Chapter 118

Carol’s POV

What did that vision even mean?

Are Tilly and Beta Luca an item? Luca was probably in his mid to early 30s and Tilly looked to be in her early 20s, maybe even my age. I don’t know either of them very well other than what I’ve seen since I’ve been here. I don’t think I’ve seen them together in the same room.

I didn’t think a Beta would be romantically involved with a maid… let alone the Royal Beta.

Something about what I had just seen didn’t quite seem right. What was he thanking her for and why was he worried that someone might have seen her?

A worried pit developed in my stomach just as the bathroom door opened and Aiden walked out, fully dressed.

He paused when he saw me.

“Why do you look like you just seen a ghost?” He asked, cocking his head to the side as he studied me.

Should I tell him what I have just seen? I wasn’t sure what I saw, and it didn’t feel as if it was my business. But what if it was important?

In the blink of an eye, I decided to keep this to myself for right now. At least until I knew for sure that what I saw was an actual vision and that it was important. Aiden had enough going on right now; he was still in the middle of his investigation to find out who poisoned his father and why. I didn’t need to add more to his plate.

I forced a smile and stepped away from the door.

“Tilly brought us some extra towels,” I told him, handing him the towels that were still in my hands.

His brows furrowed together; his eyes never leaving my face.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he pointed out. “Did something happen while I was in the bathroom?”

I shook my head.

“No, I guess I’m just a little nervous. She also mentioned that my father was waiting for me. We planned to start practice in the palace gym so I should probably get going.”

He didn’t look as if he bought it, but he didn’t push me any further either. He nodded and pressed his lips gently to mine, letting his lips linger for a moment.

“I’m going to call Oliver and see what he found out. Now that we know that the poison definitely came from this palace, we have good leverage. We might be able to narrow it down to who has access to it.”

I nodded.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll find you later and you can update me on what you find out.”

I grabbed a fitted tank top and black fitted shorts and went into the bathroom. I quickly dressed and then braided my hair in a French braid. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I felt satisfied with my appearance. I wasn’t sure what to expect with training; considering we were meeting in the gym, I figured it was best if I wore my workout outfit.

After putting on my shoes and kissing Aiden one last time, I left the bedroom and made my way down the stairs. It took a little while and a couple of maids to point me in the right direction, but I eventually found the gym and King Bennet was working out with Beta Luca.

I paused at the doorway, watching their interaction for a short while. They were bantering and laughing; I don’t think I had ever seen Luca smile since I’d been here, and I had never heard the King laughing.

They looked as if they were old friends.

Aiden had told me at one point that it’s not uncommon for Alpha’s, Beta’s, and even Gammas, to be good friends. I knew Oliver and Aiden grew up together and he would have been Aiden’s Beta regardless of his pack status.

Oliver’s father was the Beta of the pack and a good friend of Aiden’s father. Unfortunately, he died during a rogue attack a few years ago, leaving Oliver as the only Beta. During one of our talks, Oliver mentioned that his uncle, who was his father’s best friend, has been helping him with the Beta role and training him. He’s basically like a second father to Oliver.

It’s strange to see the King interacting in such a friendly and playful manner with his Beta like Aiden would act towards Oliver.

Both wore sweatpants and had their shirts off. They were covered in a thick layer of sweat, so I knew they had been here for a while.

It was King Bennet who noticed me standing at the doorway first and he stopped his bantering with Beta to address me.

“Are you going to stand at the door all day? Or are you going to come in?”

My cheeks reddened and I stepped into the gym.

Luca chuckled and grabbed a towel off the rack on the far side of the room to wipe the sweat off his neck.

“Good talk, man,” Beta Luca said, patting King Bennet on the back. “Thanks for listening.”

“Of course,” King Bennet said, giving him a knowing look. “I know I’m the Alpha Kinga and all, but you are still my best friend, Luca. You can always talk to me about anything.”

Beta Luca had a ghostly troubled look for a moment, which didn’t go missed by me. But it was gone in a heartbeat and in its place was almost a lost smile.

“I’ll let you get to training,” he said as he started towards the door. He glanced down at me as he passed and nodded before leaving the room.

“Have you been friends for a while? “I found myself asking out of curiosity.

“Our whole lives,” he admitted. “Why do you ask?”

I shrug.

“Just wondering. Aiden is the same with his Beta as well. Friends till the end,” I say.

He smiles thoughtfully.

“Aiden is smart to have a Beta he can trust,” King Bennet said approvingly. “Shall we get started? I have a meeting this afternoon I need to attend.”

I nodded and stepped toward him, unsure of what I was supposed to do.

“So, how about you tell me what you already know how to do,” he said, eyeing me carefully.

I shrugged.

“Not much,” I admitted. “I think I’m able to manipulate minds of some sort.”

He raised his brows.

“Explain.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Well, when I concentrate hard, a green glow will form around somebody and they will do as I ask,” I tell him. “I can get people to tell the truth or perform an action. It was how I escaped from Morgan. I made her guards set me free.”

He looked surprised by this.

“Your powers are strong,” he pointed out. “Usually, you need more training before you have that much level of control. Are you able to do anything else?”

I thought about it for a moment and then I remembered all my speeches before each game.

“I have a way with words,” I tell him. “I can motivate people in my speeches and make them believe in themselves. Aiden says it’s a special gift, now I’m thinking it might be part of this. I sometimes see the green glow around them as well during my speeches, but I never really thought much about it.”

“That is incredible,” he breathed. “It’s certainly a gift. So, you have telekinesis, just like your mother. It seems that might be your strongest ability seeming that came in first and you have impeccable control over it.”

I bit my lip and then nodded.

“I want to test something else out,” he said, walking over to a gym bag that he threw in the corner of the room. I watched him warily until he uncovered a large book and a metal briefcase with a padlock on it.

He walked over to me sat the briefcase down on the workout bench and then lifted the book for me to see.

I cocked my head to the side; it was a potions book.

“This is a book of the most common potions along with their ingredients and the exact measurements needed to create each potion. Potions are very touchy and if you add too much or too little of just one ingredient, it could change the entire effect of the potion. Those who are gifted in potion and elixir making don’t usually need this book. All the information they need is in their heads. But sometimes they still need a little extra help to get them started. Regardless, if you have the gift of elixir-creating like the Amyrran clan, this book should be easy to read. To normal eyes, this book would seem complicated.”

I narrowed my eyes and took the book from him. When I flipped through it, my eyes scanned each of the words and my brows furrowed after a few minutes.

I looked up at him.

“This is pure chemistry,” I told him simply. “I was top of my class in both high school and college. I loved anything that had to do with math and science; it’s what makes me so good at administration. I used to be able to know what each ingredient was by smell and looks alone. It always impressed my teachers,” I couldn’t help but gloat.

The look of pride crossed the King’s face as I spoke.

“So, you can read this book easily?” He asked.

I nodded as I continued to flip through the pages. It was a very complex book, but it wasn’t anything unusual other than the fact that these were magical potions.

“Good, so I want you to create a healing potion for me,” he surprised me by saying as he unlocked the metal briefcase.

I gasped when I saw the neatly layered potion bottles inside of the case. There were so many of them and all different colors. It was oddly beautiful in a strange way.

He grabbed an empty vile and handed it to me.

“Start creating,” he ordered, folding his arms across his chest and stepping back to give me space.

Taking in a deep breath, I quickly flipped through the book until I came across healing potions. I found the most basic one and decided to create that one.

It told me the ingredients of each one and I rummaged through the case until I found each one. I opened a couple of them and took a sniff, committing the scents to memory. For some reason, these scents were familiar, like I already knew what they’d smell like before I sniffed it.

I thought about looking in the book to get the exact measurements, but the information seemed to already be in my head. I’m not sure why I thought the measurements were correct, but I had a strong sense to keep going.

I poured the ingredients into the vile and then I put a cork on it and shook it until the liquid was a solid light green.

Then, I handed it to him.

He raised his brows and a smirk appeared on his lips.

“Let’s test it, shall we?” He said as he took a blade out of his pocket.

I gasped, not realizing he had a blade on him and then I watched in horror as he sliced deeply into the palm of his hand. Blood pooled in his palm; it didn’t look as if it hurt him, but it certainly looked as if it did.

He put the vile to his lips and took a deep sip of the potion. I waited with bated breath as he placed the empty vile back in the case and then took a seat on the bench.

We both stood and stared at his hand.

Several seconds ticked by and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, I watched as his hand started to heal.