Beyond Mere Visions

Lord Orpheus quickly sent a physician to tend to Ariel's broken wrist. She fell hard. King Vladimir didn't say a word instead her helped Ariel sit on her chair in the dining hall, letting her maids to do the other necessary things. Ariel hissed in pain as the physician examined her wrist.

"It's gonna take a matter of days to heal up. Her skin is too fragile." The physician said. He bowed before he left their premises.

Lord Orpheus and Lord Louisville showed concern for Princess Ariel but Luthur remained unmoved, he was as hard as a rock. They settled down to eat. Before Ariel could start eating, she noticed that one of the Lords was missing.

"Why is Lord Raul not here yet? Let's wait for him." Ariel managed to ask with so much concern.

Lord Orpheus and Lord Louisville contemplated on who to answer the question the King's wife just asked.

"He's on vacation." Came the King's reply. If the King didn't say anything, Lord Orpheus and Lord Louisville would've been toasted.

"Oh"

Ariel found it difficult to handle her chopstick. Unfortunately, it was her right wrist that got broken. She wished it was the left since she mostly made use of her right wrist.

The King as well as the Lords noticed it. Her maids were standing at the back of her, they also noticed that their mistress was finding it difficult to eat.

"Do you want your maid to feed you?" King Vladimir asked raising his head that was bowed because he was focusing on his food before his wife's clumsy act disrupted his peace.

The blabbermouthed Lord cursed King Vladimir inwardly. Wasn't he supposed to play the role of a lovely husband? He should be the one to feed her instead.

Ariel looked at her so-called husband with a blank expression. She was neither disappointed nor sad.

"I'll try using my left hand." Just as she said, she tried using her left hand to help herself but she ended up creating a mess. Her meatballs bounced out of her chopstick and landed on the plate of the man that was seated opposite her.

She was dumbfounded and didn't know how to apologize to the cold-looking man.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Before she could say anything further, the man raised his face and their eyes meant.

"Shouldn't a husband help his wife at her point of difficulty?" He asked before standing up. He left the room before anyone could protest about his ill-mannered behavior.

Everyone in the dining hall knew who he was referring to.

"Send Princess Ariel's food to her room and make sure you attend to her." King Vladimir have his orders to Ariel's maid before he also left the room hoping to talk some sense into the man's head.

King Vladimir search the entire castle to find Lord Luthur. He later found him squatting at the side of the lake in the castle, throwing little stones into it.

"What was the meaning of what you did a few minutes ago at the dining hall?" King Vladimir asked furiously.

Lord Luthur didn't bother to look at the man standing next to him. He continued throwing the stones into the water.

"She loved doing this." He said with a bitter smile on his face. He was referring to the stone he was throwing into the river.

King Vladimir knew who he was referring to. The man still hasn't gotten over it. "You still haven't forgotten about her?" He asked with a calm tone.

"How can I ever forget about the woman that once gave me a reason to live?" He stood up clenching his fist, his sharp fingers pierced his palm making blood come out of it.

King Vladimir patted Lord Luthur's shoulders. "Liliana died for a reason."

"She was murdered by the werewolves and they won't find peace till I avenge her death." Lord Luthur squatted again, he deepened his right hand into the water. "That woman meant everything to me. I valued her and she never regretted being with me." He let out a sigh before turning to face King Vladimir. "Unlike a man that I know, who doesn't value the woman he has."

King Vladimir felt insulted. "Do you have eyes for Princess Ariel?" He raised his brow in curiosity.

Lord Luthur let out an evil chuckle. "Princess Ariel?" He chuckled hard.

"What's amusing you?" King Vladimir was annoyed by his nonchalant response.

"What I see about her is beyond mere visions." Lord Luthur uttered. He continued playing with the water and then suddenly stopped.

"What do mean by that?" King Vladimir asked with his eyes on the clouds. He didn't receive any response, he looked down only to see that he was standing all alone. "Where has he gone to?"

Lord Luthur was a mysterious being. His mysterious attitude was what pissed King Vladimir up. The other Lords didn't see anything wrong with him because they all minded their own business and didn't interfere with each other's issues.

King Vladimir went back inside the castle. He knew they had all finished having breakfast and the Lords apart from Lord Luthur and Lord Raul had gone to carry out their various responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Ariel's curiosity got the best of her. She was curious to know what King Vladimir was hiding in the East Wing. She wanted to see what it looked like. She found some guards blocking the entrance of the place. It reminded her of how her father's guards denied her access of going to speaking with her father in the throne room of Macbeth.

She thought the same. Maybe the guards here are stricter than her father's guards. She felt the urge to break her husband's damn rule and explore the remaining parts of the castle. The terrifying looks on the guard's face scared her and she had managed to deceive her maids to stop being a pest to her.

Ariel continued thinking about how she could bypass the guards until an idea crossed her mind.