Ileus: The Dark Prince

Anastasia's head whipped in the woman's direction. Twenty? Her mind scrambled. Did she travel back in time? 

Zor'gan's prince Seraph was going to marry Etaya, the fae princess, and the younger sister of Ian Lachlan, the King of the Fae Kingdom, Vilinski. 

Shock froze Anastasia in her place. Her thoughts swirled so quickly that it was hard to follow them. 

Wearing purple trousers with a white shirt and a purple tunic with gold buttons, Seraph was smiling and his fangs were showing. His bat-like black wings had jutted out behind Etaya's white ones. 

Etaya was looking ethereal. Her golden hair fluttered in the warm breeze as the golden tiara on her head shone brilliantly in the light of hundreds of lanterns that were floating in the air. She was wearing a golden gown and a lot of gold jewelry. The entire combination was giving her a magnificent look. Seraph glanced at her affectionately and so did she. 

The two then raised their hands in the air and the crowd went berserk. They clapped and whooped and shouted, "Long live the prince and princess!" 

A knot formed in her stomach looking at the two people on the plateau who were flanked by guards who were scanning the crowd. Anastasia's breath was caught in her throat. Her mouth became dry. Her thoughts went blank. It was as if her brain had stopped working. She swiveled her head slowly to her left and right at people who were cheering their prince but she couldn't hear any one. Absently she licked her lips and gazed flatly at Etaya. She blinked slowly as if to register what was happening and her face became slack. 

Had she traveled back in time? Had she come to the past? But how? She looked down at the medallion on her chest and took it out of her dress. The medallion was supposed to stop Ileus from traveling in time. It was around his neck, but it broke from his neck. No. She pulled it away from his neck. 

"Oh god!" A shaky whimper left her mouth when events of a few hours back flashed across her mind. She had managed to break the medallion from his neck. The powers must have unleashed and blasted her into the past. Anastasia clutched the medallion and stared at it for a long hard time. Amazement pricked her skin in the form of goose bumps. Anxiety pierced her heart because she didn't know how to go back to Ileus. And once again she felt dizzy. This was the most bizarre thing she had ever come across. Her body got drenched with sweat. Would she ever be able to find her way back? "Al," she moaned. 

With her hand on the medallion, her eyes went back to the plateau. If Etaya had married Seraph, then her cousins, Aed Ruad and Maple were half fae, half demons. The realization poured on her like a bucket full of ice. Her cousins were half demons. She pressed her hands to her mouth. The whole situation reeked of conspiracy. 

If this was the case, then how come the siblings always managed to hide their demon traits? She tried to remember every single time when they showed the demon qualities. Their eyes would seldom turn into yellow slits. She remembered Ileus telling her that when Maple had stationed him outside her room, he had seen her exhibiting strange mannerisms. Whatever… The cousins did a great job in controlling their demon traits. 

Anastasia clenched her jaw as pure rage filled her heart. She had seen Kar'den and his wife at the wedding ball. That meant that they had come to see their nephew and niece. But the way Aed Ruad behaved in front of them—it was worth a prize. He was so indifferent towards them, as if he only knew them as allies. Though she did see appreciation in Kar'den's eyes. 

Her mother had told her that when she got married to her father, Etaya had just come back and she had two kids. Etaya had run away and got married against her brother's wishes but when she returned to the fae kingdom, she had two children with her. Somehow no one ever mentioned her husband. It had become a rule that no one would talk about Etaya's husband in Vilinski. In all the years she had known her aunt, they never ever spoke about her husband. It was common knowledge that he had abandoned her or she had left him. 

Anastasia staggered back when she comprehended the theory behind the treachery of her aunt. She wondered if her aunt conspired against her father along with Seraph to topple him. Did this mean that Etaya was the real face behind her parents' capture? Her cousins were mere puppets to her ploy? 

Anastasia felt she couldn't breathe. With wide eyes, she looked above towards Etaya, who was grinning from ear to ear, her hand strongly held by Seraph. 

This was a very well crafted conspiracy by none other than Etaya and Seraph. Her aunt must have waited until her son and daughter were old enough to stage a coup against the king. 

That day no one knew from where Aed Ruad got all the support that suddenly emerged out of nowhere to seize her father and mother. 

Now she knew. 

This was the support—Seraph was the one who must have sent the support… or Kar'den. 

Her living without her husband was just a façade. Etaya was always in touch with Seraph and was slowly breaking the foundations of her brother's kingdom. But why? Was it her ambition to rule Vilinski or was it her ambition to see her son rule it? What about her husband? Where was Seraph hiding all this time? Or was he dead in the future? The past had thrown so many questions at Anastasia that her mind scrambled to find coherence. 

But one thing was clear—this was the clue that Theodir had mentioned about. And before leaving this place, Anastasia was going to unravel it. 

"The demon Queen, Og'drath, isn't here," Jor'gas whispered in her ear.