Music Recommendation: The Chairman's Waltz- John Williams
Drops of blood started to fall on the snowy ground, turning it red in front of Noah. The young Duke held his stomach in pain and pulled away to look at his hand covered in his blood.
Noah Sullivan was a smart man, he had grown up to be like that, but there was folly as he had been raised by the Sullivans, who had always instilled in how important family was. They were supposed to lean against each other and always stand united. And it was the folly of his thought to think that James wouldn't do anything to him.
The poison had begun to make its effect quicker than expected, and he had no antidote against it.
"Why?" Noah asked the older werewolf, who stood before him with the bloody dagger in his hand.
"It was bound to happen, son. If not today, then before the golden moon," James replied calmly as if it didn't matter that he had run the dagger into Noah's stomach. "It was always the plan, and your time was always limited."
Noah's fingers clenched in the prickly pain he felt running beneath his skin. He asked with a chuckle, "My death was planned? Was I being raised as a sacrificial lamb until now?" There was bitterness in his voice because he had finally decided to take control of his life, only to be told that he was destined not to have control.
James said to Noah, "Don't be upset about it, Noah. Some of us when we are born, we come with a purpose. A purpose to fulfil and reach the height of greatness, while some not so much. Then there are ones who help in helping people reach their goals. Like you."
Though in immense pain, Noah tried to keep a straight face without letting his expression change. He said, "It was a good lie. You caught me off guard with it."
James clicked his tongue, shaking his head, and a slight frown appeared on Noah's face when the older werewolf said,
"It wasn't a lie. You are my son. Mine and Hilda's son. Which is why I take this opportunity to make use of you now. You have been a key, Noah. A key I have preserved and waited for a very long time."
"You turned out to be more of a bastard than I thought you were," when Noah tried to to stand up, but he only ended up coughing blood out of his mouth, which dripped from the corner of his lips.
"That's no way to talk to your father. I taught you better than that," James looked at Noah with a hint of disappointment, yet there was a slight amusement in his eyes. He said, "Don't move. This is a poison I got from a witch, and it is quite strong without an antidote. I wanted to tell you that I was your father. I, James Sullivan and not my brother Jeffry Sullivan. But not like this, but in a much better way."
"And father doesn't know anything about it," Noah murmured with disbelief in his tone. He couldn't believe something so big had been hidden for so long. It wasn't this man in front of him that disappointed him, but his mother had hidden something so important from him. Something that he should have known. "Why? Why her?"
James took two steps away from Noah as if recollecting the past and said in a distant voice, "When your mother was betrothed to your father, I had to make sure that everything would go according to my plan. Since I found out about our strong lineage that leads up to the time of King Gauntlet, and knowing I was the youngest of them, I waited for the right time. But something was missing in me. Don't blame your mother, she's been in the dark for so long that she has no other way but to follow me."
Noah, who had come to learn about the lineage by himself by reading about it in the available books, asked, "You could have killed father if you wanted to be the one to be the last descendant. You already were the last descendant," as Jeffry was older to James.
James pursed his lips, slightly irritated, and said, "If only it was that simple. But you see, even though a person is the youngest, it doesn't guarantee that you are the destined one. And though I felt it in my very bones, at the same time I knew that what I felt wasn't completely mine."
He continued, "I couldn't have Hilda giving out litters of babies, where I would have to keep an eye on every single one. So I decided what better way, that use my own blood to keep an eye. Knowing I could keep control and not have her more than you, but under the right medications for her," the older werewolf explained as if it was the most logical thing to do.
Noah could not stand long on his knees and fell backwards, taking the support of the wall behind him that hit his head and back with impact.
His stomach felt like it was trying to pull something out from him, and as much as he tried to bear the pain he felt now, it was turning intolerable, and he tried to pay attention to what James was saying. He said,
"So you decided it was better to kill me. Because I am a threat to you."
Noah could tell James would have killed him even if he hadn't tried to free the mermaids and the sirens from the ponds. It was because James was scared to hand the power and control to him and wanted it for himself.
James stared at Noah and then slowly nodded, "Maybe. I mean why would I try to jeopardise something that I have been waiting for until now? I have fragments of memories of being Erasmus Gauntlet, and though I feel the power, I believe there are missing pieces passed from Jeffry to you which belong to me. It is only right that I take it now."
