Elias didn’t respond.

Lenard sighed. He reached into his cloak, retrieving a vial with a red liquid which had hues of gold. "As long as you don’t go to war, the king is willing to give his blood for your wife."

Elias turned his head quickly. There was a mystery in the beast kingdom, about a battlefield of the beast gods many centuries ago. But no one knew where that battlefield was, except for the royal family.

There was a claim that a few drops of drop had been found in that battlefield. Blood with divine strength! Every king was given a drop on the day they took the throne. It was the reason for the superior strength of every lion beast man that took the throne. This was also the supposed secret behind their abnormal healing pace.

The royal family called this a myth and it had debunked the mystery many years ago, but Elias had personally witnessed a cut on the king’s arm stitching back together within minutes, with no medication used.

He marched over swiftly, reaching for the vial.

Lenard folded his meaty palm around the vial. "I need your word Elias. No war."

Timothy was twitching, his wide eyes glued to Lenard’s palm. His heart was beating frantically because he was worried the vial would be crushed. "My lord, the lady is human. If it is real, then this is the best cure for her. She has lost so much blood. We have to take it."

As much as he hated it, Elias couldn’t see beyond the wall in front of him. It would take a miracle for Sienna to pull through. Right now, her survival was more important than anything. "No war." He said roughly, in a pained voice.

Lenard handed over the vial. Elias gave it to Timothy and the rabbit beast man sped away to deliver it. Elias waited until the blood was dumped into Sienna’s mouth directly.

Then, he looked at Lenard and said coldly. "But, anyone that is involved will not survive my wrath."

Lenard nodded. "The royal family will not stop you from getting your pound of flesh. I just wonder how you intend to do that when you killed the assassin."

"She had a phone." He replied. "That alone is enough to provide a trail. Besides, my people know every assassin guild that is run by the eagles. By the time the sun rises, the culprit will be delivered here."

The lion beast man smiled. "Wouldn’t it be better to save the revenge for Sienna? I am sure that after she recovers, she will have some things to say to the person that was behind this." He thought of the few beast men that fallen prey to Sienna’s pan.

The human woman had a terrible temper and great desire for revenge.

"I have to say," he continued, "your wife is full of surprises. Despite knowing that her body could not withstand such a strike, she did not hesitate to push her child aside and take the strike for him. It makes me wonder why there were so many rumors in the past about her not loving her children. If my mother had loved me half as much as that, maybe I would have turned out to be a better beast man."

Silence. Elias remained focused on the actions of the doctors in the operating room. The panic seemed to have gone down. A few were wiping sweat from their heads. Others were replacing their bloody gloves with new ones.

Timothy returned, looking better already. "It works! It works! The divine blood is real."

Lenard smiled like the predator he was. "And you are never going to tell that to anyone else." He moved forward, swiftly. His hand clamped around Timothy’s neck as his aura surged.

He started disseminating instructions for the rabbit to forget everything to do with the blood.

Two more lion beast men entered the operating room, wiping the memory out of the minds of the doctors before the surgery was even finished.

As soon as they left, the doctors awakened from being controlled and started wrapping up the surgery.

Lenard finally turned to Elias. "We both know I cannot mess with your mind. We don’t have anyone that can."

Elias snorted.

"This secret needs to remain a secret." Lenard said firmly. "And you cannot use it to blackmail our family. The king and queen are putting a lot of trust in you Elias. The fact that they would go this far for proves how much you are valued by them. Think about it. What human is worth divine blood?"

The answer was none. This blood was not even given to other beast man. Humans did not qualify at all. Sienna had lucked out because she was Elias’s wife. Not the wife to any beast lord, but Elias Veythar.

"I will keep your secret." He replied. "If anyone asks, she was healed with a Winter moon flower from the dread mountains in the North."

Lenard raised his brows. The winter moon flower as much of a mystery as divine blood. In fact, divine blood was more believable than a silver flower with transparent petals that were carved from ice. It was said to grow in soil that had been soaked in the blood of ten thousand corpses. It could give eternal youth and bring the dead back to life. "Maybe make up a better story," he suggested.

***

Back in the royal palace, the king and queen were going over recent reports from the hospital. Lenard had just reported Elias’s response to them.

Serenya sunk into her throne, sighing in relief. "You were right about the blood. We have bought time, now we must use it to find the assassin’s master."

The king, who had been mostly silent since the news broke finally spoke. His voice was low, but it carried the weight of command. "Without the blood, he would have truly ordered the slaughter of the eagle tribe without fear of consequences. Elias Veythar is a blade. If we cannot guide him, he will cut us all."

Thus the night deepened, heavy with tension. Sienna had been saved, but until she opened her eyes, the threat of war was not completely off the table. News of her possible death continued to circulate. Soldiers patrolled the capital, eagle and fox cities as well. Citizens through the kingdom held their breath, knowing dawn might bring either peace or war.