Page 38 of His Fierce Lycan Luna

“Now, this one in the mountains. This was the Azure Kingdom. Which was your mother’s original Kingdom. It was also the first Kingdom to fall when she married into the Landeena Kingdom. About six months later, the Kingdom was raided. Not a single person survived. The Azure Kingdom was the largest of all.”

“Azure was my mother’s maiden name?” I ask, and Trey nods sadly.

“Your mother was one of twelve daughters and the only one that survived that bloodline and only because she married your father,” Damian explains.

“But how does that lead to the trials?” I ask.

“Because your parents weren’t mates. Their marriage was part of a treaty. The Landeena and Azures were constantly at war, a treaty between the oldest daughter and the oldest son. Your parents brought the two Lycan packs together. They wanted to strengthen the bloodlines. Both the Azures and Landeenas were said to have certain gifts,” Trey says, and Kyson growls at him.

“She has a right to know!” Trey exclaims.

“Not that, and not now,” Kyson snarls, and Trey curses but turns back to the map.

“Azures owned the council. They were the founding family of it after all, but when the Kingdom fell, none of the three remaining kingdoms could decide who to run it. So they made the trials, but then it turned into some sort of Olympics every year, and since it brought the kingdoms together, they ended up making it annually.”

“When I was a teenager, your father competed. My father wanted an alliance with the Landeenas. The only way to guarantee an alliance was through marriage. So when my father won, he asked for the hand of any Landeena daughter they had in the future,” Kyson explains. “Which he refused, so Valkyrie took hold of the council for years until your father won it back.”

“So, who were the other two kingdoms?”

“The Cyprus Kingdom, which was my mother’s family Kingdom, they fell a few decades after the Azure Kingdom. They weren’t far apart and also part of an alliance with my Kingdom. Though a few survived and are within my pack now, however, none of the royals survived,” Kyson tells me.

“And your parents had an arranged marriage, too?” I ask him.

“Yes, it is rare for royals to find their mates. Most of us are promised before we even exist, just like you were promised to me many years before you were ever a thought in your parent’s minds.”

“And what of this Kingdom?” I ask, looking at a fifth one that was crossed out with what looked like charcoal.

“That was the Credence Kingdom. They were as old as the Landeena Kingdom,” Kyson tells me.

“So Landeena’s and Azures are the two oldest kingdoms?”

“Yes. The Azure Kingdom. The first royal was a woman, and Landeena was a man. Legend says they were basically like the Adam and Eve of Lycan bloodlines. They argued for centuries over who the real OG Lycan was, hence the treaty being made. Somany people were killed over such a foolish argument,” Kyson says, shaking his head.

“So what about your Kingdom?” I ask him.

“My Kingdom was the second largest.”

“And the Credence Kingdom?”

“They weren’t Lycan. They were a human Kingdom. The four Lycan Kingdoms took them down, or so we thought, but they rebuilt and remained in the shadows and slowly, one Kingdom at a time, they started taking us out.”

“So, what is there now?” I ask.

“That is where the council is,” Kyson tells me.

“So what is with the trials?”

“Well, when Kyson’s father beat yours, your parents refused to have children and refused his request. Your father competed every year after that, trying to win the council back. Then there were claims your father cheated, which he did. Once Kyson came of age he then started competing against your father and that is when it got really out of hand because your father made a stupid bet and lost, in turn Kyson won your hand,” Trey admits.

“How did he cheat?” I ask.

“Your father put silver in the water fountains, making all Kyson’s men sick,” Damian says.

“And me, Valkyrie still won that year,” Kyson chuckles.

“So you agreed to the marriage, you wanted it?” I ask Kyson, and he shrugs.

“Yes, I wanted the marriage. But I also wanted to maintain control over the council. Once I won your hand though, your father cheated four years in a row, then once Cyprus fell, your family went into hiding, but even after all the kingdoms fell, I kept up with the trials for the men; instead, they competed for a position on my personal guard.”

---