Chapter Thirty-two

D amien reached out to her through their minds multiple times during her wallowing. She assured him she was fine, extremely thankful that he couldn't see her puffy, tear-stained face.

When the sun finally rose, Liana forced herself to stop. She forced herself to stand and walk back to the castle. She forced herself to join her family for breakfast and put on a happy face. Damien wasn't interested in eating, stating that he went to training.

Liana found her entire family in the informal dining room nearest their rooms. Wesley and Jasmine arrived at some point yesterday which she missed. Greeting them, she then gave Charlotte a hug. It was the first time she joined them for breakfast since everything happened.

Liana sat quietly, picking at her food and listening to the mindless chatter of her mother and younger brothers. William and Carlisle wolfed down their food then sprinted off, much to their mother's dismay.

"I swear, those boys are getting into so much mischief while we are here. I cannot keep an eye on them," Lady Monroe complained.

Wesley patted her arm. "Don't worry, Mother. The castle guards and soldiers wouldn't let anything happen to them. They'll be fine."

She huffed. "It's not them I'm worried about but the priceless valuables they are likely to destroy." They all laughed at that, her father even joining in.

He stood and gave her a quick kiss. Her mother blushed even after all these years. It was so cute and made Liana's heart clench painfully. She would miss them. She also worried over when her father's time would come. That threat still loomed over her as well.

"I taught them repairing spells after they broke your mother's vase for the third time, dear," he admitted with a laugh, her mother's face morphing into disbelief. "Now, I believe Liana and I must be off. We've been summoned for a meeting with the king."

Liana didn't know Damien called a meeting. She had been the one to propose it last night though so she shouldn't have been surprised.

They were silent while they walked down to Damien's office, her guard reappearing after being alone all night. She wasn't pleased to see it was Sasha. The woman knew her too well. She'd have to keep up pretenses at all times.

Gathered in his office stood the King's Council, Ramone, Luciano, Owen, and Asher. They were still down one mage on the Council and weren't in any rush to fill it considering the general lack of trust at the moment. Damien was explaining the map when all heads turned toward them.

Her father hurried her toward the table. "Apologies for our tardiness, Your Majesty," Lord Monroe said. Damien waved him off and continued his explanation of how they were surrounded.

"Last night, or early this morning," Damien sighed, "Liana broke through Ranville's mind block." There were shocked expletives from some. Even more when Damien explained exactly what they learned about the Original. About Zatar. She was the only one who knew his name. The only one that knew who he truly was.

"What is the plan?" Kinley asked once everyone had all the details.

"We act before the bastard can organize. As far as we know, he planned to attack on the Fall Festival. I propose we bring the fight to him. His plan for Ranville and Liana was ruined, let's not allow him time to plan something else."

"Do we know where he is?" Luciano pointed out.

All eyes landed on her. "He's in Sapphire Cove. Hiding out with my uncle."

Her father made a strangled noise. She probably should have warned him before they came to this meeting. "My brother?" he asked incredulously.

Liana nodded, unable to look at him. "He's been helping smuggle some foreign mercenaries on his trade ships." That made her think of Elias, Diego and Dahlia. She'd forgotten all about them until just now. She was a terrible friend. A terrible daughter. A terrible wife. All she did was lie, keep secrets and let everyone down. Now she was expected to save the world when she could barely remember to keep track of her own friends, let alone so much information.

Her walls were starting to crumble. She wanted to wallow again. Wanted to sink to the floor and cry until it was her time to act. To die. She couldn't do that yet. She was the only one that had Ranville's memories, all the vital information about their enemy.

"Now that the block is gone, I will look into his memories as well. Perhaps there is something a trained military eye would catch that the Queen did not," Kinley offered genuinely.

"I killed him." Her voice broke at the end, but she kept her eyes clear from tears. Kept her shoulders back and chin high. This was a war council. She was the queen. There was no room for weakness right now.

"Gods, Liana," her father cursed then wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

She shrugged him off then summoned the red mage pen, marking off new spots. "They've got about four thousand rebels divided between these locations. These are my uncle's properties. The Original is here, in his home the last Ranville saw, but he tends to move between all the locations regularly." She moved to Sancta Valles marking only two more spots around the city. "There are another two thousand spread throughout these locations. The Original has power equivalent or greater to mine. The element of surprise would work well for us if we can single him out. Take out the head, the rest of the body falls, and we won't have to wage a massive war. Otherwise, I suggest we draw them out of the cities. He decimated an entire kingdom in one blow, I'd hate to see what he'd do to a city under attack."

There were a few beats of silence while everyone considered. Luciano was the first to weigh in. "Although the surprise attack would hopefully lead to less collateral damage, I'm partial to drawing them out. I'd like to wipe all the separatists out for good, once and for all."

"Drawing them out would leave us evenly matched. The Queen versus the Original, our army versus theirs. It would truly be a battle of wills," Lord Monet reasoned.

Lord Greyson agreed. "It would be a bloodbath. As much as I would also like to finally be rid of the separatists, we would take too heavy a loss without guarantee of victory."

Damien nodded. "It is too risky to take them on head-to-head. We go directly to him. A group of our best to lead the mission with backup waiting nearby."

"I will lead with five other vampires, three shifters and three mage," Luciano suggested.

"I'll be one of those mage," Liana declared, multiple groans following.

"Liana, can we please not do this again?" Asher complained.

Damien kept his growling contained to himself for now. "You are the Queen, you are not going on an extremely dangerous military mission. Not even I am allowed to go," Damien explained.

Liana crossed her arms. "Good luck prying the dagger from my body then."

Damien shoved his fingers through his hair. "This is not me being protective, Liana. It is the law. No monarch is allowed to put themselves in danger like this because if they were to be caught, the risk to the kingdom is too great. We cannot risk you being held for ransom or worse."

"This is an extenuating circumstance. I am the only one that can get close to him."

"Not if it is a surprise attack," Damien argued.

She stood her ground, anger and fear fueling her. No one else could get close, she knew that for a fact. No one else would die either. "The dagger is the only thing that can kill him. The dagger would be able to get through his shields which he will most definitely have up, but the person holding it will not be able to. So, unless his shields are close to his body, which I doubt considering he's already been stabbed, that person will also have to be able to get through his shields. Only I can do that."

Damien glared at her, fury burning brightly.

Master Kinley cleared his throat. "Not exactly." Liana snapped her attention to him, which had the male flinching. "If the Original's blood was used to allow objects to pass through your shields, in theory, we could use your blood to create spells to breach his shields as well. Spells that would allow anyone through."

Asher patted the man on the back. "I'd find a place to hide tonight when you go to sleep," he whispered to Kinley who went ghostly pale.

"I'm not allowing that. We don't know that it would work. If it didn't, we'd be delivering our people for slaughter and giving him the dagger on a silver platter. A dagger that can also kill me," Liana reminded everyone.

"There is risk with every plan," Ramone pointed out. "We choose the best option we have and pray for the best while also planning for the worst. We have to be rational and strategic," he reasoned. "Our best option is a stealth mission with our best team possible. That team unfortunately includes our Queen. Damien is not to leave the safety of this castle while she goes."

"Father!" Damien exclaimed in outrage.

"Son, I know exactly what you're thinking. If I were in your position, I would do everything to keep Eva safe. Which is why I have to say this. Liana going on this mission is the only option. There are too many unknowns about this Original. We could prepare others as much as possible, Liana could equip them with as much magic as she is capable, and it still wouldn't be enough. It has to be her. She is the Savior. She was born for this."

"No!" he barked. "She was not born for this. She was born to live a life on this planet. She is a person, not a weapon." He paced away from the table, his shoulders hiked up to his ears.

It warmed and crushed her heart all at once to hear him say that. It was something she said to him not too long ago. Little did she know that is exactly why she was born. A bright star in this cruel world meant to sacrifice her light to snuff out the dark. That was how this world worked though. The dark always sucks the light out until there is nothing left but empty nothingness. Which is what waited for Damien, an empty pit of despair and loss.

"Son, it is the only way. You are King, your duty to your people and this kingdom come first."

He whirled on his father, his fangs out, eyes bloodshot and darker than the night, none of the gorgeous blue Liana loved visible. "Don't speak to me about duty! You wouldn't let Mother do this either. She is my wife! My mate! Your Queen. She carries my heir."

There were shocked gasps.

"Damien," she barked. "We both know that is untrue. Stop this now."

He snarled at her, desperation driving his actions. "You could be. Another few weeks would tell us for sure."

Rubbing at her temples, she breathed deeply. "I know I said once that I was more than a weapon. I wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe I could control my own destiny in a world where I had no control. But, Damien, what else could I be? The goddess chose me specifically to do this. The only reason I am this powerful is because I was chosen to be the weapon that kills him. This was all decided long before I was even born."

Damien shook his head. "I cannot allow this."

Liana grabbed his hand but kept her magic to herself thinking that he wouldn't appreciate it right now. "If I don't do this, Triaedian falls. You die. I die. Both our families die. The crown goes to a lunatic who will likely kill anyone that doesn't agree to divide the kingdom." She forced herself to smirk despite the lie she was about to tell. "And it's pretty hurtful how little faith you have in me. You're acting like my fate has been sealed. I plan to kill him and survive, you know."

He didn't reciprocate her teasing. Pulling away, he glared at the map. "We send out scouts first. Find his exact location then make our move. I will be nearby should anything go awry."

"Damien, you both cannot put yourselves in danger," Luciano countered.

"It is the only plan I'm willing to agree to. Liana and I can communicate between our minds, she will keep me informed throughout the duration of the mission and will call for backup should they need it."

Stunned silence greeted them. There went that secret.

"I knew something was up. You two always look like you're having silent conversations," Asher commented.

"How long have you been able to speak between minds?" Kinley asked.

"Since our wedding day." Damien clasped his hands behind his back trying to keep his kingly disposition despite his eyes still being black and his fangs out. "Now, the group will consist of five vampires, four shifters, four mage, and Liana."

"I'm going," Luciano interrupted. "I'll be stuck to Liana's side while the others keep a perimeter if it comes to a fight."

"Grandfather, prepare the team. You're all dismissed," he declared then stomped to his desk. Liana wanted to run and hide until her time came so she didn't have to face her fear or guilt. Damien would hate her for leaving him. She knew she'd regret hiding in the end though. They had days left together. She'd have to make them count.

Leaning against his desk, she waited for the others to file out. Damien shoved his chair back and pulled her into his lap.

"You are going to fight, and you are going to win. Then, we will celebrate until the day we are both gray and surrounded by hundreds of grandchildren."

Liana laughed, forcing the tears back. "Hundreds? That seems a bit wild and far-fetched."

"No. I am choosing to believe that our mixed blood will only have positive effects on vampire birth rates. We will have ten children and they will each have ten children. The Ashwood line will never perish."

If she weren't about to die, Liana would protest. So, that's exactly what she did although she dreamed of nothing more with him. "Did I miss the part in our vows where I agreed to ten children? Maybe three, if you're lucky."

He rested his forehead against hers. "Liana, I have a terrible feeling about this. I don't underestimate your ability to do this, but I fear that he is stronger. I fear that no matter what we do, we will lose."

Lying to him was going to kill her faster than this damned dagger. "We will not lose. Triaedian will prevail. The crown will survive. The Ashwood line will continue to rule." They were all truths. She just wouldn't be alive to see it all to fruition.

"It is still early. Let the others plan and spy for now. I want to remind you what you're fighting for."

She let a genuine smile through. "No objection here."

"First and only time I'll probably hear that," Damien teased. Liana just wrapped her arms around his neck when he carried her out of his office. This was her time to savor him. To get her last moments of happiness before saying goodbye.