Ello I'm back with a long-ass chapter !!!

Important: there are two prominent religions mentioned in this chapter. The most prominent religion is called the Faith of The One, which Harry, Reina and majority of the people in the realm follows. Then there's the faith of the Messiah which the foreigners of Khidos follows.

This will be explained further on in the chapter and any questions you have now will also probably be answered!

TWO REMINDERS: the foreign language is Arabic and when it is spoken in the chapter it's in Italics. Writing in actually Arabic would've confused me more than anything so I chose not to do it that way.

AND

There are five main houses that the Styles family rule over, including House Rahraenos. Keep that in mind for this chapter.

Anyways excuse any errors and ENJOY!

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"If you hadn't disobeyed my orders of staying in this castle, this ambush never would have happened."

"Well father, we couldn't help it. Reina's grandmother was sick and I wasn't going to let her spend another minute in this castle while Lady Aella continued to suffer without her granddaughter by her side," Harry spoke lowly and firmly, pale eyes gazing challengingly at his father.

The King was sat on the Golden Throne, dresses in fine crimson silk with sparkling gold embroidery; mighty crown sitting on the top of his head. His Hand, Jorey, was stood near him, dark locks almost greying, dressed in expensive emerald silk. They both had stern expressions on their faces as they focused their gaze on Reina, whom held her head up high, standing close to Harry with his hand resting on her lower back.

"I advise you not to speak to your King like that," the Hand, Jorey, spoke to Harry sternly, making Harry averting his gaze angrily to the side, jaw clenching.

"Whatever," Harry muttered, turning his gaze to focus on them again. "Now, we came here to discuss the event of the ambush that occurred a night ago."

"Yes we were concerned about the ambushers being foreigners," the King spoke, switching his gaze to Reina when he spoke. "Harry told us that the symbols from the masks of the ambushers resemble ones that were on necklaces your mother used to wear."

"Where did you learn this from?" Reina finally spoke, snapping her questioning gaze to Harry. The new information already gave Reina and idea of who the ambushers may be and their purpose.

"The family who helped you informed me of it. They visit your kingdom often, especially when your mother was alive. The son just noticed the similarity is all." Harry told her, making her wonder for a second why he didn't tell her earlier.

"I noticed the symbols too," Reina said quietly. "But not enough to distinguish what they mean exactly. But since you said they resemble pendants that hung on my mother's necklaces, they must be symbols of Messiah."

"Messiah?" Harry muttered in confusion.

"The religion the foreigners follow in Khidos," Reina explained. "I am not a believer in the Faith of Messiah as I already follow the Faith of The One, because my father did. But I remember some of the beliefs of the Messiah."

The Faith of the One was the most prominent religion in the whole of Caunwaiton. Reina and Reyes followed it because of their father, while their mother followed Messiah, a religion prominent in Khidos. The extremists of Messiah were the foreigners who caused havoc years ago in the different kingdoms of Caunwaiton, establishing that stereotype that foreigners are savages and violent, and willing to kill innocents in order to remove non-foreigners and non-believers of the Messiah. They were what tainted the image of the good foreigners of Khidos.

"And do these beliefs include murder? Because it is clear what the aim of the ambush was," the King spoke up after hearing Reina's words.

"Absolutely not. The Faith of Messiah is a religion of peace. It would never condone murder," Reina said with wide eyes.

"So then why do foreigners act like violent savages, hell-bent on murdering innocents?" Jorey questioned in a dumbfounded tone, and Reina had to fight to keep a lid on her temper.

"That is quite a generalization you're making, Jorey," Reina commented sarcastically. "Not all foreigners are like that. Not all believers of Messiah are like that either. Only extremists of Messiah act that way, and that is only a small portion of the foreigners in Khidos."

"Do you believe that these ambushers are some of these extremists?" Harry asked quietly.

"Possibly. We would only know if we speak to them," Reina told him.

"We have one of the ambushes held prisoner here," Harry informed her, making her eyes widen because she wasn't told of this. "We want you to translate what he says, and ask him our questions in the foreign language."

"Alright," Reina said with a slow nod, before Harry called loudly for the guards to bring the man and his helmet.

The large double doors of the throne room where swung open, two guards dragging a man whose wrists and ankles were shackled. Harry stood protectively in front of Reina as the guards brought the tightly bounded man closer, dropping him by the steps where Harry and Reina were stood, which led up to the throne. Reina moved around Harry to step closer, curious eyes narrowed at the ambusher whom had dark hair and eyes with tanned skin, light stubble peppered across his jaw and cheeks.

He gazed up at her menacingly, jaw clenching and lips curling into a snarl. Suddenly, he spat at Reina's feet, much to her surprise and disgust, causing her to retract due to Harry pulling her back. The man's aim was poor and he missed Reina's actual feet, but the action was enough to rile Harry up as he pulled Reina firmly behind him, nostrils flaring and jaw clenching at the man.

"Harry," Reina spoke up sternly, hating the way he was handling her with that tight grip of his. She wrenched her arm out of his, bright eyes glinting at him before snapping towards the man and parting her lips to speak in the foreign tongue.

"If you disrespect me again I will have your fingers chopped off," she spoke in a warning tone to the man, suddenly causing the man to chuckle.

"You will never be my future Queen if you keep following the Faith of the One," the man scoffed while Reina felt the urge to roll her eyes.

"What is it?" Desmond demanded with a deep frown on his face, disliking the language barrier that has been set up. "What is he saying?"

"He just said that I will never be his future Queen if I keep following the Faith of the One," Reina responded, pondering for a moment what the man could mean by that.

"What do you expect me to follow?" Reina asked the man, even though she already knew the answer to it.

"You are the foreign princess, your true origins lie in Khidos where we are the followers of Messiah. Instead you worship this filth you call The One," the man spat loudly.

"What's he saying now?" Jorey noticed how infuriated the man has become, glaring at him.

"Just give me a moment, I am trying to determine what he's implying," Reina held her hand up to silence Jorey. "You want me to follow Messiah?"

"For the first time ever we are going to have a foreign Queen, it would be a shame the foreign Queen representing Khidos isn't even a Messian," the man said, tone filled with disgust and dissatisfaction.

"And you claim you're a Messian when you ambushed my husband and I. I almost died. Isn't murder the fifth Greater Sin in your Messian beliefs?" Reina questioned challengingly.

"Your view of the Messian beliefs are distorted, my princess," the man muttered lowly. "This realm must be cleansed of non-Messian believers and ruled by Messian-based governance only. Only then will there be justice and freedom for the foreigners of Khidos. Khidosi whom follow the Messiah of course."

"This cleansing, that is what you mean by 'all must die'?" Reina demanded loudly, but the man didn't say anything. He only smirked in response. "I demand an answer!"

Harry was caught off-guard by Reina's sudden yelling, eyebrows lowering when he noticed the man smirking slyly at her. His face morphed into an expression of anger and infuriation, motioning for the guards to make the man stand up. Harry walked up to him, scowling angrily at the man before his face was inches away from his.

"You will answer my wife, immediately," Harry snarled, pale eyes glaring at dark ones. "Or else I will feed you to my lions!"

"All must die. All will die. The followers of Messiah will cleanse this realm. All of you will cease to exist: Dragon, Lion, Bear, Eagle and Snake."

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Reina slid further into the bathtub until the warm water touched her chin and her entire body was engulfed in liquid. It was later that day, the sun had set and the moon had risen. Reina had spent hours with The Council, the King and Harry, explaining to them the faith of the Messiah and how the ambushers were extremists of the religion that was followed in Khidos, with plans to murder innocents and take the throne. They tired her with their endless questions, some of them absurd and stupid, others just repetitive. One of the nobles of The Council even went as far as accusing her of organizing the whole thing. Harry was furious, and immediately had him thrown in the dungeons before Reina could even defend herself.

Reina finished up in her bath after a few more minutes before she called for her maids to help her out of the tub because the stab wound prevented her from moving around a lot. When no one entered the bathroom she frowned in annoyance, wondering if they took her words literally when she said 'leave me'. She only wanted a little alone time before getting out. Harry was in the room and heard her call, stepping up to the bathroom and biting his lip, wondering if he should go inside or not.

"Becca! Sara!" Reina continued to call, but Harry knew that her maids weren't even outside.

"Reina, they're not here," Harry called out to her. "What's wrong?"

"I need help getting out of the tub," Reina said in a small voice, hating how useless she felt because of the stupid stab wound.

"I can help you," Harry responded quickly. "May I?"

"Please."

Harry pushed the door open as soon as he heard her response. He spotted Reina, looking very tired and sleepy and immediately went over to help her out. Reina didn't care that she was naked, it's not like he hasn't seen her like that before. He held her hands as she pulled her feet up and pushed herself up slowly. His arm went around her back to support her, and she grimaced in pain, holding onto him, wet fingers gripping his soft, white tunic.

"I've got you, my love," he whispered to her in reassurance, and Reina couldn't help the way her cheeks flushed and heart jumped at his words.

His words of encouragement helped her ignore the pain and lift her leg up to step out of the bathtub. Harry kept his arm around her naked body as his other hand reached for her towel nearby. He helped her dry off, noticing how tired she was and how the wound was troubling her. He waited for her to tell him to stop, to tell him that she could handle it and take care of herself. But it seemed like she wanted his help, she wanted him near her, close. She couldn't explain this desire to constantly have him near her, maybe it was because of the nightmare she had, which now she felt was going to be a reality because of the threat she received from the ambusher.

"Come, I will help you dress," Harry spoke in a soft, comforting voice, keeping his arm wrapped around her while they walked back into the bedchamber.

Harry first helped her dress her wound, applying the herbal paste that the physician made before dressing the wound with clean, white cloth. He was gentle with her, warm hands handling her as if she was the most precious thing in this realm. Their eyes met every now and then, before breaking away due to the awkwardness. When Harry was done bandaging her wound, he helped her put her nightgown on. He tugged the material down over her head, helping her pull her arms through the sleeves while the white, soft material slipped down to her ankles.

Harry briefly stepped away to change out of his clothes into his nightwear as well. He came back to check if she were ok, catching her hands for a second when he spotted scars on them, turning them around so her palms faced upwards, narrowed eyes staring down.

"What happened here?" he questioned, wondering to himself why he didn't notice the wounds earlier. They were still healing.

"I was gripping the knife the ambusher was trying to stab me with at some point. The blade cut my palms," Reina mumbled in response. She then spotted the guilt in his eyes. "Harry, this was not your fault."

"I could've stayed with you, and protected you. This wouldn't have happened if I just stayed in the carriage-"

"I wouldn't have let you stay, I would've forced you to help Fredric," Reina told him firmly, while she pulled one of her hands away to touch his cheek. "Do not blame yourself for this."

"Too late," Harry mumbled in response, making Reina shoot him a blank look as he smiled a little. "I will protect you. I swear to the lords above Reina I will protect you with all my heart."

"And I you, Harry," Reina said with a heavy sigh, feeling his hands slip around her back to pull her closer. She wanted to say again that he shouldn't make promises he can't keep, but she knew just how adamant he was on keeping this one.

Harry couldn't help himself when he cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead, thumbs stroking the apples of her soft cheeks. Reina's heart was softened by the action, arms quickly rising to wrap around his waist and hug him to her. She hated how much the nightmare had made her weak and paranoid, desperate for more tender actions from him because she wanted reassurance that they were going to be okay. He was warm against her body, firm yet soft and comforting at the same time.

"Reina," Harry whispered quietly, hands slipping up to cup her cheeks again. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Reina responded in confusion, eyebrows drawing low.

"This," he referred to her affectionate actions. "It's very unlike you, especially after we've fought."

"I'm sorry," Reina mumbled with a shake of her head, hands leaving his body. "You want me to make you grovel for what you said?"

"Well no but that's what you usually do-"

"I told you that I didn't want to do that anymore because it doesn't work," Reina said folding her arms over her chest.

"Alright, I understand that but why be so affectionate anyways-"

"Because I'm scared," she snapped lightly, making his eyes widen a little. "First the nightmare made me paranoid, and then the meeting with that ambusher and his threats. I-I just don't want us to remain like this, on bad terms, until something like that ambush happens again."

"I was just worried that what had happened in Vardomos was the last straw for you, I-I didn't want to tire you with my mistakes and make you change. I was just trying to make sure of that is all."

"I want to say that I haven't changed," Reina began to say. "But recent events, the ambush, the nightmare, the threat; it has all made me paranoid and afraid. I-I don't like feeling afraid, Harry."

"Reina," Harry sighed heavily, holding her close to him with his hands on her hips. "I too dislike the feeling of fear immensely. But my love, fear is only temporary, and a choice. If we choose to be afraid, it will only consume us to a point where we can't defend ourselves against what we are fearing."

"You're right," Reina murmured with a nod. "I just can't help it, it's all because of-" she began to say but stopped momentarily.

"Because of what?" Harry frowned lightly, pulling his hand up to brush her hair out of her face, tucking the strands behind her ear before coming around to cup her cheek.

"I-I'll upset you," Reina tried to find an excuse for not speaking about one of the other reasons why she was acting the way she was. She just didn't want Harry to react badly due to his tendency to overreact.

"It's about him isn't it?" Harry mumbled questioningly, making her nod slightly. "Tell me, what about him?"

"We had an argument right before he had to go off and fight by my father's side in the rebellion," Reina said quietly.

"He didn't return alive," Harry murmured in response, making Reina's eyes flutter shut, heading hanging low.

"I try my hardest to avoid arguments and fights with the ones I love and care for," she said as she moved to sit down on the bed, hand going to her wound. "It just reminds me of that time and how quickly you can lose someone."

"Oh Reina," Harry muttered a little sympathetically, sitting down beside her on the edge of the bed and sliding his hand onto her lap. "I promise you, change will come with me and the arguments we have will lessen."

"I am hopeful," Reina looked at him with a light smile, making him return the smile, dimple dipping into his cheek. "For us."

Harry laced his fingers with hers, pulling their linked hands up to press a kiss to the back of her hand. He smiled at her words again, feeling his heart flood with relief because that was all he wanted: for her to remain hopeful. He was worried the fight they had made her lose hope in their marriage, because there was proof in the way she was behaving. But now he was relieved and reassured that she was still hopeful because she didn't want them to be on bad terms for the rest of their marriage. It meant to Harry that she cared for him, deeply, and nothing made him happier but that.

"So, Jon, he was a soldier?" Harry questioned quietly, making Reina frown a little at his curious questioning.

He didn't want her to be afraid of talking about Jon to him. As much as it hurts him to know that she loved a man before him, he had time to think about it more while she was unconscious from the stabbing, and wanted to know more about this man who made Reina forget about her duties and rules for love.

"Lord Commander of the Dragonsguard," Reina couldn't help but smile a little, remembering how he was beaming when he told her the news. "Previously my bodyguard."

"That's...impressive," Harry said genuinely, gaze staying fixated on Reina's face while she averted her gaze to her lap and their joined hands.

"Yes, he was an impressive fighter." Her smile appeared again and Harry noticed it. It was different to all the other smiles that Harry has ever seen. He didn't know how to feel about it, but he forced himself away from anything negative.

"Did he treat you...right?"

"I wouldn't have been with him if he hadn't," Reina chuckled lightly, before she looked at him. "Why are you asking about him?"

"I-I was just curious," Harry gulped a little, rolling his lips inwards before his tongue peeked out to wet them. "I just wanted to know what he was like."

"Why?" Reina simply asked.

"I-I want know how to treat you better, m-maybe I can learn from what he did? I don't know-"

"Harry," Reina whispered with knitted brows. "It touches me that you want to learn from what he did."

"Well of course, I want to change, Reina," Harry said firmly, his tone all serious and full of determination.

"I believe you," Reina responded. "All he did was treat me with respect and kindness, that is all."

"That is all?" Harry pulled his brows low; wanting a whole list of things he did that made Reina happy.

"No...he did a lot more, but that is what I require from you the most," Reina told him, gazing at him a little strangely. "You want to know what more he did?"

"Well...yes."

"Harry, it wasn't just his actions towards me, it was his personality as well-"

"Alright, then what was his personality like?"

"Are you planning to change yourself to replicate him in order to make me happy?" Reina questioned with an arch of her brow. Harry's cheeks flushed and he looked away, shrugging sheepishly.

"I-I want you to care for me like you did for him-"

"Harry, love, listen to me," Reina said firmly, urging him to look at her. "I do care for you, and not in the way I did for him, which isn't bad because you both are two completely different people whom I have and had different relationships with. Please, understand that. Please understand that I will come to love you one day just as much as I did with Jon, and you needn't to worry about your feelings not being reciprocated at all because it will happen."

"You sound so sure of it," Harry whispered when he heard the last few words of her response. She smiled at him a little sympathetically, hands coming up to cup his cheeks.

"It is because I am so sure of it," Reina told him firmly.

"Alright, yes, and as I change for the better, it'll happen quicker, correct?" Harry checked, the insecurity and vulnerability clear in his tone as Reina smiled lightly and nodded at him before she began yawning.

"I think we should head to bed now," he said with a sigh, smiling lightly at the sight of her yawning.

Once they were settled with all the candles blown out, the moonlight flooded into the bedchamber through the glass windows. Reina laid on her side, facing Harry while Harry did the same, curls falling over his face as he did so. Reina smiled a little, hand reaching out to brush his curls back over his head, before allowing her fingers to skim his cheek. Her heart ached at the sight of his scar, the memory of how he got it immediately playing in her head.

"They scarred your beautiful face," Reina found herself saying sadly, biting her lip when she found Harry smirking at her.

"You think I'm beautiful, Little Dragon?" Harry questioned lowly, smirk tugging at his pink lips. The mentioning of her nickname made Reina's heart jump in her chest, realizing how much she's missed it even thought it hasn't been long since he last called her that.

"Why, do you prefer a more masculine description?" Reina teased with a roll of her eyes, turning to lie on her back as Harry scooted closer. "Something like handsome?"

"That fits better," Harry hummed in reply, rolling to lie on his stomach.

"Hmm. I prefer beautiful," Reina responded with a smile, making him roll his eyes. "You truly do have beautiful features, don't you see it?"

"The only beauty I see is in your eyes, body and heart, my love."

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❀ HOW WAS THAT CHAPTER? Did you enjoy it? Did you understand the religion bit?

Please answer these questions:

❀ Does the Messian religion and the stereotypes that surround it and foreignors remind you of anything?

❀ How do you feel about Reina and Harry now? Is the way they're acting making any sense?

❀ Any predictions for Harry and Reina, as well as the Followers of Messiah?

Until we meet again...

thiø