The Dark Side Of Fate

Ecos

Going to the council meeting always sucked. There was no time I got used to it.

Amelia often told me it would become a routine, but I saw it as a job. Twice I had asked Sylvester to nominate someone else as council leader so I won't have to go to all the meetings, and he refused. I could understand his reasons, but having to travel to the north every month sucked. It is fun when we visit, but when it becomes compulsory, it takes the fun out.

This meeting would be fun compared to others, so it was something to look forward to. I wondered how Christian was going to table the matter. Vino was right when he said we would have fun handling this matter.

I wondered how our children were doing in Grizlo, especially with Liam and Josephine being watched and the terrorist saying they would send us instructions.

I wondered what their demands would be.

I also wondered how Thompson's death tied into all this.

Why did will Mike murder Thompson and have his partners in crime follow Jo and Li about the place? It made no sense.

Then the attack on Jake Brighton's home was also an issue. They were like separate crimes, but it seemed like they were all tied to the same source.

Amelia exited the closet wearing a simple purple dress. Sylvester had already linked everyone that the convoy was ready. I could see the need for sleep in her eyes. We had arrived in the north yesterday evening, and having to get up early for the council meeting was tedious, but it was our job.

"Ready?" I asked my wife, and she nodded.

We left our room and headed towards the entrance where the cars would be parked.

The Volkov estate was our second home, spending a week there every month for many years because of the council meeting.

Alexei, Clay, Andrew, Devin and Eric could relate as we were all council members and rulers that had to be there every month.

Where Andrew and Eric could decide to skip a meeting, the rest of us dared not.

The Lords had to be present, which included me, and the council leader and deputy had to be present, which also included me.

Amelia and I walked towards the entrance and got into one of the vehicles.

It wasn't long after we entered the car that the convoy started moving.

"What do you think will happen today," Devin said, and I shrugged.

"Christian will table the matter as agreed, and we will take it up. Honestly, I like to get to the bottom of the matter, especially since our children are involved. Their safety is paramount,” I said, and he agreed.

"Why have you refused to allow your daughters to join the second batch?" I asked Devin.

"They are yet to graduate, Leo, and I do not want to move them to Grizlo Academy,” He explained, and I figured that was the case.

"Thought they had graduated,” Amelia asked, and Devin shook his head

"They took extra courses, so they have a year to go," he explained, and I felt sorry for Miles and Marvin because it was obvious that they were dating even though they tried to hide it. I was around their age when I asked Tamia out, which was expected.

"I think you should reconsider, Devin. They won't be happy away from their friends,” I said, and Susan chuckled.

"You mean their boyfriends because Anthony is going with the second batch, and no one is talking about that; it's just the girls that will have to remain,” Susan said, and I wondered what Anthony would do there. He has been private and non-inclusive. Hopefully, Noah and Sebastien can bring him out of his shell.

We arrived at the King's hall, and just as always, there was a crowd outside.

I wondered if the people would ever get tired. They come there same time every month to hail and greet the council members and royalty.

I could also understand their need to be present because a lot of important decisions were made during these meetings.

We all proceeded to our spots, and as always, Amelia and I had to part because I was at the floor level where the council sat while she was with the ladies at the upper loges. Tamia and Sylvester were in their loge overseeing the meeting

Lady Stephanie and Alpha Jake Brighton shared the loge with the ladies, The lords sat elevated from the council, and it was odd to see my empty seat there.

I took comfort in the fact that when our children take over, One of my sons will occupy the council seat, another will occupy the lord seat, and the last will be the head Alpha of the east and occupy that seat. There was enough responsibility for all.

As for the council seat, it will fall between Ethan and Sebastien. There was no way I would put Noah there. He was too impulsive for his own good and wasn't friendly with words. Sebastien was a bit subtle, but they were alike. I guess Ethan will take it, then.

We arranged ourselves, and I was pleased to see Alpha Christian sitting on the seat allocated to head Alphas. There were three empty seats beside him. One was mine, the other was Devin's, and the last was Eric's. Clay was also around, and I could see the glint in his eyes that stated he wanted in on the action.

It was a bit embarrassing that we saw this as sports even though lives were at stake, but the thrill of going on another adventure was overwhelming, and the trauma caused by the near-death experience in the past had faded away.

I banged the gavel and addressed the people to start the meeting.

Many trivial matters were discussed, and I could understand why the order was arranged in that way.

If we tabled Christian's matter first, there wouldn't have time to listen to the others. Alpha Caspian from Cain's island was to speak before Christian, and he looked distraught.

The man was young, in his early twenties. He had just taken over from his father this year and was proactive.

It was comforting seeing the calibre of people our children will end up working with.

"I want to state that the royal family and this council have been partial this month. We know the incident in Grizlo hit home and recently threatened Lady Stephanie's safety in their home in Grizlo, but that does not mean the rest of us do not need aid.

We have severe trade and port security issues on Cain Island. There had been an influx of contraband goods from underground networks, weapons and drugs, to be precise. Catching these people have been next to impossible. We do not have the military force to keep our ports safe, and Alpha Christain has deployed the best of the northern forces to find Beta Mike of Grizlo. It is wrong. This is a serious matter. People are going missing, and our markets are in jeopardy because of these activities. Although the activities have reduced this month, it hasn't stopped completely, and I am worried for the safety of our citizens,” He said, and I wondered why he had waited until now to bring this to the council.

"Why didn't you table this before the council when it started? Your accusation towards this council is baseless. It isn't like you made reports, and they were not handled," I said, annoyed.

"I made reports, my lord; we all did and submitted them to Alpha Christian. He is here. Ask him," he said, pointing at Alpha Christian, who was annoyed.

"I will share the email I received from Thompson with the council. He did speak of the issues but not in this context, and he did not state the urgency or the gravity of the situation. According to Alpha Thompson, they were working on it," Christian said in his defence while fiddling with his phone. I figured he was sending the email to us.

"Was Alpha Thompson the only person you received an Email from?" I asked Christian, and he nodded.

"So, what happened to your reports?" I asked Caspian, and he was fuming.

"We submitted all our findings to Thompson since he is the oldest of us, besides Alpha Christian. Most of us just took over from our fathers. Thompson knew the protocol and said he would do the needful,” Caspian argued, giving a valid reason, and I approved. He was young, so I could understand.

I received the email and decided to connect my laptop to the projector to share the mail with everyone.

Indeed it came with attachments of reports from all the ports, but the letter stood out.

"PLEASE, Find attached reports from the northern alphas on illegal activities in the Northern ports. Some of our ports are compromised, but we are working on it, and we will let you know should the need for your intervention arise,” it read, and with that, Christian was exonerated.

"As you can see, I haven't done anything wrong. I have a pack to run and Lucland to keep safe. Unless they ask for my help, I can only do a little. According to Thompson, they had it all under control and would reach out should it get out of hand. They never reached out,” Christian said, annoyed at Caspian for accusing him.

Indeed Caspian had made him seem shady, but we had come a long way with Christian. There was no way we would be suspicious of his intentions.

"So, what is the issue now?" I asked Caspian, and he apologised to Alpha Christian before proceeding, which showed his incredible manners and the fact that he was well brought up.

"The activities have been stagnant, and I think it is because of the search for Mike, but once that search is relaxed, I am sure they will continue. The drugs are getting onto our streets, and recently, we found some students peddling some of these things in Cain's Academy. We need to clamp down on it before it gets out of hand," he said, and I was curious.

"Where are these underground networks from?" I asked.

"We do not know. They might be everywhere. But it has been ongoing for a while now, even before we became a kingdom, but now it has gone up the roof. I remembered my father working hard to keep contraband out of Cain's," he said, and though it seemed a bit scattered, I knew it was something to look into.

"So, are you officially handing this matter to the council or here to report Alpha Christian?" I asked to understand his intentions.

"We need help to secure our ports and docks," he said, and I could understand that the situation was more dire than he was letting on.

"I do not want to be the one to raise the alarm since I do not have any evidence to back me up, but I suspect there is a huge problem going on,” Caspian confessed, and I looked at Sylvester where he sat with Tamia, requesting permission to give judgement. He nodded, and I looked at Christian. "What can you do for Alpha Caspian," I asked Christian, and he stood up.

"We have to investigate his claims since the matter has now been escalated,” he said, and I approved.

"How old are you, please?" I asked Caspian.

"I am twenty- four years, my lord," he replied, and my guess was correct.

"I also think since Caspian and Justin are about the same age, and Grizlo isn't far from Cain. I believe they can work together," I suggested, and Alpha Caspian looked relaxed.

I looked at David where he sat, and he nodded with approval. The fact that Caspian and Justin were close in age will make the work easier. Since seniority was a factor that hindered them from reporting directly.

"Very well; Alpha Justin Pavlichev will be tasked with working with you to solve this issue,” I concluded and banged the gavel to end the conversation.

Christian was next.

He got up and greeted everyone.

"On the sixth of July, Alpha Thompson Amos, his wife and eighteen-year-old daughter were murdered in their house. Due to investigations and eyewitness accounts, His Beta, Mike Maguire, was implicated as the perpetrator of this crime. Unfortunately, the suspect fled Grizlo taking with him his daughter and wife. They have remained at large ever since. They sent video footage to deter us from searching for them and have also recently threatened the Volkov and Stepanov heirs’ lives. We have deployed all the necessary tools to find this man, but our efforts have yielded nothing. Seeing that the Royal family is somehow involved in this mess, I request that the council get involved and assist me in solving this matter,” He said, and people began to murmur.

"How was the Royal family implicated? Isn't this your jurisdiction, alpha Zakharov?" Pamela asked, and he nodded, then moved to play the video we received from Mike when he lined up his family to let us know they were fine, and we should stop searching. The second one had a man with a Skii mask telling the council to await their instructions and then showing Liam and Josephine getting into a cab.

People were surprised.

"If these things were not involved, I would have continued to do my best. But knowing what is at risk, I refuse to be responsible for failure. Liam Volkov is the heir to the throne, and Josephine Kuznetsov is one of the Stepanov heirs. They are too important for us not to deploy all the necessary resources to solve this matter," Christian explained.

"And you are certain this has nothing to do with Sophia Maguire, Prince Liam's girlfriend. It seems this case is getting preferential treatment because of the crowned prince,” Pamela said, and Gerad agreed. I wondered why she had to be a pain in her arse today. There was no time she was pleasant, but I wanted this meeting to end.

"Why do you think that is?" Devin asked, and Gerad cleared his throat to speak.

"We have to recognise that Treason and Familicide are two different crimes, and Mike's crime means his entire family will be wiped out," he said, and I shook my head.

"Not his entire family. According to the law, He will just have to pay as much as he has taken. He killed a husband, wife and child, and thus, a husband, wife and child will be taken from him. So it is his immediate family that will be wiped out since he only has one child,” Eric explained, and it wasn't helping.

"Well, we need to find out why he did it first before talking about punishments. But just for the record, this has nothing to do with Prince Liam's friendship with Sophia. For the record, I would like to state the two were not dating,” I said in Liam's defence because I noticed he was getting close to Josephine, and the last thing I wanted was for Alexei to separate them in a bid to protect his daughter from heartbreak. My conversation with Liam stayed with me, and I saw how he looked at Josephine. I might be wrong, but being a victim of fate, I knew that look anywhere.

"I was just saying it based on what I heard," Pamela said, coming to her defence, and I disagreed. "And now I have set the record straight. There is nothing but an innocent friendship between the two. And I do not know why we are making that a topic of discussion. The matter here is that Alpha Christian is overwhelmed and has brought the matter to the council. So I think we should take a vote. For those that believe the council and Royal family should step in, say, Aye," I said and raised my hand to say, Aye.

Everyone said “Aye’ except for four people on the council.

I looked at where the lords were and saw Vino grinning. He had been itching to get involved with the investigation. In fact, all of us had been hoping for the exercise. This was indeed going to be fun. I looked at Pamela and the others, that were obviously nays and smiled.

"Well, the verdict is clear. The Ayes have it," I said and banged the gavel.