Chapter 59
The rest of the morning, the King and his Queen walked around Asmoria, watching as their people relaxed on their day off. It was pleasing to see how safe their people felt and how happy they were. It was the reminder of the Asmoria that Miroslav had promised to create when his father had passed on. Maybe lie wasn’t yet at his goal, but the kind of tranquility in a land where the residents were beasts in their own kind, was what hope and home looked like.
Do you like children Ralphine asked as they walked around. It was a question so out of the blue and the King’s first thought was the decision they had made together earlier.
For a moment he was taken back to the time when he told her that they didn’t have to have kids and that they needed to have a good place to raise their kids. It was no lie that Asmoria wasn’t ready for the crown prince or princess yet, but M had hoped that it wouldn’t affect her so much. However now that they were standing here watching as the children ran around, Miroslav wondered if this was the test of his relationship with his Queen.
“I’m sorry if the decision was not easy on you,” the King said and Ralph looked at him as if to ask what he was talking about.
“What decision?” Ralph asked before she realized what he was thinking.
“Oh. Ibrahim. I didn’t mean that, my love. I just asked if you like kids. This is not to take back our decision on us having pups this soon, trust me.” Ralph said and the King stared at her softly This girl always had a way with her worlds and if the roles were reversed, Miroslav was sure he would have fallen head over heels with her long before she even said hello. She was perfection and he loved her with all of him. Staring so lovingly at her, he knew he hadn’t made the wrong choice when he told her she had the freedom to choose him or not. This was home. She was his dear home, and hells be damned, he wouldn’t let it be ruined.
“Our decision” the King asked,
“Of course. Our decision. Whatever we do, we do it together. Even if we go to hell. We will go there together,” Ralph said, kissing the King gently on his lips like that was to make the tension go away.
“I like it when you say ‘our,” Miroslav admitted.
Then I’ll use it more often… But before that, you didn’t answer my question, my love,” Ralph said as she held onto the King’s arm, as they watched the little kids. They looked happy, running around without a care in the world. These children were like little butterflies that needed to be protected so they would grow into beautiful people. They looked so kind and their smiles were infectious. They looked like what happiness was supposed to look like in real life, and standing there Ralph loved the innocence that was radiating on their faces.
The children were a blessing to the Kingdom and that much Ralph knew. Her parents had long taught her that. It was just unfortunate that life hadn’t been kinder to her family. Maybe her parents wouldn’t have been able to watch her kids grow up into good people, humane versions of her and Miroslav, the ultimate bomb but the kind that wouldn’t blow unless provoked. Oh, how Ralph missed her parents. Yet right now, she was curious to know whether Miro liked children. That was a significant aspect of their relationship and how their family would be in the future.
“Of course, I may be a monster, love, but my heart is always with the kids. They make our Kingdom look lively. They radiate love and purity, the kind that we adults don’t have. The children remind us that there is something worth fighting for. Over the years, I realized that my parents did their best to protect me Granted I turned out to be a devil, but they protected my innocence the best that they could. They taught me that I needed to find something to come back home to. Something to protect.
“You know, in war, when warriors go to battle, if we don’t have anything anchoring us home, then the war is just a burial field. for us. It’s like we go to fulfill our duties to the kingdom and that’s it. We used to be hollow warriors, people who just fought
around. for the thrill of fighting and without a purpose. But Polina taught us that there was more to life. She taught us that even though we were broken by the years of war, we could think of the smiles on the faces of the children as they ran
“At first we did think it was a silly idea, really. Going to kill people while thinking of innocent kids We thought it was bullshit, but sooner we realized that the children were the greatest reminder that long before the wars ruined us, we had been kids too; children so innocent with nothing on our minds other than the next game with our friends, or the next time
1/3
Mon, Nov 18 E
Chapter 59
851
we got mischievous. We were happier when we were kids. So, anchoring ourselves to the kids was the best way to stay sane, and it worked.” Miroslav said, though fully.
It was obvious he was thinking of Polina and honestly Ralph couldn’t blame him. The idea that the fallen warrior had planted in them made them more humane. A man who loved kids and worked so hard to make the kids happy, wouldn’t be a monster, by all means. No one who was the devil wanted to be linked to children as the reason for sanity. And that got Ralph smiling and happy. She didn’t comment on the fact that Miro had thought of Polina, no. She was smart enough to know that just because Polina had made a cruel mistake when it came to her, didn’t mean that she had been a moisture in the end.
“Well, she was right. Love keeps us going, and children are the greatest form of love. That said, you are not a monster, Ibrahim. You never have been. You are just a King who protects his people fiercely and rallies all cards on the table for th That only makes you a good king and guardian of Asmoria. You, my love, are the pride of the realm, and I’m sure every knows that Ralphine said proudly and Miroslav let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Ralph would be mad when he mentioned Polina, but once again, his woman proved to him that there was more to life than jealousy.
“Tell me, askim. How was your life in Koslov, away from the horrors of the cruel leadership?” Miroslav asked, and Ralphine looked up at him.
This was a crazy situation.
All of Ralphine’s happy memories had Alpha Bashir in them. The same alpha who had walked out earlier. The same alpha who had been open with his affection for her from the very beginning, the same alpha who had sworn to protect her from everything, even if that included Miro. This was a dangerous game and Ralph knew she had to think hard before she gave her answer to the King-
If she talked about Bashir, there was a chance that she would come off as an enabler of the man. Then again, maybe Miro wouldn’t be offended just like Ralph hadn’t been offended when Miro talked about Polina, right? This was about their best friends, who held the most precious bits of their memories, yeah? Well, Ralph wasn’t in the mood to work that She wasn’t in the mood for an argument, just when things were finally getting in order. She had to think of something else.
“It was beautiful and simple, definitely worth protecting with our lives. Just like the kids were, we were happy to live. Sure, my parents worked in the mines and had a higher chance of getting infected with different diseases, they always came home smelling like they had the best day of their lives. They were always happy, even if Papa came home with scars from the quarry. The stench of the quarry was harsh on them, but when they came home, they made me feel like I was the light of their world. We were poor, but at least we were happy. It didn’t matter that the pack was worried I would become a stone in the future because of my indifference to everything. The only thing that mattered was that I had my parents.
“They were what love looked like to me. They were my reason for enduring everything. I guess that’s why it was so easy for me to leave Koslov when they were burnt at the stake. I didn’t know how to live a life without them. I could handle the pain of Drescher’s lashes, but the pain of watching my parents die, and the pain of realizing that all that time, I was a young royal, I couldn’t handle it. I guess I was also angry at the alpha because he could have saved us.
“If my papa didn’t want to lead the life of a royal, Alpha Rykov could have given him another alternative. He could have let my parents live a decent life. Instead, he watched as they toiled in the mines, came home hurt, and smiled at me like I was everything to them. That alpha should have figured out how to fix the family, but then what’s done is done, I guess,” Ralphine said as she looked at the running kids.
She had so many memories of Koslov, a time when she was truly happy. Sure, Alpha Bashir had left a few months later, but they had been happy. They didn’t have to worry about anything as long as they had each other’s backs, They were a unit, one that the universe broke and was now trying to bring together in the worst of ways. Sometimes fate was really a bitch to people, but then it wasn’t like there was hope somewhere waiting for them, right? Perhaps they had to live through the pain and see what they wanted in the end. It wouldn’t be easy for them, but thankfully they had each other.
“They sound like cool people,” King Miroslav said and Ralph snorted at the King’s tone.
“What?” Ralph asked as she tried to control her laughter.
“Cool people? Well- Miro sald and Ralph just laughed again.
12:10 Mon, Nov 18
Chapter 59
851
“You would like those old people trying so hard to fit in with the younglings, Ibrahim,” Ralph said and the King pouted at her. He was however glad that he had managed to make her laugh even though she was talking about her sad memories. It wasn’t what he could get from her, but then he had promised to make everything better for her, and he would do just that. regardless of what happened.
“I’ll make them pay. Ralph,” the Lycan King said when the queen was amazed to get a hold of herself. He could see the Lycans watching in the distance and they looked happy.
Perhaps it was right when someone said that happiness was infectious, because even though there wasn’t much to be happy about, Ralph’s happiness was putting a smile on the faces of their people. There was hope for both of them. The hope that things would be alright eventually. The hope that regardless of what happened, they wouldn’t have to live in the shadows any longer, and more than anything, there was hope that the King was a few steps closer to happiness. That was every Lycans prayer to the deities, daily.
“Come, let’s play with the kids!” Ralph said and the King nodded understanding before he felt his Queen throw him to the kids. It was like he was the key aspect in all of this, but where was the lie?
As the King and Queen played heartily and carefreely with the kids, Alpha Bashir watched from a distance too. He hadn’t been sure what good the King was for his best friend, and even though he had seen Ralph laugh and be happy with Miro, Bashir was not going to let go. He was determined to be sure his best friend was happy. But until then, he would watch her as she interacted with kids, something that reminded them of their past.
“You always had a good heart, Meri Shehzadi,” Bashir said proudly as he watched them..
