Chapter 111: The Forest Of Life[8]

Will be fixed soon, sorry for this inconvenience. I was in an accident.

As the sun came out the darkness faded away into nothingness, the whole world was illuminated and humans woke up from their slumber as birds chirped on the windows.

Xior stretches his body and gets out of his bed, wearing a simple white nightgown given to.

The ring which contained Acheron was still on his finger, he sensed that she was awake and brought her out. She too wore the same nightgown as him.

“Good morning, how did you sleep?” He asked.

“Sleep? Good more or less…first time I slept peacefully in a couple of hundred years.” She replied and went to the bath.

She quickly took a bath and came out to get ready, the King was away to find Meeka so until he returned the de facto ruler, Meeka’s younger brother Prince Aemond thought to show them the hospitality of the Voltaris Empire.

He hosted a feast in celebration of her return and to thank her saviors. Xior went ahead to take a bath while Acheron got ready.

She wore a white dress with a small cleavage, a golden embroidered belt was attached to it and white gloves to go with the dress.

Xior walked out of the bath with only a towel around him, just where Acheron stood a black suit hung on the side.

He wore a white shirt on top of which he wore a black coat, black pants, and a cape which had fur on its collar.

“Not going to tie your hair?” Acheron asked as she gazed at him top to bottom.

He was good looking, even with his weird eyes as most would say. The suit hugged his massive frame and he looked as if he was a Duke of the kingdom.

“Do I have to? I don’t normally do that and I don’t know how to do it either.” Xior replied.

Acheron chuckled at his response, “don’t worry, I’ll do it. Come sit on the bed.”

Xior did as she asked and she took a band and wrapped it around his hair and made a warrior’s bun.

With one last check both of them exited the room and not far away Becca, Alice and Beatrice stood as they talked among themselves.

Alice wore a blue dress somewhat similar to Acheron’s, same for Beatrice. While Becca’s dress matched Xior’s perfectly.

It was red just like her hair and it enhanced all her perfect features more. She looked stunning as if she was not a human.

“Did you both have fun together?” Alice questioned with a sly smirk on her face.

Acheron understood her and a grin formed on her face as well, she grabbed Xior’s left arm and leaned on his body. “Yeah we did have a lot of fun.” She said mischievously.

Xior’s eyes darted towards Becca then towards the two women who were the devil’s incarnate when it came to teasing.

He gulped as he saw Becca glare at him, her emerald green eyes felt like they ripped his heart into pieces.

“We were asleep, what do you mean fun … .Alice?” Xior questioned as he tried to de-escalate the situation.

“I know, I’m just teasing you dear. At least someone knows how to be cheeky.” Alice replied and pointed towards Acheron with her eyes.

“Yeah, life is boring without some laughter…I’ve already suffered in silence for millennia…I’d appreciate it if you continue to laugh at me.” She replied with a smile.

Once again, everyone present knew the kind of smile it was. Circumstances bring people together.

Even if they were not related by blood, nor shared an intimate bond, they felt like family to each other. For Xior and Becca the most as they were orphans who had lost their parents at a young age.

*****

The five people entered the hall together, it was the same hall where Acheron was accused for the first time and then later was whipped in.

She flinched as she entered the hall but held onto Xior’s arm so as to not lose herself and ruin the event for others.

Meeka greeted them with a smile, she was dressed in clothes befitting of a princess and besides her, was a tall man. He had the same face as Meeka and he wore the most vibrant and different clothes which made him stand out among the people gathered.

“This is my brother, the defacto ruler of the Voltaris Empire in my and my fathers absence, Prince Aemond.”

Becca and Alice bowed slightly but Acheron, Xior and Beatrice just nodded slightly. Even if he was a prince, Xior and the others were not from this floor and were not bound to any rule regarding the royal family.

Though they weren’t going to be rude to any of them, they knew better not to act like fools and have some dignity even if some faction is wrong.

They can be dealt with later, the main focus of the Tower climb was to clear the floors and to try at least in finding salvation for the humans from this chaos.

Aemond ignored it as he too knew they weren’t bound by anything. They saved his sister, rather than bare his fangs at them he should treat them with due respect.

He led them through the crowd towards the big dining table where the royal family ate during any social event.

On the table there were exotic fruits, food from different kinds of meat, to vegetables to fish. And to go along with all this was the finest aged red wine.

“So warriors from outside the Tower, how did you come to stumble upon my sister and save her?” Aemond asked as he took a sip from the glass full of wine and smiled.

Everyone kept quiet and Becca finally broke the silence, “when we arrived on the eleventh floor we were teleported in the middle of the ocean with nothing but a small boat which barely fit the four of us.”

She picked up the glass full of wine in front of her and took a sip as well before she continued, “we survived days on that small boat, fighting against the mermen and the sea creatures and stumbled upon the crew who betrayed Princess Meeka and were trying to force themselves on her. Me and my companions saved her and killed all of those bastards.”

It was not loud enough for everyone to hear, only the ones who sat at the table could listen, Aemond’s expression was full of anger and regret, as if he would’ve ripped them to shreds had he been there.

Then his expression shifted and became normal, “I apologize, I can get worked up really quickly when it comes to my elder sister. Without a mother she raised me as her son, so I respect her like she’s my mother.” He said and smiled.

“I understand how you feel, Prince Aemond. I am an orphan but even then I have a family, not bound by the shackles of blood. I was raised by an old lady who has a habit of taking orphans in.” He said and took a sip of the wine.

“Well then, let’s eat first. The night is still young, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about other things.” Aemond declared and everyone started eating.

The food was delicious, Acheron though only drank wine but then Xior forcefully fed her some food. She protested but soon gave in due to the rich aroma and the taste.

Beatrice on the other hand was enjoying herself too much, as she saw all the different types of dishes she couldn’t help but want to taste all of them, which she did.

Alice and Becca ate in silence but it was clear from their expressions that the food was great.

After dinner the people present in the hall left behind only the prince, princess and Xior’s group.

They talked for a few more hours and kept drinking the wine, but eventually even while being drunk they managed to get back to their rooms to call it a night.

Xior went outside the balcony of his room, still slightly drunk but not too much as to make any wrong and rash decisions.

He looked at the red moon in the sky and then across the whole capital city. He remembered his parents when he talked to Aemond about the past.

He had always thought, what if they never left…to venture out to conquer the tower. If not for that damned Tower he would be living in peace with his parents.

Even so he couldn’t live while being burdened by the past, he had to let go…of his parents…and so he did.

He yawned and walked back inside and hopped on the bed to sleep, as tomorrow he is going to meet the King of the Voltaris Empire, the father of Meeka and Aemond.

The next day came and with it the whole castle.

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