Chapter 2 This. Is. The. End

• —Fiona—
• “But father, they always die and…” he gave me a hard glare, his eyes flaring with the slightest hint of red.
• “The servants will take care of your clothing. Dismissed.” Luna commanded and I dragged my feet, robotically walking out of the main hall.
• The servants were already waiting when I stepped out, and I was escorted to the dressing room where I was washed and given a blue dress.
• It's common knowledge that nonarchs die!
• During the one month of treaty hosting, the leaders of all cardinals try to kill each other. The reason is simple. The truce is shaking and the treaty is not as strong as it was.
• Twenty four years ago, totalitarian rumors resurfaced and each cardinal ruler began to prove that they were worthy of holding such power.
• It started when the witches held the treaty celebration twenty years ago and the rogue nonarch was found dead before the weekly banquet. The rogues took it as a battle for power and when the treaty fell on them, they killed the wolf nonarch. The wolves did the same to the lycans and the cycle began.
• It became a competition. Killing the nonarch to subtly battle over totalitarian power.
• It's why when treaties fall on Alphas, they never send their family as nonarchs. I may be a slave in my fathers house but I am still his blood and flesh. It's too obvious an action to send me off like this.
• He could as well hold a placard that says ‘please kill my daughter. I have always hated her.’
• Minutes after, the door of the dressing room is thrown open, the Luna drags me out and I join my horrible family as we walk to the main event ground.
• The Elders from each cardinal were separately seated under a tent while the kings had their table directly across ours. With the lycan king sitting between the other kings.
• The infamous Lycan king, Alpha Christian Garrling of the Lyan Pack. His face looks as cold as ice and I wonder if it's the weather in the North or just his personality. He is thirty-four and comes from a long line of monarch. The Garrling family has always ruled the lycans. He is the oldest of the kings and even from his face and huge figure, it's obvious he is the most dangerous.
• Alpha Christian has eyes that are as dark as midnight and soulless. Some say it's because of how evil he is. Standing at a 6’5, his nose that was somewhat crooked added to his rugged look
• He is popular for his highly polished Nothern accent and being direct with his attacks. Once on national TV, he told an elder it would rain in his house even though it was dry season. Indeed, it rained fire in the poor elders' home.
• The event started with the emcee being from the Rogue Cardinal and surprisingly he was very well behaved compared to the rumours about their kind.
• I would have found the programme interesting if I wasn't patiently waiting for my death. Finally, the emcee handed the microphone to my father who spoke after a round of applause.
• “Thank you everyone for joining the annual treaty event. I would like to present to you the non-monarch representative from the Southern Cardinal of Sternola, my eldest daughter, Fiona Willows.”
• The cheers that came after got me on my feet and by the time I realized what was going on, I was already standing next to my father.
• The emcee handed the microphone over to me with a smile.
• I cleared my throat, my father giving me a harsh squeeze in my elbow that basically spoke ‘fuck this up and I might as well feed you to the den of vipers’. It made me wonder if the numerous cameras never caught that action. “I…I am honored to be chosen.”
• More cheers, followed by an applause sealed the deal while I took my seat next to Alpha Elijah, all three kings giving me a look that made my insides turn warm yet made me feel as though I was walking on prickled pins inserted on ice.
• The most prominent thoughts that plagued my mind was whose hand I will die by but surely, my own king wouldn't kill me right?
• After four hours of sitting through the programme and doing my best to not throw up, the event finally ended and my stepmother made a show of seeing me off as she threw me a small bag. Like I had anything worthy of being taken with me.
• Alpha Elijah pulled the door open for me and the kings climbed in after I did, each seated opposite me. The car was an all round seater so it was easier for everyone to look at each other.
• During the first twenty minutes of the ride, the silence that filled the car was almost deafening, the tension so thick, it reduced the intake of breath I took. A shin of sweat had covered my forehead and I had to wipe it every few seconds.
• Throughout the ride, the rogue king's gaze was on me while I focused on counting my fingers even though I already knew they would be ten.
• I thought he was going to say something but he didn't yet kept giving me that look that made me uncomfortable and on edge where I sat.
• A few minutes passed before the Lycan king received a call. He spoke into the phone and barely a minute after, his expression turned grim and on the verge combusting into flames.
• “What?” Zen Alpha asked and he replied quite stiffly.
• “Palace mother just called, some group sent bombs to the neutral palace.”
• “What?!” The Rogue King sounded quite shocked.
• The Neutral Palace is where the nonarch, the general elders of the country and the cardinal monarchs all stay for the one month of treaty period. The palace is considered a sanctuary for Sternola. Controlled by a High Priestess who becomes the Palace Mother. The palace was built over a thousand years ago and it's where the treaty first took place.
• It's also where Sternola vacates its citizens when we are invaded by foreign species like the demons, vampires and the ones with hoofs.
• The neutral palace is considered sacred. Untouchable. The indomitable of all Sternola grounds. Because it's the land the moon goddess favors. Bombing the neutral palace is synonymous to a declaration of war and an indication that Sternola doesn't have the complete protection of the moon goddess anymore.
• They may look like someone just gave them a pile of shit but my heart was hopeful through the bad news. I undid the seat belt and shifted closer to the edge of the chair. “Does this mean I get to go back to the pack house?” And not be a nonarch anymore?
• Alpha Christian gave me an intense look before shaking his head. “No. It's the most horrible news I have heard in years. We are going to stop over at…” the rude interruption of his words was from an abnormal effect of a strong object hitting the car. The tumbling of it making my head slam against the roof with an impact that yielded a scream out of me.
• Surprisingly, the rogue king grabbed hold of my waist as the next huge dent splitted the car into two, rolling us off onto the rough gravel of the road. He held me tight, the sharp stones piercing and tearing through the skin of my body. My consciousness was slipping off as my head maimed against the gravel when the rogue let me go.
• Shouts were being thrown. Bones were cracking and the fastest transition from human shell to shifter I had ever seen was blurred in my vision as the king's wolves howled through the streets.
• Stale blood was in the air and the rogue king's lithe body was now a huge fast moving shadow against something bigger. Scarier.
• Something that seemed far away until it reached out to grab me by the neck. My body lifted off the rough ground to face a repulsive huge creature that smelled so pungent, it made me instantly dizzy.
• Everything was a haze of grey and black. Of moving bodies, painful shouts and tearing of flesh. The creature opened its hideous mouth, flesh shaking roar emanating from its base and revealing a sharp row of numerous teeth and two long fangs that resembled a flagella, the wet stems of it made of spines and reaching out for my face.
• I know this creature from the forbidden book hidden in the safe of my father's study. A special species of The Demons Flagellata. A monster that was created only for the purpose of killing.
• Someplace in my heart, in my unconscious state that I fell into, I heard the voice. Perhaps that of the moon goddess or the gross interior of this creature's mouth.
• ‘THIS. IS. THE. END’