Chapter 28: The pact

As the wicked Duke made plans to take care of the royal couple, in the castle, Alastair and his father, Ragnor made plans to take care of the Duke and his children. Odalis had already informed them of the Duke's next possible actions and his intentions to meet the witches. So, they had to plan accordingly and stop the man.

Ragnor was sure that the witches would not agree to the Duke's words. He trusted them on this. So, he was not worried about the Duke coming after his life. However, his son Alastair could not stop getting anxious about it. Although he knew Duke Zale's intentions and his next course of action, he did not know how to face the situation.

If it was a spy or someone who the Duke had appointed to kill his parents, then there was nothing to worry about. His father would take care of the man even before he could lift his fingers. But the problem here was they were seeking help from a witch. The witch could curse his parents from wherever she was and nobody would find out about it. This was making him go berserk and he could not help but pace back and forth in the courtroom.

Kenneth and Cyrus were with the royal family and they were trying to find a suitable solution to the problem. Even Queen Daphne's face had paled in restlessness and she started to dread the worst. The only person who was relatively calm was the old king, Ragnor.

"Father, what do we do now?" Alastair questioned when his mind could not come up with any ideas to stop the Duke. "We cannot allow the Duke to succeed in this matter and the only possible solution is to kill the Duke on his way to the village."

Ragnor only smiled at his son and he leaned forward slightly. Although his son had been the king for quite some time now, he still needed to learn a few more things. Alastair knew how to deal with people who went against him. But he did not know how to control himself when it came to his parent's lives. He would get alarmed and upset about it in an instant.

Ragnor knew that Alastair was like this only when he was around trusted people. But he had to learn how to stay calm even in front of them. Some day, there was a possibility that this weakness of his could grow onto him and become his biggest obstacle.

"Son, you need to learn how to relax. You are losing your cool at times and this is not good, especially now that you are a king."

"But Father, how can I stay calm when there is a potential threat to your lives. I cannot stay still and wait for the Duke to harm you two. No."

"Son, who told you that the Duke can even touch us, let alone kill us?" Ragnor smiled, his eyes dancing with mirth. His question had a lot of hidden meaning it. But neither Alastair nor Daphne could decipher as their thoughts were elsewhere. Ragnor observed their absent-mindedness and he chuckled lightly, garnering everybody's attention on him.

"Why are you laughing, my Lord? Is something the matter?" Daphne questioned seeing her husband's weird behavior. The situation called for some serious discussion but the man beside her was finding everything to be amusing.

"Yes, I am surprised to see how easy it is for someone to lose their cool. Alastair, son, you need to train upon this weakness. Your enemies might use it against you once they get a glimpse of it." Ragnor warned, this time his expression turning serious.

Daphne had to take a second look at her husband who was more worried about their son's anger than the danger that was lurking ahead. She narrowed her eyes to observe him and noticed that the man was as calm as ever. He was not at all worried about the risk they were going to face.

'How is my husband this calm? Unless..' She pondered. "My Lord, do you have the solution for this problem?" She queried and this time, Alastair's ears perked up.

The smile that had vanished a few seconds ago, returned on Ragnor's face and his eyes gleamed. "I do."

"What is it, Father?"

"We do not need a solution at all as the Duke will never succeed in his attempts at using a witch." Ragnor noticed the look of confusion on the four people's faces and he sighed lightly. "No witch will ever agree to work for him. So, don't worry about it."

"How are so sure, Father?" Alastair was not convinced. He did not trust the witches. They would easily switch their minds and do things they were not supposed to do. It was quite easy to manipulate them and this was what the Duke was going to use to his advantage: manipulation.

"Because I made a pact with the witches years ago. They will not dare to break this pact, not now. Not ever."

His words stunned Daphne and Alastair and they stared at him in shock. Both of them had only one thought in mind. 'Why did they not know about the pact?'

"What pact, my Lord? And will the witches not attempt to harm us?"

"My Queen, I knew someday we would be facing this issue. You know that I don't trust anybody other than my family. So, I had to make sure that nobody would try to harm us, and as we already know that the only possible way for anybody to harm us is with the help of witches. So, I made a deal with them." Ragnor stopped to take a breath and noticed everybody's keen eyes fixed on him.

He did not prolong the suspense any longer. "I made a deal with one of the strongest witches of that time and it is sealed by a blood vow. If any witch tries to use her powers to kill me or my family, the curse will backfire on them and they will bear the consequences. Also, the curse will affect the person who sought her help to do the deed."

His words made all the four people's eyes go wide and the next moment, a smile broke out on Alastair's face. He seemed to be visibly relaxed and his eyes turned sinister all of a sudden. "I wonder how the Duke would react to finding out that his plan has backfired."

"The man might die of shock," Ragnor added, his smile not leaving his face. His eyes fell on his wife who seemed to be in deep thoughts.

"Is everything alright, Dear?"

Daphne came out of her voice after hearing Ragnor's voice. "My Lord, are sure that the curse will not work? What if the witch has tricked you?"

"Do not worry, Dear. I have made sure that the pact had been made successfully. The witches cannot harm us even if they want to."

"Father, you told that it was a deal. What did you promise them in return?"

"Their safety. Until I am alive, nobody will be able to harm them, that is if they do no try to go against me." Ragnor replied, his eyes staying calm and collected. He had expected this day some time ago and that was why he had already made preparations. If Duke Zale wanted to harm him or his family, then the man would only be inviting his own death.

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