444 Last Chance

Kamryn smiled in delight at achieving what she came to do.

"Thank you…" Leaving Mika's dorm room, Kamryn walked out of the academy with a pep in her step. Things were finally looking brighter now that she knew she is going to be free from Prince Thallan and that b***h.

All she has to do now is call her mother to get the chest and deliver it to Mika instead of Thallan.

Kamryn abruptly stopped her musings. How am I going to get the chest to Mika without Thallan knowing?

Thallan wouldn't just allow her to give the chest away, though it wouldn't stop her from trying.

After Kamryn left her room, Mikaela thought about her sister revealed and the King.

Is he up to something? He has been very quiet lately, maybe too quiet.

Thinking back, the King hasn't tried anything since delivering flowers to her room, and that was over a month ago.

Putting away her tree work, Mika use some energy to talk to the nanos she left at the imperial palace during the banquet, to find out what was going on.

Were Kamryn's words getting the better of her or was this nagging suspicions a warning.

It wasn't long before her nanos reported in to tell her that all was well. When she asked them to report to her all the people who visited the palace in the past month, the nanos only gave her twenty people. Most of which she has already checked out to be clan leaders and advisors, who are as useless to the to King as they are to the Kingdom.

However, one name at the bottom stood out from the rest, mostly because she never thought she would need to do be wary of her.

Princess Tiriana had visited the palace ten times over the course of a month.

What the hells caused her to report to the imperial palace ten times?

Putting out her monitor, Mika began to search for anything she could find on the Princess Tiriana.

~

In the imperial palace, King Rychell sat across from Voron, frustrated from the sudden attacks on his secret bases.

"We were careless this time…" Voron stated, breaking the tensed atmosphere in the underground room.

Blood boiling, Rychell slammed his glass of wine down on the table smashing it to pieces.

"We were close, so close this time and now...it's gone."

With the outbreak of their homemade virus in their secret bases, they had to destroy all their life's work. Losing scientists, soldiers and the all recent test subjects and materials in the process.

They were going to have to start anew, all over again. However, the question came down to if they could.

Majority of the honey trees are already infected be on repair, and there were only a hand full of clans that still have working orchards.

Yet, if they were to touch those, the citizens would definitely starve to death, and they would only have one chance to succeed. There would be no more honey tree left for them to experiment with after that.

"Should we try calling Fir and the others? Maybe we can borrow some of their trees?" Rychell suggested.

"We can't, their kingdoms are already rebelling. They are barely holding control over their citizens now. You think they will be willing to give us any? We were the closest ones to achieving success and that took over how many centuries to do...not counting all the trees and Fae we have sacrifice until now." Voron pointed out.

"Then what do you expect us to do. Sit here and drink until we grow old and die!" Rychell held up his aging hand to his friend's face.

"I want to go back. I have forgotten what it feels like to be immortal, to be a god… The only thing I feel now, is time. This body is breaking down, Voron, I won't last much longer." Rychell turn to look at the mirror, hanging on the jagged stone wall as his ripped off a ring on his finger and a necklace around his neck.

His appearance immediately withered with the lost of the strong beauty charms.

His long dark hair turn white and fell to the floor, leaving only patched of strands here and there on his head. His youthful skin sagged with deep wrinkles and his commanding height, sunk as his shoulders and back cave in on themselves.

Voron hadn't realized how much his friend had aged. Looking down at his own aged hands, he regrets complaining about them.

Rychell stared at the old male he has become. The only person beside him, and now Voron, who knew about his true looks, is his daughter Tiriana. She has been supplying him with the beauty charms to mask his appearance.

He had to call for her ten times this month because several of the beauty charms weren't strong enough to hide this body.

"We can't stop now. We can't…" Rychell reached out to touch the mirror before breaking it with his hand.

Voron didn't know what to say to his friend. He had long ago accepted that they might never be able to achieve what they lost, but it seems his friend has not.

"We only have one base left, Rychell. It doesn't even have much honey to experiment with as the others did."

"Then get some more! Didn't you get a barrel before... Can't we acquire some more from them?" Rychell was desperate and his friend could see it.

"I told you that I gave that supplier entrance to the Celestial maidens…"

Rychell grabbed his soon to be bald head, "Fine, then I'll use my authority to get honey from the clans."

"Rychell, if you do that then we really will be heading in the same directions as the other Kingdoms!" Voron shouted out.

"So be it. Will it matter if those illegitimate morons want to rebel!", Rychell pointed towards the ceiling, "When we succeed those bunches of waste will beg and cower at our feet like every other species has!"

He huffed out as his lungs and heart couldn't handle his fervent behavior.

When he was finally able to call himself down, Rychell walk over to his chair and sat down heavily.

"I only have one body left."

"I know." Voron responded.

"Then you know there is only one chance left for all of us." He reminded.

"….."

"It has to be now, Voron."

Voron stared at his friend's old face and then his own hands, "….okay, but you have to get us enough the honey."

Delighted that he was able to convince his friend, Rychell smiled. "Don't worry, I know the perfect clan to get it from."