Chapter 56

It was almost as if they would never get there.

Zezi was losing strength in her legs as she trod through the bushy path of the forest she had decided to take to stay hidden, her hands aching from how many times she had to push long branches aside in order to keep moving forward. The branches were wet and they wiped across her cloth, leaving green and brown stains behind. The forest smelt of damp moss, the floor beneath her was a little muddy, her boots leaving prints behind.

Had it rained?

At a point, she had almost shifted into her wolf halfway, despite the risk that would be involved if that happened.

It was already hard enough to hide her scent and her heartbeat in human form, but in her wolf form, that was just ten times as hard. In fact, the moment she would slip into her wolf form, barely seconds would pass by before her scent would be all over the place like a broken dam, her heart beat like thunders in the rain, deafening the ears.

So she tried hard to remain on her two feet, instead of going on her four.

Finally, they got there, and the "there" they got to was none of the places that Zezi had expected.

Of all the places that crossed her mind as to where Lady Delice could be headed, a graveyard wasn't one of them.

But, here they were.

In a lonely, big, graveyard.

The smell of death was thick in the air, it felt cold and Zezi didn't like it. She could almost taste the sadness that shifted in the air like a thick invisible fog.

Lady Delice walked through the large field, passing by many gravestones before she stopped in front of one and dropped to her knees, not caring if the black gown she was wearing got stained in the process, her hand brushing over the stone tenderly, her eyes misty under the moonlight that shone down on the lonely place.

Then her other hand slipped away from her thighs and held the gravestones, her head raised to the night sky as she wept.

Grieved.

Whosoever was in that grave meant a whole lot to her.

Her cries cut through the night and echoed all over the place.

Zezi hid behind the tree she had sat by.

This place had an eerie feeling to it, the aura of death more consuming. As much as she hated staying here because of how it made her feel unsettled, she had to remain in hiding.

Her job wasn't done yet.

"I should have done better." She yelled in a hoarse voice, that her ever gentle voice would have never been considered capable of. "I should have protected you." She shouted into the night.

"I'm terrible. It's all my fault." She banged her fist against her chest, tears spilling down her cheeks, her whole body vibrating slightly with the grief and pain that consumed her to her bones.

"Forgive me, please forgive me." She wept, tapping against the gravestone. Her gaze dropped to the floor and she was staring at the gravestone again, her hand brushing across it, along the alphabets carved into it. Alphabets Zezi couldn't see from where she was hiding.

"I put you here, I put you here." She mumbled. "Please, forgive me."

Zezi moved closer to where she was hiding, suddenly feeling the need to give her privacy. As much as she wanted to find out what was going on and who was in that grave, she found it unsettling to watch her cry.

She couldn't have ever guessed that Delice was dealing with something like this, beneath all that sunshine. It made her think about the question she felt was absolutely bugging her.

Who was in that grave?

A Father? Mother? Sibling? Or a lover?

Lover, hmmm.

From her actions, Lady Delice claimed to love the King, but what if she had loved someone else?

So this lover, maybe he was someone before the King... or after?

But the fact that the person was dead, made things even more interesting.

Vampires were hard to kill, so whatever had happened to the person must have been gruesome and really terrible to have put them six feet under.

From what she had been saying, she believed the death was her fault, which meant that she must have been involved in a way, either directly or indirectly.

The only person Zezi had seen kill a vampire before was the King.

Then, an idea hit her.

What if the person in the grave was a past lover, one before the King? Maybe the King and Lady Delice used to be very much in love and she had cheated--- no, absolutely not.

If she had done that, Zezi had a feeling she would be dead.

What if the lover had loved Delice, and Delice had loved him back despite her duty to the King? Maybe she had already accepted his proposal when that happened. Then, the lover decided to fight for their love and confront the King about his feelings, not obeying that Delice had tried to dissuade him in that regard.

But he had been stubborn and that had led to his death.

So, Delice couldn't do anything but grieve the death of her lover. After many years, she was called on to fulfill her duty to the King regarding his proposal.

The time frame of the assumed event? Zezi didn't know, and her ignorance of it, made it immediately lack its significance.

But the thing was that he had given her years to grieve like this, but despite the years he had given her, she was still grieving.

What if she had thought she was over it all until the King's mate had shown--

Zezi stopped short.

Not because of how she really hated thinking of herself in the light of being the King's mate, although that hatred was unwavering, but because of a possibility.

What if the lover was Delice's mate?

What if she had been stuck in the same situation as hers in the past, and the one in the grave was like George?

She took in a sharp breath.

That still left so many questions unanswered, considering that all this must have happened during the Dark Times.

Ah.

This was none of her business! Why was she worrying so much about it?

She suddenly felt the need to be in the four walls of her room right now. As much as that room was a prison, it held a level of safety that this place really lacked.

She knew the way back to the Castle - an advantage of being good with the road - but what if Delice had other places to go tonight? What if this was just one of her secrets and not everything?

Zezi needed to find out everything. It must be the Zeta in her that always wanted to uncover every mystery. Besides, she was already here, she might as well stay for the whole thing.

She peaked out from her hiding place and her heart dropped at the sight that confronted her.

The gravestone Lady Delice had been kneeling by...

---it was empty.