The Tears of a Prince

An endless chase. Everything had been an endless chase while someone was playing with them, pulling the strings. The werewolves, the Bloody people, all of them pawns of someone's greater plan. Slowly but steadily they were planning for BloodBound to fall into ruin and the two brothers had taken it upon themselves to stop this farce. Their kingdom had existed for thousands of years, the idea of someone wanting to destroy it was ridiculous and at the same time terrifying. 

The box had been finally found, lying in the tall grass of the garden, close to an apple tree. It didn't even catch the eye if you didn't focus. A small wooden box that almost looked like some kind of fallen tree branch from far away. Maybe that's why Astra couldn't find it. The same way Kai and Xan did not have time, the same way they had to hurry too. 

The younger prince found it, grabbing it victoriously and then both of them headed towards their mother. It was true that Cecilia had let everyone go. She was in her office, an impatient expression on her face as she watched her two sons walk through her door. She stood up, looking at them. 

"What took you so long? I had to let everyone go, they were starting to cause a ruckus." the queen said as Kai placed the box on the desk. She eyed it, suspicious about its insides and with her pale hand she opened it slowly, green eyes scanning everything that was inside. 

At first it took her a few seconds to proceed with what she was looking at. Slowly with very careful moves she took out the pieces of paper that were in the box. Two maps, one of BloodBound and one of the palace, were carefully sketched with all the secret pathways and ways to get out of the palace. At the bottom of the box she found a few pills, the ones the butler used to take his life while there was also a letter. It had been sealed before but now the red wax was broken. Xan took out the letter for his mother and the woman read it, her vibrant eyes darkening with every line she understood. 

"What is it saying?" Xan asked when the sound of the door opening was heard. It was his father, a concerned look on his face. Cecilia didn't answer, she simply threw the letter at her husband, the man grabbing it before it touched the floor and read it. His eyes widened, his expression a lot more shocked than his wife's and a sigh escaped his lips. 

"They are trying to destroy BloodBound as you said." The queen said. "They are working with the Bloody People and their new leader, someone A.A has signed the letter. They got into my palace, they tried to have my son executed, they created a mess and everything was the plan of vampires!" Cecilia shouted, her pale face slowly turning red. 

"Cecilia we should…" Aleron mumbled, trying to approach her. She still was not really speaking to him. She had so much on her mind that forgiving him was the last thing she could do right now but she needed his help, at moments like this when everything seemed to be so confusing she could only turn to him. The queen's eyes landed on the map, widening as she noticed something again. All of the secret pathways of the palace had been drawn there, every escape route. 

"Aleron…" she mumbled.

"Yes?" 

"They will be trying to escape! Send the guards, now!" She shouted Aleron disappearing before she could even finish her sentence. Cecilia sighed, landing on her chair messily as the exhaustion became more obvious on her body. "Xan…" she called her older son and he nodded. "Loyd tried to kill Lun, they caught him in the hospital room but Lun has disappeared somewhere, probably trying to save himself. I thought you should know." she said, rubbing her temples. 

"I…I have to go." Xan mumbled and she scoffed.

"Of course you do. The whole kingdom is crumbling but you have to go." she mumbled, dissatisfied. Xan seemed to hesitate, perplexed about what he should really do. Remain there and help his mother or go and search for his wounded lover. Sometimes he felt like all his life he had been standing at a crossroad, divided by shoulds and wants. The thought of losing Lun though made the destruction of BloodBound seem as if it was nothing and he felt guilty about it. This was not the way the crown prince should think. 

"Just go." Kai told him. "I will help here." he added and Xan blinked, surprised to hear him say that. "Go now before I change my mind." he repeated and his older brother ran off, hoping to find Lun. Kai looked at his mother, a bitter expression on his face. Cecilia noticed it, raising a snow white brow.

"What?"

"Why didn't you let me be with Philip the way you let Xan be with Lun? I never wanted you to love me, or accept me. I just wanted you to let me exist in peace. Why couldn't you do that?" Kai asked her. 

Cecilia breathed in, an irked expression on her flawless face as she stood up. 

"Because Philip is a werewolf and when their kind gets involved shit like this happens." she answered him, throwing the maps on the desk. 

"So now…after everything that you did…are you happy?" her son asked her and she scoffed. 

"I have not been happy in my life for more than a day, not even once." The queen answered him, leaving him speechless. "Now help me if you want, if you don't get lost." she told him. Hearing Kai sigh. She believed he would walk away, hearing his footsteps get away from her but he didn't leave, he grabbed a chair, bringing it closer to the desk. 

"I think we should start from the letter." Kai said. 

"....Yeah…" Cecilia mumbled.