Ileus: The Dark Prince

Ileus was just as blank as him. "No," he replied, lifting his shoulder. "Giving names to the kids is Anastasia's department, not mine. If it were for me, I would have called my sons, son number one and son number two, or Ileus one and Ileus two." At this point of time, he didn't know why Anastasia called him arrogant and narcissist when he suggested her those names. It wasn't like he really thought of good names.

Kaizan shook his head. Ileus was actually terrible at this.

"Haven't you read any names in the books that I had given you?" Ileus asked, as he snapped the last piece in the first crib.

Kaizan rolled his eyes. "I can't name my child Dick, Hardcock or Humper!"

Ileus sighed. "If you ask me, those would be great names. Imagine how they would sound on women's lips. It would be like, 'Hardcock, come here', or, 'we have a Humper here'."

Kaizan looked at Ileus with wide eyes. "I don't really believe you just said that to my kids!"

Ileus narrowed his eyes as he carefully adjusted the last part of the crib. "You asked for my opinion, man," he replied nonchalantly as he admired his work. Gods, he was so… talented.

"Remind me never to ask you again!" Kaizan grunted.

"But I still can't believe that you are going to have twins!" Ileus said with a semblance of a smile as he walked to the next wooden box that contained pieces of the next crib. At this rate, he was sure he would end up constructing every part of the kids' nursery along with Kaizan.

"Neither can I. Mother told me that she wished I would get a handful of trouble because of the way I troubled her and here I am," Kaizan said as he waved at the assembled crib. It looked beautiful and he had this sudden impulse to rock it. He chuckled.

"Do you know what sex are they?" asked Ileus, sounding excited.

"Not as yet! But I hope Olivia can smell them soon."

Ileus rubbed his hand, itching to assemble the other crib, now that he knew which part would go where. "If I am so excited, I can't imagine how excited you are about the kids!" He remembered how scared he was at first and then he started waiting for Nicolai and then how the small child changed his world. And then they had Alexander. Ileus now waited for Kaizan's kids. He was going to spoil all of them so much and would make sure no one interfered, not even the parents.

Kaizan took a deep breath in. "I am trying not to be too excited."

"What do you mean?" Ileus asked, jerking his head to look at him. When he didn't reply, Ileus realized what Kaizan meant. "You know that you worry unnecessarily."

"I am lacking good leads, Ileus. There is something that isn't there and that I am unable to see. Murtagh is kind of testing us. None of the rogues had attacked anywhere in the capital in the last three days. That means that he is planning something bigger. I didn't hear any attacks on the trade path either, which is kind of weird."

Ileus tilted his head and after a moment's silence, he opened the next wooden box. "Come let us finish this one too. "I will be better once we have assembled this one too."

With each passing day, as Olivia grew confident with her pregnancy, blooming more each day, Kaizan's dread left him unsettled. "I want to kill that bastard like yesterday!" he grunted. "Olivia is not safe in her own home town." The fear seemed like it was so nearby. He knew just one thing—

"What are you thinking?" Ileus looked at him brooding over something.

"If I am lost or if Olivia is lost, we will follow each other, Ileus…" He had to get this out of his chest. "If anything happens to us—"

"Shut up! Would you?" Ileus snapped. He couldn't even think of losing Kaizan, It was as if the blood bond he had with him thrummed to the level that it crazed him.

"No, I have to say it, Ileus. If we don't make it alive through this shit, you will be raising my children as their father."

"You have gone completely out of your mind!" Ileus said with a jaw clenched so hard that it ached.

"Promise me that."

Ileus swallowed the thick lump that formed his throat. He stared at Kaizan for some time and then said, "I will. You have my word." He walked towards Kaizan and caught his upper arms. "But it wouldn't come to that situation."

Kaizan took a sigh of relief.

The two finished the assembly of the second crib soon after.

"By the way, I hope you know that there is a full moon in ten days," Ileus said, changing the topic. "And I have plans with Anastasia." He wiggled his eyebrows.

----

Out of the five rogue leaders, two had arrived at their destinations. They came in small batches and hid themselves in the villages or in the traveler's inns. They all wanted to be as covert as possible. The other three rogue leaders still had time to reach their destinations. The last one would reach on the fourth day, his men would take rest for a day and then they would all attack together. They all knew how to go underground after that because Murtagh had asked them to hide their asses off immediately, else they would be targets of Mozias.

Luke was on the outside of the cave, assembling his unit. Murtagh had given him the exact location of the weak entry points of the Whiteclaw pack. He had drawn a map on the wet mud of the ground where they stood. He called the three leaders of his unit who now surrounded the map. Tasha was sitting on a stump, watching him. Over the past few days, she had grown attached to him. The man was a great lover, great kisser and had sex with her as if she was his world. She wanted to spend more time with him instead of Murtagh. But at the same time, she couldn't risk her position with Murtagh because he had promised her to make her his Luna. So, she watched Luke with a sigh and… lust from a distance. What if—

"This is where you are going to attack from," said Luke to one of them. He pointed at the south border. He pointed the stick in his hand to two more points. "These are not heavily guarded, but once you are inside, you may encounter a small division of soldiers."

"That wouldn't be a problem!" one of them chuckled.

"Once you all are inside the territory and have sufficiently distracted them, Tasha and I will arrive at the main gate." Luke sneered as if he was sneering at his father. "I can't wait for it!" He wanted to see the expression on his father's face when he confronted him, when he plunged his sword into him. Thinking of his father, he spat on the floor.

"Neither can I," Tasha said and bit her lip.

Luke dismissed his men. He walked to her and pulled her up. "You've grown very impatient Tasha."

She looked at him under her lashes.. "I want you to become the Alpha."