The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 55: The Deception

Chapter 55: The Deception

Flashback ~

- - -

Damian teleported to the palace as he had something important matter to discuss with the King.

Since he and his brothers would soon be leaving to head to Lakeshire Town, they were planning to take Annalise with them as none of them wanted to leave their wife behind especially when they weren’t sure for how long they would be staying there.

Though they didn’t really have to ask for permission to take their wife with them, considering Annalise’s identity and the fact that they were going to Lakeshire Town due to official business, they decided to inform the King.

He appeared in the empty hallway outside the royal study as he could feel the presence of the king inside. What really surprised him was the lack of royal guards that should have been guarding the king outside in the hallway.

He made his way towards the door of the study but as soon as he was about to knock on the door, he listened to someone mentioning Annalise.

His hand froze in mid-air as he became surprised for a moment but then decided to hide in the shadows as he listened to the conversation going on inside the study.

"... was successful. Now, we can only wait for Annalise to complete her task as soon as possible." The person who was speaking was none other than the Grand Duke.

"Are you sure that she will be able to charm the Dark Lords?" The King asked as he sipped the wine.

"It’s Annalise we are talking about, her beauty can charm anyone, even the devil himself. If she can’t do that, then no one else can." The Grand Duke seemed pretty confident as he replied to the King’s question.

The king remained silent for a while before he finally spoke. "Let’s meet with her so that we can discuss the next step of our plan. Once she will successfully earns the trust of her husbands, we will initiate the second part of our plan."

"I’ll see if there’s a way for calling her to the capital." The Grand Duke bowed in respect before he left the study and headed down the hallway.

On the other hand, Damian, who had been silently listening to their conversation from the shadows, felt like he had been slapped by the reality across his face.

His sudden visit to the palace had finally opened his eyes and showed him the true colors of his wife.

He and his brothers had been fooled!

*****

Back to Present ~

- - -

"You... y-you are hurting me..." Annalise tried to pull his hand away from her throat but she was no match to him.

His hold had tightened around her throat and at this point, she had almost started feeling suffocated by the pressure that he was putting.

"Why? Are you afraid of death, Princess? You should have thought about it before you planned to use me and my brothers. It’s too late to regret now." His voice was even colder now and so were his eyes that were glaring at her with nothing else but pure anger and resentment.

Annalise tried to speak but his hold on her throat was getting too much for her. She tapped against his hand, signaling him to let her go but it seemed like her efforts were futile.

"I’ll let you go if you will tell me about the plan that you, your father, and your king have created for me and my brothers. Information in exchange for your life. What do you say, Princess?"

Annalise tried to shake her head, it was the only thing she could do to tell him that she had no idea what he was talking about.

His hold became painfully tight, cutting off her oxygen supply completely and leaving her struggling against the darkness that took over her vision and mind.

And just when she thought that she was going to die, he let go of her throat, allowing her to take in the much-needed oxygen like a starved person.

The darkness resided but she still felt pretty lightweight as she tried to stay conscious.

"Now speak." It wasn’t a request or order, it was a straight warning that promised an even worse punishment if she didn’t give him what he wanted.

Annalise covered her throat with her palms as if that could save her. She tried to speak but her voice was barely audible and came out in rasps.

She cleared her throat and took in a deep breath before trying again. "I... I have no idea... I m-made no s-uch plans..."

"Enough," Damian shouted in anger as he took a step closer to her, making her retreat a step even though there was nowhere for her to run, she was again trapped against the door.

"Please... trust me... I’m not lying..." She pleaded as she felt her voice getting heavier as tears blurred her vision and this time, she didn’t try to hold them back.

She heard him releasing a deep frustrated breath and it was pretty clear that he was so done with her.

Her doubt was only confirmed when she felt a sudden powerful force hitting her body like a wave and the next thing she recalled was landing on the ground with a ’thud’ before darkness took over her.

****

"Did you attack her?" Kenric’s voice was filled with anger as he glared at his brother. It was a pure struggle for him to keep himself in check but he somehow succeeded in avoiding murdering his own brother.

"Have you lost your fucking mind? No matter how much I dislike her at the moment, I won’t stoop so low." Damian seemed equally frustrated but for completely different reasons.

Kenric took a step closer to his brother before he whispered, his tone a brand of promise, "It’s better to be true. Because trust me, brother, I won’t let you go if I find out otherwise."

Damian just remained silent and Kenric almost mistook guilt shining in his brother’s eyes for a mere second but then he was back to looking like the dumb wit that he was.

"He’s telling the truth," Valerius spoke from where he was sitting on the bed beside a sleeping Annalise. "The essence of the power that attacked her is different, one that I haven’t seen or felt before."

Kenric finally calmed down a little bit and stepped away from Damian before turning his attention to Valerius and their sleeping wife. "What exactly happened here?" His question was still directed at Damian even though he was no longer at the latter.

"I have no idea. All I can recall is a sudden force of energy that came from nowhere and knocked her down." Damian replied in his usual gruff tone.

"This is ridiculous," Kenric spoke while shaking his head as he could hardly get his head around the situation. "Before this, she was getting attacked at the castle but now she’s in her own home and even here she’s not safe anymore. Exactly what is going on?"

The more he thought about the matter, the more confused he became. He could still understand the incidents in the cursed castle to some level but the one that happened just a few minutes ago in her own home didn’t add up to the theory.

Damian let out a little scoff as he spoke, "For all we know, this can be her own plan to get attention from all of us. Or maybe she’s trying to set me up."

"Oh please, Damian! Aren’t you tired of your nonsense?" Kenric was really done with Damian’s accusations.

However, instead of staying silent as everyone wished, Damian decided to speak and of course, nothing he said sounded pleasant to the ears. "You guys are the ones who need to end your nonsense. You both already know about what I heard that night in the palace and still, you two can’t see her true colors. Are you both forgetting that we have only known her for merely half a month? How can be you guys so sure that she’s not a bad person?"

Kenric opened his mouth to defend Annalise but this time, Valerius beat him to it. "We can tell because unlike you, we know her. She’s transparent like glass, Damian. You can easily see how innocent she is. But if that’s not enough of an explanation for you, then let me remind you that she’s now bonded to me through a soulmate bond."

The look on Damian’s face finally changed at the mention of the bond.

"I felt her pain when you were accusing her with no mercy. I felt her confusion and doubts that were attacking her because of your words. And I felt the sincerity in her words when she told you that she knows nothing about your allegations."

The room was silent for a few moments before Damian finally spoke, "It’s just a bond on the initiation stage. How can you be so sure that she ain’t manipulating it?"