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His loyalty was once mine. He never faltered and never submitted to another even at the cost of his life. And perhaps, that was his biggest mistake. He dedicated his entire existence to someone who could not defend him and his lineage. The once ominous leader he honored surrendered to the bearer of death.

How truly unworthy was that woman he vowed to serve and protect.

"Fr-eya." He said through clenched teeth. "You're no longer my alpha." He proved my assumptions right.

Rage and hurt seeped into my veins. I wanted him to regard me. I wanted him to see me as his rightful leader. I wanted him to believe in me and no one else. My fingers' grip tightened around the curve of his neck. I never thought this day would come... that those words would finally slip out of his tongue; that we would come face to face in a matter of life and death.

"Yield." I whispered, swallowing hard and unprecedentedly tasting my own blood like it's poison.

Claws extended from my fingertips, drawing blood from my beloved offender. The punctures were slowly getting deep. His pulse was strong. He was going to fight until his very last breath. He was indeed my greatest warrior.

His hands caught my wrists as blood pooled from his fair skin. Breathing heavily, he gathered all his strength to free himself, and aghast, he was able to do so with an implausible power that made me almost tumble from where I stood. My greaves slid against the pavement.

Panting in surprise, I re-positioned myself, waking the beast inside of me. My eyes burned as she pushed her paws forward inside my mind. She wanted to take over, for she perceived the man before us was putting up a great fight. And she delved deep into the fact that with millions of beasts in the world... she was strongest of them all. She was merciless. This brave wolf in front of us would allow her to exhibit that dangerous, hidden power.

I closed my eyes, fighting the beast in me with everything that I could. Hal was not worthy of her wrath. He was no toy of hers to begin with. The inner battle commenced in me unknown to our spectators. Ironically, I sought for tranquility in the middle of this brawl.

However, a loud thud of metal broke the peaceful trance, urging me to open my eyes and observe the source.

I gulped, not wanting to believe what was unveiled in front of me as his sallet rolled onto the floor. It took me a few seconds to validate the improbable figure Hal took. His face had the deepest of scars I had ever witnessed, those that beyond any doubt, came from a long-playing, unbearable torture. My body trembled and my heart as if beaten a thousand times with a flail, wept for him.

I wanted to stray away my vision from his half- disfigured face, but the beast in me was in delight. In contrary with my thoughts, she was a sadist inside and out. She forced me to stare at him.

Etched in that face was a man previously subjected to ill-being. There and then, I thought he was done displaying the tragedies of his life in Sidus, but I also knew there was something morbid hidden under the veil of black hair covering his left eye.

I clenched my fists, bracing myself for what else he had to show that would make me drown in guilt for not defending my whole pack from our crooked destiny. Brushing the long tendrils away, one eye of his seemed to have been carved out from its cave. And so did my wrath.

"Damn you!" I spat, releasing the levelling ire of an Alpha.

"Damn you..." I repeated, shifting my glare at Alexander who was watching at the back of Hal.

"Is this the kind of justice you are proud of?" I questioned for the whole arena to hear.

He sat still, portraying an unswayed facade of resoluteness. I despised him for being as heartless as Apollo. He was abominable. He had no mercy and he was no different from my beast.

Lady Celine was not as firm as her mate. In my peripheral vision, her aura was glazed with fear and an insurmountable guilt for the earl. How could she have stayed with her mouth shut regarding the brutal justice of Sidus, I would never know. But if she was to answer because of her love for this man, then I'd think of her as naive and weak. To me, she'd been a mere ship going with the tides, having no direction. More so, I thought, she had no anchor.

Spending no time speaking to someone empty and unfazed, I looked back at Hal before picking up my claymore. Holding it in one hand from the hilt, and gradually slipping my palm to its grip, the pointed edge slid onto the concrete floor, creating a screeching sound as I walked forward to the man who was once my protector.

Filling almost half of the long gap between us, I quickened my pace, dragging my sword still pointing downwards, trailing my wake. I roared and lunged towards Hal's direction, only to purposely miss him, going straight to the earl who must be punished.

The sword felt light in my hold as I gripped it with two hands, charging fast, heaving a cry from Celine Ashworth as blood dripped from the forehead of her beloved earl.

I held my breath for a moment. I reached the peak of my ire. The sound of greaves moving about the battle ground seemed endless before I felt a sword had pierced through my back. Crimson red pooled from my lower right body.

Alexander Ashworth had the blade of my claymore clipped between his large hands that saved him from his death.

"How could you..." I asked before blood went up my throat. "Hal?"

I felt Lord Dilmond covering my sight with his palm before the last of my energy depleted and darkness took over.





Cool drops of sweat emerged from my forehead and neck. The smell of spring water and ale lingered on my nose, waking up my senses. My eyes shot open, my head throbbed and my heart beat was all I could hear as I sat up. It was dark and eerie silence was commanding.

I looked around from where I lay. There came the rushing sound of the pouring rain. A sudden growl alerted me, before my eyes fell upon the sight of the beast whom I knew was caged inside my head.

She was on the loose, walking towards me. Her velvety black fur was magnificently blown by a gust of wind from the open window. How could this happen? She was taunting. She was free.

"How did you get here?" I asked, keeping my voice calm and firm. She was an alpha, and so was I.

She gnarled as if it was her answer. I remembered how foolish it was of me to ask a beast. They only knew how to gnarl and howl. What was I expecting?

"Mundus te placere non possunt." The words came out to my utter surprise. I almost believed it was the beast, but nay, it was the blue ball of fire.

The flame was right behind the beast, following her as she moved closer to me. 'You cannot please the world,' was what she said. She always used that language.

"Non potes praeesset omnibus." She furthered, lifting herself above the beast as she stopped right in front of me. 'You cannot control everything.'

I raised my open palms to catch the fire in my hands, and it did not evade me. Warmth covered my skin but it did not burn. Slowly opening my hands, the flames went higher, glowing in the shape of a luminous teardrop.

"Who are you?" I asked. She always goaded my curiosity. "Why were you inside my mind?" I added.

The pulse on my wrists hastened. A surge of grief enveloped my entire being and a drop of tear suddenly slid down my cheek. Appalled, I watched as the fire grew higher from my palms, eventually burning me all over. I needed answers.

"Who are you?" I cried, my voice echoing all over the chamber. I could feel her shrouding my entire body, claiming it, deeming it hers.

"Dip her in the water!" Another voice surfaced.

Darkness was spent. It was beginning to be tranquil but the voices around me were of panic, anxiety, and of doubt. My vision was spinning, blurred by the tears that came out without permission. It was as if I was no longer taking hold of my body but I was conscious of everything else around me.

"She is hallucinating, milord."

"Freya, you cannot die here." Lord Dilmond's voice? I knew it was him but my eyes were hooded and I could not voluntarily clear my vision. There was numbness governing my system, but a prickling heat was fighting it.

"Do something!" Anger laced his words. My breath was steamy and my eyes burned.

There was something cold that penetrated my skin, and the pain of it stung me like the scythe of death. I groaned and trashed as the foreign object moved in and out of my back. I screamed as blood rose from my throat and gashed out of my nose, enervating me. Was this equal to Hal's pain? I felt dizzier at the thought of him and his torture. I only wanted to avenge him.

"We have to dip her in the spring, milord!"

Lord Dilmond Langley's worried face was the last thing my vision captured beforre my body went limp in his arms. Forgotten was the blue ball of fire, my beast, and Hal's betrayal as everything blacked out. The memories were frail and so was my consciousness.

Birds hummed a beautiful lullaby as ripples of water drenched my skin. Slowly taking a glance, I was enthralled by the clear blue sky that welcomed me. Water brimmed around my nose, and my hearing was a bit clouded as I realized my ears were quite submerged. A familiar figure held my body as I floated in the tranquil spring.

Apollo.

"Are you conscious?" He asked. Composed as ever, his effervescent aura made me recognize him.

"Aye. I think..." I slurred, not wanting the water to flow into my mouth.

"You're in your clothes... aren't you cold?" I blurted and noticed. It was a moment of repose. Somehow, I was less agitated by the Duke's close presence. Or was there something about this place that made it less aggravating?

"I should be the one asking." Apollo replied, humor finally lacing the deep tone of his voice. I wanted to chuckle but my body weight was beginning to pull me down. I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes, being one with the peacefulness of this paradise.

"Do you remember what happened?" His voice resurfaced. His question was answered on the dot inside my head. I hoped not to replay the unprecedented downturn of my visit in Auriga. The memory of it was painful that I wanted to bury and erase them, but I knew it was impossible to do.

"Yes..." I breathed out. The remembrance did not only bring back the memories of the fulminant event, for along with it was the pain searing back all over my body.

Chilly wind whooshed and made the water ripple. I shivered a bit but was distracted by a small autumn leaf that landed on the bridge of my nose. A glimpse of Apollo's sapphire blue eyes struck me as my body remained frigid when he gently took the leaf off my face. What changed? I thought. He seemed more placid and my fear of him somehow subsided a fleck. It must be the fever, I decided.

"You attempted to kill a royal." He was back. I knew it was odd and rare for the man to stay... normal.

I sighed, pushing my feet down, urging him to release my body. The white sleeping gown I found myself wearing was very buoyant that I had to brush it down to my knees. Facing him, I felt the drops of water pelting down from my hair that was now above my shoulders. The Duke's eyes lingered on the drenched strands atop my head.

"He deserved it." I said with all honesty. "His justice is coloured. I only avenged my bloodline. What he did to Hal is unforgivable."

Gone were the days that I kept my mouth squinched before Apollo. The resolution I had rose from Lady Celine blind following her partner. I wished not to be like her. I wished not to be a puppet of this social triangle.

"And what did you gain from it?" Apollo touched the bruise on my cheek, his palm remaining light as if removing the pain. It was the bond he was using. Like a miracle, the bruise healed forthwith.

However, there was a wound he could never meliorate. Hal's betrayal was a fresh, deep-seated wound that seemed hopeless to mend. What did I gain from it?

" I deserved it." I finally replied. "I was not good enough for him. He suffered in the hands of your noble knight because he defended me, he believed in me... But I let him down."

"Henceforth, I conclude, that is your form of justice, my bethrothed?" Apollo's hand left my cold cheek. There was mockery in his statement but I allowed him to speak.

"You cannot please the world, Freya." He reminded me. "Anger, self-pity and guilt will always be there to haunt you if you think that is how justice works for everyone.

There is no balanced dispersion of rights. There is no perfect government. If you allow your emotions to cloud your judgment, you are not worthy of the throne. You will not merit the Crown of Fenrir that the Queen of Sidus holds."

I dwelled in his words and remembered my dream of the blue fire. You cannot please the world...

"People will show you allegiance and you will be thunderstruck to see the length of each person's loyalty during the most trying times.

When hunger impedes them, when despair surrounds them, when pride devours them, when death is before them, they will always choose to live."

"The hungry poor can choose to steal a bread of loaf to to fill his son's grumbling stomach. The desperate ill can resort to the use of fortified, forbidden drugs to numb them from the pain. The proud noble who could not raise himself higher up the ranks can choose to kill his opponent to gain what he desires."

"And a loyal subject can choose to surrender his loyalty to another alpha instead of welcoming his own death."

I flinched at his last thoughts. His reprimands were striking me right through the core, rehashing the wound's pain as if he was wrapping it with thorns. He spoke of words that were blunt, stripped-off of sugar. His words were coming from somewhere deep... An experience mayhap that taught him to be as unbendable as he was.

"You cannot control the choices of others but you can inhibit them from choosing the wrong actions." He maintained. "This is why the law exists."

My mind reeled to thoughts of Galax and his mother. "What about those who are maliciously accused?" I argued. "Your laws could be the death of them."

"You are too soft." The Duke left me with those words to ponder on.

He rose from the water and shifted to his wolf. Blood-curdling was his form but he calmly walked to a gigantic tree I only knew existed in legends.

"Yggdrasil."

The lone black wolf went around it, circling the large trunk before charging against it with force. A yellow fruit, the size of a plum, fell from the pitched branch. Immediately, Apollo reverted to his true form, holding out the fruit to me.

"Eat." He said, eyes gleaming with flecks of gold.

"The fruit of life?" I questioned, unsure if the legends were true that life can be returned by eating the miraculous fruit.. "I am not dead, Apollo."

The Duke took a bite of it, expressing his answer with his gesture. "Contrary to what you believe in, Yggrdasil only heals. It cannot resurrect the dead."

Trust was an absolute problem I had to stitch in order to understand the bearer of death even more. Taking the chance, I lifted my trembling body from the waters. My dress clung to me as I emerged. My body ached all over.

The Duke of Therion handed me the fruit once more, and this time I took it. Biting a chunk and swallowing fast, I instantly felt lighter. The nausea was gone. The waves of healing brought about by a single bite proved that the Duke was right, but it was not as miraculous as I thought it would be. It did not heal the lesion on my back.

"Recuperate your strength. You have been out for two nights. But Earl Ashworth did you a favor, even exceeding my expectations." Apollo pushed me back to the edge of reality.

"He did not teach me a thing." I retorted, almost crushing the fruit in my hands at the mere mention of his name.

"Believe me or not, he did." Apollo simply dismissed, picking a folded blue robe that lay on the grass. He took a stride passed me, but his aura's warmth touched my body as he hung the robe on my shoulders.

"What lesson were you expecting him to teach?" I had the urge to simply know.

Apollo did not make me wait and answered.

"That death no longer scares you, Freya. They cannot disparage your strength."

° ° ° °

I hope this new update is enough. It's rather an eventful chapter for Freya. It's been dragging, I guess, but I had to tell this story for the later updates.

I do hope you're still enjoying it. Another discovery from the Kingdom of Sidus! The Yggdrasil Tree. :)

See you on the next update!

- Lady Therese