The Dark Side Of Fate

~Sylvester~

I returned to the lounge while Tamia helped settle David and his family in. I wonder why Dominic did not show up to meet the guy. I knew my brother was petty like our mother. He knew Alissa, and she was mean to him and our mother. It was normal that he would avoid her son and not want to have anything to do with David, but he needed to overcome his hatred and show some love.

I entered the lounge, and Dominic was there. My guess was right about him not wanting to see David.

"How did it go?" Dominic asked me, and I sat down on the couch.

"You would have known if you were there," I said, and his face dimmed.

"I can't have anything to do with that bastard,” Dominic voiced out, and I nodded.

"That bastard is the spitting image of father and seemed pleasant too. He isn't interested in our politics and has a lovely mate and three children, who happen to be triplets, by the way," I explained to Dominic, and I could see the shame in his eyes. My words rendered him speechless. Everyone was quiet too. It was as if I had made the atmosphere seriously awkward.

"We are not obligated or expected to avenge mother, Dominic. Our parents lived their lives and made mistakes; we do not have to continue the pattern among ourselves,” I said, and he felt ashamed.

"Where is he?" Dominic finally asked

"Tamia is settling them in," I told him, and he nodded

"I will see them later,” he said, and I sighed.

Once the atmosphere was calm, Devin was the first to speak.

"My beta would arrest the people in the south today. But he said he would do it quietly, so they do not alert the people here," he explained to me, and I sighed.

"So what will happen after we pick these people up and you become king?" Leo asked a valid question because what we were doing was only going to buy us time, not solve the problem.

"I will give both of you seats on the council, increasing my influence, and we will hunt for someone,” I said, and they were attentive.

I did not know if Dominic knew of Jenny's son, but this was the time to lay it on the table.

"Jenny Lawrence had an affair with my father. She also slept with Marcel and Theodore's father,” I said, and they were shocked.

"This Jenny woman is all over the place,” Devin said, making an obvious observation.

"But that isn't the issue, really,” I said and sighed.

"We investigated her home a few months ago and found some pretty disturbing things. The woman had a knack for keeping records. Official and private records, some of which were disturbing.” I said, and Theodore interrupted me.

"Maybe her involvement in these things is what got her killed. She might have pissed them off, and they came for her and then tried to make it seem like it was Corrigan. I am glad we did not act on the information we had," he said, and Devin exclaimed.

"What attack?" He asked.

"Jenny was killed in the Volkov home in Lucland when she visited lady Stephanie. There was a fight, and they said the attack was from you. That you ordered them to bring Tamia to you,” Marcel said, and Devin was confused. Of course, he would be. He did not orchestrate the attack, and my friends did not know the truth about the attack.

"Why would I attack Lady Volkov and this Jenny woman, let alone kill her?" Devin asked, and we sighed.

"It seemed plausible at that time since that was the day Sylvester was taking Tamia to visit our mother, and you had already attacked the estate to take her,” Dominic said, and I could hear the tinge of shame in his voice.

He had humiliated our mates and the girls in the harem because of the event. I am sure he wished he could take it all back now.

"Wow, these people want a war badly,” Devin concluded, and I did not want to elaborate because I knew exactly what had happened.

My mother had killed Jenny and tried to make it seem like it was Devin. There was no point explaining or elaborating because that would unearth my mother's secrets, and I could not allow that.

"Anyway, Jenny liked to keep records," I said, going back to the topic of discussion, and they were attentive.

"According to those records, she had a child with my father, or so she said. It could have been anyone's child, but she claimed it was my father's. Her husband was late by then, and she occupied his seat on the council so that it would have been a scandal, and she would have lost the Babanin's seat,” I said, and they were in shock.

"What happened to this baby?" Leo asked, and I nodded.

"She claimed my father took the baby from her, and she does not know where the baby is," I said, and Dominic growled.

"Another bastard!" he said, and I nodded

"Technically, the only bastard if the baby is a Volkov. David isn't a bastard since father claimed his mother, but Jenny's child is a bastard not only because of the illicit affair, but we are not sure if the child is truly a Volkov. The baby could have belonged to any of her lovers. She also seemed obsessed with my father," I said, and Theodore laughed.

"You can say that again, Sylvester. Linda can't get enough of those journals. The woman was out of it," He said, laughing. Honestly, the journals were funny.

"Journals?" Leo, Devin and Dominic asked, and I nodded.

"There were journals of her personal life that we took from her home where she describes all manner of things. It is easy to conclude that the woman was unstable." I said.

"Anyway, what if this son is the king?" I said, and Dominic shook his head.

"This king thing is a spillover from father's time. It might be the same set of people. He is too young to be the mastermind. He should be twenty-five twenty-six now since you said it was after Jenny's husband's death.” Dominic said, and I nodded.

"That is the confusing part of the information. I thought it was David, but after meeting him and his family, I do not think he is the one.” I said, and Leo leaned forwards.

"It will be wrong to dismiss hunches. I think this bastard is worth looking into. After the arrest, we should pull our resources together and trace this guy out. We need to know if he is alive and where he is. This king guy must have a serious sense of entitlement, and I am sorry to say this, but he is likely the one who thinks he is owed because other than that, he has no reason to want to be king," Leo added, and we agreed

"So, how are we doing this?" I asked, and Marcel leaned forward.

"The games have been cut short because of security issues and the rates of forfeitures and dropouts. So, it ends this week. We will go to the arena tomorrow and make our presence known. Pretend nothing is happening and move in on the traitors at night. The longer we stay away from the arena, the more alert they will be. We need them to relax,” Marcel said, and I agreed with their devised method.

"I thought we should play some Polo, too. Kyle and Max are on their way," Leo said, and we all laughed, remembering what happened at the last game. Everyone laughed except for Devin, who didn't get the joke because he wasn't there.

"They won't trouble Linda and Avery. They know they have lost. If anything, they are very sorry. Max has bigger issues. It seems Ramsey is behind his pack's predicament, and Kyle is paranoid about his warriors," Leo said quickly to put Theodore and Marcel's minds at ease.

"We will need all the help we can get. Max and Kyle are pretty strong warriors and the best the east can offer. Differences aside, we will make a great team,” I said, agreeing with Leo's choice, and my friends had no choice but to accept it.

We went over the plans again and decided to rest. Marcel planned on introducing Devin and Leo to the ladies in the harem, but I doubted they were up for it. They still had eyes only for Tamia. Anyway, I let them go about their businesses. I hurried back to my room.

On my way, I saw my mother at my door. She must have been knocking. I wondered why she did not bother to link me.

"Why didn't you link me?" I asked her, and she smiled.

"I have a headache just thinking that bitch's son is in here,” She said, and I sighed.

I opened my door and let her into my room.

"I can't believe Tamia would betray me and be nice to them," she said, sounding petty, and I hugged her.

"You have to let it go, mother. Alissa is gone, and so is father. David did not ask for any of this. You can't continue to feel this way about him," I said, breaking the hug.

"Do you know you were the reason he went into hiding?" I told her, and she widened her eyes in surprise.

"I did not do anything to him. He is lying," she said quickly, defending herself, and I shook my head "He didn't say you did anything to him, mother. I am just telling you why he went into hiding. Jenny told him you were looking for him," I said, and she swore at Jenny.

"And while she was at it, did she tell him she was the one that killed his mother out of jealousy or did she pin that on me, too?" She asked, and I shook my head. I did not even give him that bit of information.

"I need you to look past our differences, mother, and make it work. These people are making use of our grudges and shortcomings. We must ensure they can't use any of those things anymore.” I said, and she looked at me and sighed.

"How is he?" she finally asked me the real question she wanted to ask. Deep down, she did not hate David. Her anger was towards my father and Alissa. I smiled at her and looked at her.

"Maybe you should see him yourself. After all, you took care of him before they sent him to Grizlo," I said, and her face coloured.

"I do not know what to tell him or what he would think of me. I feel bad that I suspected he was behind everything,” she confessed, and I nodded.

"We all do. He did not even want to be lord, mother. He did not care at all. He just wanted to be left alone. Jenny even made him sign agreements that he would not lay claim to anything or get involved with anything.” I said, and she cursed.

"That bitch. She must have wanted him out of the way for her son's sake," she said and looked at me.

"Are you sure Jenny did not know where her son was or who he is? That bitch could not have done all this if she did not know. She did not look like someone who had lost something precious to her. I think she knew where her son was and was in communication with him before I ended her,” my mother said, making a very valid observation, one we had never thought of.

If what my mother was saying was true, my guess might not be far from the truth, and he might be behind all this. I also could not dismiss the clue that the king is old. Could they be the same, or could he be another idiot and pawn like Liam? Something the uprising wanted to use for personal benefit and discard, or worse, could they have eliminated him after the death of his mother just like they wanted to eliminate David? There were many questions, and I did not know where to start.

My mother excused herself from the room, and I relaxed on the bed. A short nap would get me to where I wanted to be. Tamia had hers and was probably catching up with David's wife; I won't be surprised if Linda and Avery were with her too. I guess I would just sleep a bit to gather my strength. The next day would be tedious, and I need all the energy I could get.