SWNOVELS Chapter 7
A few hours later in the kingdom of Clanbella...
King Bellamy was sitting on his throne. He had been nearly demented with worry about his granddaughter who had gone missing for a week and was never heard of again.
All of a sudden, the throne room doors swung open and several soldiers marched into the room. They knelt before their king with their heads bowed.
“Your Majesty,” they greeted in chorus.
King Bellamy gestured for those soldiers to stand up and they all meekly did as they were told.
“Are there further developments in the search of my granddaughter?” King Bellamy demanded.
Yes, since his granddaughter fled from her wedding a week ago, King Bellamy had sent out search parties to look for the runaway princess, and now, he was waiting for a progress report on the search from his men.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, we haven’t found out Princess Mirabelle’s whereabouts yet,” Robert, one of the soldiers who was in charge of searching for Princess Mirabelle answered.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” another soldier, Johnathan, added, “We’ve searched high and low for Princess Mirabelle, but she’s nowhere to be found.”
The other soldier, Vincent said,
“We also have had our people watching Princess Mirabelle’s adoptive parents’ house for a few days as you have instructed, Your Majesty, but there is no sign of Princess Mirabelle anywhere.”
King Bellamy clenched his fists in anger. “Have you looked for her in the werewolves’ territories?”
Robert hesitated before replying, “No, Your Majesty, we haven’t.”
King Bellamy thumped the arm of his throne vehemently. “You should have looked for her in the werewolves territories. I’m sure they hide my granddaughter from me in one of their packs.”
“But Your Majesty, if the werewolves catch us sending our spies to infiltrate into their territories in order to look for Princess Mirabelle, I’m afraid that it might lead to the outbreak of war between the vampires and werewolves,” Jonathan said apprehensively.
“If a war were what I needed to get my granddaughter back, I’d be glad to declare war on the werewolves,” King Bellamy stated coldly.
“Please don’t make rash decisions, Your Majesty!” Vincent implored, “If we go to war, thousands of innocent civilians will be killed in battle along with our soldiers.”
King Bellamy grudgingly admitted that the soldier was right. He’s a king, so he couldn’t be an egotist by sacrificing his people for his own advantages.
“Vincent is right, Your Majesty,” Robert agreed with his friend, “You’d better think carefully before deciding to declare war on the werewolves. Besides, we aren’t certain whether Princess Mirabelle is in the werewolves’ territories or not. However, Princess Mirabelle is a half-blood vampire, so I doubt that the werewolves will allow her to stay in their territories.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Jonathan, “We can’t launch an attack on the werewolves blindly. You don’t want other vampire kingdoms to turn against us if they find out that we break a truce between the vampires and the werewolves, right?”
“You all are right. Then, what should we do now?” the vampire king wondered.
“Why don’t we ask for Lord Sigmund’s help, Your Majesty?” Robert suggested, “Lord Sigmund managed to find Princess Mirabelle after she’d gone missing for 17 years. And this time, I am sure he will be able to find her again.”
King Bellamy flew into a passion at the mention of Sigmund’s name. He jumped to his feet, and in a split second, he already stood before Robert. The vampire king grabbed the soldier around the throat and squeezed, then he lifted him off the ground using his supernatural strength.
Robert struggled for breath because his airways were cut off. He tried to prise King Bellamy’s fingers from his neck, but failed miserably, because the vampire king was much stronger than him.
“Don’t you dare mention that traitor’s name in front of me ever again! Do I make myself clear?” King Bellamy flared at him.
The vampire king was furious with Sigmund. He put so much trust in the vampire whom he had regarded as his own son, but Sigmund betrayed him instead and let him down. Now, King Bellamy didn’t want to see Sigmund’s face anymore and he didn’t like when he heard people mentioning his name in front of him either.
“Ye—yes, Yo—your Ma—majesty. I—I get it. I—I am sorry,” Robert managed to gasp out a reply.
King Bellamy finally let go of Robert, and he crumpled to the floor, panting for breath. When he could breathe normally again, one of his friends approached him and helped him to his feet.
“Keep searching for Princess Mirabelle! And don’t you dare return here before you can bring my granddaughter home!” King Bellamy commanded.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” all the soldiers said in unison.
At last, King Bellamy dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
The soldiers made a formal bow before they rushed out of the throne room to carry out their king’s order.
“Wherever you hide, I’ll eventually find you, Mirabelle. And you’ll be sorry if I catch you!” King Bellamy said to himself through clenched teeth.