Page 16

Chapter Sixteen

Earlier in the day

King Lucas

A fter lunch, my wives decide they need to make some changes to Colbie’s suite. If she is going to have eight mates, then she’s going to need more space, so they hurry off to make arrangements. Hopefully the magic took care of that too, but Colbie didn’t mention anything earlier, so they want to check.

I don’t want anything to do with that, so I head toward my office, or I guess Colbie’s office, to clear out my personal items and transfer them to a new office. My family will move into the other wing of the castle once the councilors get their notice to vacate. I can’t say I’m going to be sad to see them go. Most of them have been a thorn in my side since I first received the mark, constantly shooting down my ideas of making shifter society more inclusive.

I haven’t been as successful as I would have liked, and I’m hoping Colbie’s suggestion to add a member of each race to the council will go far in bridging that gap. The equines made their home in a settlement on the far edges of the shifter kingdom in the hopes they would be left alone. I’m not sure how successful they were. It isn’t right, they should be welcome wherever they want to live and not have to uproot their lives and make new ones because of some antiquated ideas about prey versus predator animals. The equines are just as fierce, even if they don’t have claws or fangs.

My office smells like leather and ink as I take a seat in the large leather chair behind my desk. I sigh, rubbing a hand across my face. I’m tired, and I am not sad about stepping aside. There was so much I wanted to do during my rule, and the council blocked me at every turn. I’m happy to see the back of it, but I’m also happy to be able to support Colbie with her reign. Maybe with Mia, Sable, and me replacing the current council, we will be able to push for the initiatives I wanted, but was constantly blocked from doing. If only we had known how restrictive they would be when I first started my reign.

Standing up, I go over to a cabinet, pull out a crystal decanter, and pour myself a glass of whiskey, adding a couple of ice cubes from the machine next to it. Our staff keeps my office well stocked, knowing I regularly need a drink after dealing with the council, and I’m just taking a sip when my office door flies open.

“What is the meaning of this?” Vallen Tideman waves a piece of paper wildly in the air. His eyes blaze with fury, and I see fur ripple across his arms like he’s trying to control his shift.

“Come in, Vallen,” I invite dryly, gesturing to the chair in front of me. “Would you like a drink?” I hold up my glass of whiskey, though I’d rather spit in it than offer him any, but I need to keep the peace for now.

“No, I don’t want a drink,” he snarls as he stalks farther into the room, still grasping the piece of paper in his hand like it’s going to stab him. “I want to know what the fuck this is!”

He slams it down on the desk, and I sigh before moving over to look down at it, taking a sip of my whiskey as I do. The smoky warmth soothes my body slightly as I look over the information. My eyebrows jump when I read what’s on it. It’s a copy of the missive Gracelin sent out to the mer, equine, and fairy communities, inviting them to submit representatives for the council positions.

“How did you get your hands on this?” I ask him suspiciously. This information hasn’t been made public yet, nor has the council been advised of the queen’s decision. She was going to tell them at the same time she relieved them of their positions. We obviously have a loose-lipped employee, or he’s paying someone to funnel him information—probably the latter, if I’m honest. I’m not surprised.

“It doesn’t matter. I will not work on a council with inferior shifters on it,” he declares righteously.

“I don’t think that is really going to matter,” I reply vaguely, moving around to my seat and sitting down. He doesn’t know he’s being replaced yet.

“The council has always had six members. Expanding it goes against tradition,” he argues, slamming his hands down on the desk and staring down at me like he’s trying to intimidate me. It doesn’t work. I may have lost some of the magic that made me a ruler, but I am still more powerful than this slug of a man.

I raise an eyebrow and take another sip of my whiskey, refusing to be cowed. “There are no rules governing the number of council members. That is a decision for the crowned ruler.”

He sneers. “The crowned ruler? Have the queen’s mates shown up yet? She can’t and will not be crowned until those mates appear. That is very clear in the rules.”

I place my glass down on the desk, holding his gaze. “It doesn’t matter if she has been crowned yet or not. She wears the marks, so she is the queen, and as such, she decides on the members of her council. If she wants to add new ones or replace current ones, that is completely up to her.”

I didn’t think his face could turn any redder, but it does, and again, a wave of fur ripples across his face before he locks it down. He really is very close to wolfing out. I bet the thought that he would shred his thousand dollar suit is the only thing keeping him contained.

“We’ll see. She isn’t crowned yet, and with the way it’s going, she’s never going to be. No mates have presented themselves. I wouldn’t get too comfortable with her. She’s weak and doesn’t have mates to protect her, and the challenge day is still to come, so she could very well find herself in trouble.”

He isn’t subtle with the threat in the least, and I could summon one of Bryson’s teams to have him arrested, but I’m much more interested in seeing this play out. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out my son and his bond group are her mates and that she now has eight of them, not to mention that she’s a hydra shifter. I can’t wait to see his face on challenge day. I pray to the goddess that he challenges her. I’d love to see his face when he finds out what creature she is.

“Careful, Tideman. You’re walking a fine, treasonous line with those words. I have every right to call for your arrest.” I stand up to my full height, which is slightly taller than him.

He scoffs but steps back. “Nonsense. Challenge day is for her to prove she can protect us against anything that may endanger the shifter race. If she’s not up to the task, then it is a shifter’s right to challenge her.”

“Yes, it is, but if something were to happen to her between now and challenge day, then you will be the first person I look at,” I warn him, and he snatches the piece of paper off my desk.

“This isn’t over. I’ll be informing the rest of the council of her choices. She might not like what the consequences of her actions are,” he threatens before storming out of my office, slamming the door behind him as he goes.

“Fuck!” I run my fingers through my hair before dropping down into my comfy leather seat. “He’s going to be a problem,” I mutter.

“Yes, he is.” The voice comes from the corner of the room, and I startle, spilling my drink I had just picked up.

A man steps out of the shadows, and my eyes widen. “Holy fuck, Titus, you scared the shit out of me,” I snap at the Chaos king’s assassin and spy, who wears a smirk on his face. “How long have you been there?” I ask him, knowing I hadn’t seen him when I first entered the room.

He shrugs. “Since you arrived,” he admits. “So your new queen is going to replace your current council?” he asks, pulling a book out of the bookcase and slowly flipping through it.

I watch him closely. Titus has been my contact with the Chaos king for the last few years since his predecessor decided to retire. The Chaos king has a league of assassins who spy for him, and he has one assigned to each kingdom. Titus is mine and chose to make himself known to me so we can share information with one another at the blessing of the Chaos king. Titus is a half fairy shifter, half fae, which is why he was assigned the shifter kingdom. His mother is a fairy shifter who fell in love with a fae and chose to leave for the Chaos Kingdom so they could be together. He’s tall and slender and has pointy ears like a fae with long pale green hair, which I assume is from his father. I haven’t seen him in his fairy form, but the man is a living, breathing weapon with knives strapped all over his protective black leathers.

He puts the book back on the shelf and helps himself to my bar, pulling out his favorite fae wine, which I keep specifically for his visits.

“Yes, she is,” I confirm when he doesn’t ask anything else. “Queen Colbie may be just what this kingdom needs—a breath of fresh air,” I tell him. “She sent missives to the mer, fairy, and equine shifters, inviting them to submit candidates for council representation.

“And how does she feel about the Chaos Kingdom?” he asks, taking a sip of his pale purple wine while holding my gaze.

“We briefed her on it this morning, and she seemed agreeable to the concept. I didn’t mention our relationship yet. She has enough to contend with without knowing that a fairy assassin is her contact with the Chaos Kingdom.”

He studies me carefully, and I watch him consider what information he will choose to impart to me today. While it took a period of time, I have come to trust that Titus has both the shifter and Chaos kingdoms best interest in mind.

“There is word on the breeze that a hit has been put on the queen. The assassin’s guild was offered a significant sum to take care of the problem,” he tells me, and my heart starts to race in panic. The assassin’s guild very rarely fails to complete their tasks. My hand tightens on the glass I’m holding, and he doesn’t miss the movement.

“And what did the Chaos king decide?” I ask, trying to come up with a plan to keep Colbie alive. Her hydra has regenerative properties and is nearly immortal, but I doubt it carries over into her human form, otherwise the humans would not have been able to kill them off during the previous war.

He takes another slow sip of his drink. “The king chose to decline the offer. He doesn’t want any trouble with the monarchs of any of the kingdoms. In fact, he issued a warning to anyone who may try to assassinate the queen that retribution would be swift and final.”

I can’t control my reaction, and my eyebrows jump in surprise. “He did?”

He nods, slowly putting his feet up on my desk. I scowl at them, but his boots aren’t muddy, so I let it slide this time. “Yes, you could say our king has a vested interest in your queen’s well-being. In fact, he would like to meet her. He has issued an invitation for her to dine in the Chaos Kingdom, and it would be in her best interest to do so.” I can hear the threat behind his words, and I don’t like it.

I jump to my feet, spilling my drink on my hand, and slam the glass down on the table. “For Aramis’s sake, Titus. The queen has enough to worry about without receiving an invite from your king. We have the fact that she’s missing mates and can’t be crowned, missing shifter children that need to be found, and a damn problem with someone creating ferals, and you heard that cretin. The council will be gunning for her now too.” I pace back and forth behind my desk, and he watches me with curious eyes.

“Lucas, it isn’t like you to overshare. You usually keep everything close to the chest.”

I scoff and throw my hands up. “Like you assholes don’t know all of that already.” I face him, putting my hands on my hips. “Do you deny it?”

He purses his lips and hums. “No,” he answers slowly. “You are right, we are aware of all your internal issues.” He stands up, throwing back the last of his wine and placing the glass on my desk. “The queen is still missing mates? I was under the impression that she found them.”

Again, I’m surprised, but this time, I manage to keep my reaction to myself and think about what I should share regarding the recent wave of magic. I consider keeping it to myself, but I don’t doubt the whole damn kingdom will know soon. “The goddess felt it necessary to award Colbie two more mates earlier this morning. One has made itself known to us, and the other remains a mystery. Until that shifter comes forward, Colbie can’t be crowned. We are also searching for the whereabouts of one other. Although we know who he is, he has yet to be notified.”

He waves his hand and pulls a long, black hooded cape out of the air, swinging it around his shoulders. “I must go, but make sure the queen visits my king. He may have an answer to your feral problem.”

“Does the Chaos Kingdom have something to do with our missing children and feral issue?” I have to ask, even though I am fairly certain they have nothing to do with this.

He gives me a look that would make a lesser man piss his pants. “I will forget you ever asked that in the name of continuing good relations between our kingdoms. I can assure you that our king detests abuse toward children as much as, if not more than, all of the other kingdoms combined. Do not forget how our kingdom came to be. We are the outcasts and rejects your kingdoms deemed unworthy.”

I wince at his accusations. He isn’t wrong. I’m not sure which generation of kings and queens declared cross matings illegal, but it’s another thing I have been trying to change the laws on. I’m sure Colbie will continue my fight once she is crowned, and seeing the good people of the Chaos Kingdom would be a step in the right direction.

I incline my head in apology. “I will see to it that she makes time to visit King Loki.”

“Sooner rather than later,” he warns before he disappears in a flash. Titus obviously got his ability to teleport from his father. Usually, children from cross pairings favor one parent or the other. On a rare occasion, like him, they take on characteristics of both parents and are a force to be reckoned with. I believe this is probably why cross mating was prohibited. The children of such matings can be very powerful.

I grab my glass and pour another generous amount of whiskey into it before flopping back in my chair again. “Fuck, I haven’t drunk this much since my own coronation,” I mutter, taking a large sip and closing my eyes. Poor Colbie. Her reign is going to be anything but easy. I should stock the office bar for her. It seems like she’s going to need it.