Page 56 of A Monarch's Fall

“The first stage in the process will be completed tomorrow,” he told me.

“And how is she responding so far?” I asked.

“As expected, the first stage is merely setting the foundations for the next. We must first break the protective enchantments that Her Royal Highness, the Princess, currently has in place that would prevent us from accessing the soul match bond. There will have been no noticeable impact upon setting the enchantments; there should be none as they are broken,” he explained.

“Very good.” I nodded. “Selene is beyond stubborn; she is blind to what is happening, to what needs to be done.” I had to take the future of Borealis back into my control. “For the next stage in the process, do you have everything you need?”

“That is where we hit a stumble,” Dennis replied, lowering his head, revealing the thinning hair at his crown.

“Explain,” I commanded.

“I did tell you, my King, that it would not be an easy process, not for the Flores girl or Her Royal Highness, did I not?” he dared to question me like some errant schoolchild. I resisted the urge to clench my teeth.

“Remember who you speak to,” I warned as I stood from my desk chair.

He stepped back, flustered, as his eyes darted around the room to avoid landing on me.

“My King, Sir, I apologise for my overfamiliarity, for my rudeness. Please, I beg of your forgiveness,” he said as he bowed his head lower.

“Tell me what you need,” I replied, exhausted of his presence.

“I need the Flores girl,” he told me.

I sat back down.

“The Flores girl is currently a prisoner in House Halvorsen,” I informed him.

That Halvorsen boy, Arvid, had been gathering his own impressive militia. Osvald Halvorsen was entirely aware, of course, and pulling the strings of his favourite puppet. After I restored the strength of my family, I would hunt the heirs of Halvorsen down until not a drop of their blood remained. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. They wished to overthrow my House, to take my kingdom. I was no fool. My spies had been reporting on the Halvorsen ambitions for years, and I thought it could be quelled with marriage, yet that was not to be. More recently, they had taken sure steps towards waging war. If it were a civil war they wished for, they would be sorely mistaken. The only blood spilt would be their own.

“That will need to change,” Dennis replied, straightening his spine. “I apologise for being so blunt. However, such a bond cannot be broken without both parties present and at least one agreeing to undertake the steps necessary,” he explained quickly as I growled in frustration. “I am unconvinced that the Princess will agree to participate in the process.”

“Do you doubt my ability to corral my own daughter or retrieve a servant from another House?” I questioned.

“I do no such thing, my King; again I apologise.”

I was growing tired of the man.

He was a reminder of everything I had lost in the last decade. I had grown accustomed to family life, to peace, and I forgot that the peace and respect I commanded had never come from my title, from birthright, but from my actions.

I demanded the respect and the power which I had once wielded.

In comfort, I had lacked action.

I had overlooked the threat from those I had called family. I had lost the respect of the noble class; I had become little more than a figurehead while they fought amongst themselves and lost control of their lands to nothing more than armed peasantry.

And I had a daughter who had gone from my proudest achievement to falling over herself in a baffling and public attempt to keep a lowly servant close to her, risking the future and stability of the kingdom in the process.

It was, of course, my doing. Had I been stronger. Had I recognised Vasilios for what he was, my wife would still be with me, and my dear child would never have felt so unsafe as to seek out such a soul match beneath her standing.

It was I who had led us into weakness, and as such, it was I who would lead us back to strength.

I would put right these wrongs.

I would restore the power of the Borealis name — starting with freeing my daughter from the chains and effects of this damned soul match bond.

“I will have the Flores witch returned to Borealis,” I stated, and picked up another enchanted sealed letter. “That is all,” I continued without looking up.

“Yes, my King,” he replied, and turned to exit.