Ileus: The Dark Prince

"Ridiculous mission?" Anastasia said with a raised eyebrow that was more of a warning than a question. "You think that being my emissary to the Lore is ludicrous?" 

Tamara maintained her stance. "It is! Why would I go around the kingdoms, use my connections for you? What have you done for me? You have just come to the kingdom of Draoidh whereas I am the High Priestess." She meant that Anastasia was absolutely nothing in front of her and that if she wanted, she could get Anastasia down on her knees. 

At first Anastasia narrowed her eyes as her anger agitated the magic in her chest. But then she used her control to check her magic. Yes, control was the most essential thing as far as her magic was concerned, because with every passing day, it was increasing. It could be because more and more people were now offering their prayers to her. In a calm and cold voice, she said, "What I will do to you is a more important question? The choice is yours—you want to be thrown in jail or you want to go out as my ambassador to the Lore." 

"I refuse to be locked up for a crime as small as using a vokudlak for me. Moreover, he didn't even yield to my magic. I will fight against this," she pulled her shackles. 

Anastasia tilted her head and chuckled. "It seems you don't like my negotiation. I will ask the guards to take you to Draoidh's prison, where even the lunatics don't want to go!" She got up from her chair as Tamara stared at her without blinking her eyes. 

"I want to speak to the queen," she shouted. 

Anastasia was walking to the door. She stopped, turned her head over her shoulders and in an unagitated voice said, "The queen has left your fate upon me, and so has the crown prince." She resumed walking. 

"Wait!" Tamara said in a quick response, as fear skittered down her spine. The fae princess had used her powers to her advantage and pinned her so badly that she didn't have a choice but to be her emissary. But who said that she was going to speak good about her? She was going to weave horrid tales about Princess Anastasia. She was going to make the princess feel sorry for what she was doing to her. "Please don't put me in prison, Anastasia." Her expressions were that of fear as she watched her with wide eyes, the pinkness of which receded. 

Anastasia stopped again and slowly turned on her heels to face the witch. She crossed her arms across her chest and said, "Are you sure about that?" 

Tamara nodded vehemently. 

"Then are you ready to be my ambassador to the Lore?" Anastasia asked quickly. 

"I am," Tamara breathed out. 

"And you won't falter in your duty?" 

"No!" Tamara responded, too impatient to get out of the shackles, impatient to disrepute the fae princess. 

"So, you promise that you are going to carry only good words about me in the Lore using your connections, and that you are going to work upon strengthening the ties between me and the kings and queens and that you won't say anything bad about me?" Anastasia asked, taking a step closer. 

"Yes!" Tamara almost shouted, piqued at Anastasia repeating her work profile. 

Suddenly the air in front of them sizzled with magic and the promise between them sealed. A look of shock etched on Tamara's face as she watched the magic sizzling. It meant that she promised something to the fae princess. She looked at Anastasia with confusion and anger mixed, trying to recall the words that had spilled from her mouth. 

'So, you promise that you are going to carry only good words…'

'So, you promise…'

'Promise…' 

"Fuck!" Tamara shouted a curse at Anastasia. "You tricked me into the promise!" she said. A vow to the Lore meant cold never be broken. If broken, it would take the life of the one who broke it. And now Tamara was compelled to speak only good about Anastasia and she had to use all her connections to spread her popularity. The worst part—she would never be able to come back to Draoidh.

Anastasia shrugged. "What do mean tricked you? Didn't you pay attention to the words? You consciously agreed to my proposition." She looked so cool and smooth that it rattled Tamara. 

"I am the High Priestess. Who will look after my work? You have to let me come back to Draoidh as soon as possible." 

Anastasia shook her head. "That's not needed. Your position will be given to someone else or completely scrapped. And from today your new position will be that of 'Special Ambassador of Draoidh'." With that Anastasia gave her the sweetest smile she could muster and turned to her heels to leave. Before closing the door, she said, "Your job starts effective from this minute!" It meant that she had to pack up and leave as soon as possible and that Anastasia didn't want to see her face. In the eyes of the council, the High Priestess was elevated in position, but in reality, all her powers were snatched from her. She was now someone who had to forever stay on the fringes. She would never be allowed to return to her homeland and on top of that she had to only speak nicely about the fae princess, that is unless she wanted to bleed to death. 

When the door closed, Anastasia instructed the guards to open her shackles and send the message to the queen that Tamara was relieved of her duties as the High Priestess. With her chin held high, Anastasia walked back to her bed chamber. She was especially overjoyed that she didn't have to use her magic to suppress Tamara. She used her acumen to deal with a viper like her. She chortled and patted herself, happy that she had avenged her friend. 

When she entered her room, she found Ileus sitting at the table looking at the map. Seeing her joyful demeanor, he asked, "It seems that you have achieved your purpose." 

She nodded, laughed and rushed to him to hug him tightly. She narrated what she did with Tamara. Ileus was stunned. "That was a fantastic thing you did, princess!" he said. "I liked the way you handled it." 

She held her chin high and said, "Well, thank you m'lord." 

"Who is going to help you with the wedding and all the customs?" he asked, rolling the map, feeling proud of his mate. 

"Darla." 

His eyebrows hit the ceiling. "Darla?" 

"Yes!" Anastasia hopped on her feet and perched on the edge of the bed. "She told me that she had keenly observed the customs of the wizard kingdom, because, ahem—" she coughed. 

"Because?" Ileus asked, moving his head to the right while looking at her suspiciously.

"Because she thought she would marry you one day!" 

Ileus' blood drained from his face. 

  "Oh, don't worry. She doesn't like you now. She is in love with Aidan!" Anastasia laughed seeing his reaction and slapped her thigh. 

He jerked his head back. "I am glad that she is going to help you." And now he understood what these girls talked about when he saw them in deep conversation. He walked to her and made her sit on his lap. "I can't wait for tomorrow, sweetheart."