"Zed?" Griffin asked. It was unlike him to come to the palace unless something great had happened or was about to. What could have driven him to come here?

"And where is he?"

"He’s waiting for you in the throne hall Your Majesty," the Knight said.

"I’ll be there in a jiffy. In the meantime, tell him to make himself at home," Griffin said shifting uncomfortably in his bead. Just when he wanted to have some sleep...damn it! But this was the seer, and he couldn’t be taken lightly. He picked his jacket and crown, for the first time, and stormed out of his room.

Zed was seated by the throne Hall’s parlour while a maid served him wine. He could see how distracted she was, even missing the cup to just have a glimpse of him. He couldn’t blame her though, and neither could he blame himself. He was just the kind of man every woman would die to spend a night with, but unfortunately, he wasn’t interested in women, just like Newton.

"I’m sorry...handsome," the maid said when she noticed the mess she had caused. She had literally poured all the wine on the table instead of the cup. And she called him handsome! She must be very brave.

"It’s okay. I’ll be fine withdraw wine." A blush crept her face when she heard his alluring voice. It was like the obsessive or commanding type that would make you submit to him, wholeheartedly. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"My Lord? What brings you here?" Came Griffin’s voice as he strode across the hall making his way to the table.

"What happened here?" He asked referring to the wine spilt on the table and floor. Zed threw a glance at the maid standing beside the king and he could see her stiffen. The least she could get for doing this was having her hands chopped off.

"I mistakenly knocked the jug Your Majesty. It’s nothing serious." Zed had decided to be the Knight in shining armour to the damsel maid.

"Get him fresh wine already and have this mess taken care of ," Griffin ordered the spellbound maid. He could see the way she was eyeing Zed, a blush forming on her face every time she looked his way. And the way she was standing in his presence, it was if her legs could collapse any time soon.

"These maids!" He said as she made her way out of the throne hall, earning a silent chuckle from Zed. And turning to face him,

"Should I expect for the worse?" The last time the seer visited the palace, he foretold the defeat of Crescia in a certain war but the arrogant Crescians ignored him and got butchered.

"I guess yes," Zed said calmly but this did not settle well with Griffin. He was already shifting uncomfortably in his seat waiting for Zed to spit out the worst.

"The One is here!" Zed said after a while of silence. And now that Griffin heard it from the seer, the world seemed to have come to a halt on him. So it was true all this time... Alexander was truly the one? But he couldn’t just believed it without proof, never! Alexander couldn’t be the one, could he?

"And who exactly is this... The One? " He asked. Lord! Why was his heart beating in anticipation. It never could be the damn prince, that, he could never believe.

"I also don’t know Your Majesty," Zed said shifting Griffin’s anxiety to anger.

"Is it that you don’t know or you don’t want to tell me?" He asked. Zed noticed the sudden change of temperature around the place but that didn’t scare him though. He had vowed to tell him nothing more about The One.

"How can I bring myself to withhold information from His Majesty?" He asked shrugging his shoulders. Griffin would buy that? Definitely not!

"If my mind serves me right My Lord, you told me that The One would come from the Crescian royal lineage. And since I took the test and confirmed that I’m not The One, and the Royal family only has two pure blooded royals, then that leaves me with one choice." He said looking at the roof as if deep in thought.

"Tell me Lord Zed, is Isadora... The One?" He asked but Zed remained silent. Griffin smiled assessing the expression on his face.

"You know I don’t even need you to answer that. Your face does it all," he said smirking when Zed masked the shocked expression on his face with a staged smile. Didn’t anyone tell him he was just bad at masking emotions.

"So that means..." Griffin looked him in the eye, his hand hanging mid air. "That means she unbuckled the book!" He said with a fake awed expression on his face. "Why didn’t I think about it?"

"You think you know everything while you know absolutely nothing. And yes, she unbuckled the book but..."

"But?" Griffin asked raising a brow.

"But I’m afraid I can’t tell you the rest, Your Majesty," Zed replied sending a wry smile at Griffin’s way, but the expression that he was met with... if looks could kill!

"I don’t know why you are holding such important information from your king but I do believe you have a good reason," Griffin said with a playful smirk.

"Yes. I do have my reasons Your Majesty. I hope you understand."

"I’m trying to but you know... I’m not the type to ’understand’. Maybe you should be so kind as to share these reasons with my elite knights after taking you through a service I hope you’ll enjoy," Griffin said with the same playful smirk on his face, but his voice carried a tone of epitome danger.

"Are you trying to threaten me Your Majesty?" Zed asked equally surprised by the tone Griffin was using on him. Every other previous kings respected him but Griffin was crossing the border now.

"I’m trying to be nice to you, Lord Zed. Now, if you don’t mind, I command you to tell your king everything he needs to know... otherwise," he drew in a sharp breath to show the severity of Zed’s stupid actions.

"As I said, I’m not disclosing any other information to Your Majesty, and my decision is final." Zed was determined to stand firm on his decision.

"And so is mine! Guards?"