with tears in her eyes as she quickly placed the dagger back into the box Neriah had brought it out from and slammed it close.

Like an older sister who had experienced all the good and bad the world had to give, Aria took Neriah’s hands in her own before she spoke again... "Please my Lady, you have to be strong. His Highness would not want to see you in this state. He would weep and tear his garments if he were to see his dear wife like this."

"Aria, I wasn’t trying to do anything. I was just—" She paused. She couldn’t tell Aria what she was thinking of. How could she tell her she was thinking of ways to get back at Lyle? It would only make Aria worry more.

"My Lady please, please be strong and—" Aria paused as she suddenly remembered the real reason she had come to see her mistress in the first place. How was she supposed to pass the news unto her now? Seeing that she just tried to harm herself, what would she do if she got the news she brought?

Aria wanted to hide the news, however, she knew that was impossible. Neriah had the right to know.

"M_my Lady, please be strong. Even if it is for the sake of your child. You have to be strong." Her grip on her mistress’s hands tightened as Neriah’s questioning gaze remained on her.

"Aria what—"

"His Highness prince Raknar and Commander Alnar have just returned..." She said and she felt Neriah’s fingers tremble in her hands.

"A_and?"

"I am sorry, My Lady."

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