Page 25 of The Forsaken Heir

“You know,” he said, glancing around at the others in his company. “We were just talking about you. Come. Join us.”

Groaning inwardly, I gave the men my best smile. “Of course. What were we discussing?”

Even though it was still early in the day, the men all held glasses of amber liquid. The smell told me it was cognac. Day-drinking on a Tuesday? How aristocratic of them.

A mountain of a man, a full head taller than Benedictus, raised his glass to greet me as I joined their little circle. His name was Marcus, the leader of the Atticus family.

“We were talking about the Laurent girl,” Marcus said.

“Really?” My fingers tightened on the bundle of files in my hand, heat rising up my neck. I sent a loaded glance toward Benedictus. “And what, pray tell, were you discussing about Lady Laurent?”

To my great surprise, Benedictus’s smile faded, and he bowed his head.

“Your Highness, I want to apologize to you for how I reacted to Brielle Laurent’s appearance in the throne room the other day. I was out of line and behaved in a way unbefitting of my house and name.”

In all my years, I’d never heard this man give more than a cursory or forced apology for anything he’d done or said. His words now came with the ring of regret and truth. The look on my face must have telegraphed my surprise because he chuckled ruefully.

“Yes, Aurelius, the great Benedictus Beatrix can admit when he was wrong. It was after rumors spread of how her family had treated her that I realized how heartless and cruel I’d been.”

“Her family?” I asked dumbly, still in shock at his apology.

Marcus nodded, frowning with consternation. “Yes. Word has spread that she was banished for being unable to shift and not having an inner wolf. None of us have ever heard of anything so heinous. Turning one’s back on family is disgusting.”

“Yes,” Benedictus agreed. “To be turned away from your own family for what is beyond your control is…” He shook his head. “It is beyond contemptible.”

I wanted to say that the way he treated his son was equally contemptible, but again, I knew it was more disappointment than disgust or hatred of his child.

Benedictus had wished for Vincent to be a powerful and well-versed shifter.

Instead, the man was born different, with interesting ways of approaching things and an abrupt, unfiltered way of interacting with people.

He’d never do to Vincent what had been done to Elle.

“This is true,” I said, but my anger still simmered. “It still doesn’t excuse the disrespect you showed her yesterday. Nor the half-hearted apology you gave her.”

The men shifted their weight, their eyes darting away. Benedictus, for his part, kept his eyes on mine. He gave one single, curt nod.

“It’s true. I reacted poorly.” He gestured to the other men.

“We were all shocked and a bit displeased to see a wolf in our liege lord’s throne room.

You know as well as we do how dangerous a wolf can be.

The Laurents especially can be truly conniving and barbaric, as evidenced by their treatment of their eldest child.

It was simply a force of habit. I sincerely apologize and hope to one day meet the young woman again.

Perhaps during a second meeting I can give more gracious words of regret. ”

My head was still spinning with this back-peddle. It made me wonder if, perhaps, my father had given him an even more stern reprimand out of sight of prying eyes and ears. If the king had put the fear of God into him, then perhaps it could cause him to reevaluate his attitude.

“I accept your apology,” I said at last.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” he said, bowing his head once more. “Now that we have this out of the way, maybe we could discuss other pressing matters.”

“Indeed,” Marcus said. “We have plans for a new green energy initiative. Using magic to power some of the cities and towns within our lands. Human cities, of course, so we would need assistance in creating a plant that would pass their inspections but not raise unwanted questions. Machines that operate on magic, but appear to use traditional means such as natural gas or even solar if we want them to truly appear, for all intents and purposes, as fully clean.”

“It would be a financial boon to us, as well,” Benedictus said. “Perhaps you could possibly make some inroads with a few of the high-ranking humans you know, Highness? City council members? Perhaps some state senators even?”

Unable to stop myself, I sighed heavily. The apology had probably been sincere, but it was a means to an end. Everything these men did had political motivations, even when they actually meant it. There was always the undercurrent of quid pro quo .

“Gentlemen,” I said with a gracious smile. “I really must be going. Maybe we can discuss this later. I hope you’ll excuse me.”

They looked a bit disheartened at my abrupt departure, but at least they didn’t try to cajole me into sticking around.

Back out in the hall, I breathed deeply, trying to process the entire interaction.

It was good to know that, regardless of what kind of an asshole he was, Benedictus could still be counted on to be an honorable man.

Although, now I realized what a bad idea it had been to leave my office.

Rather than getting my mind off Elle, the expedition to the library had only cemented her in my mind.

I wasn’t sure how I’d get any work done at this rate.

Rounding the corner to get back to my office, I froze when I saw Vincent pacing outside the door and taking huge bites out of the massive sandwich he was holding.

“Vince?” I said. “Why are you back?”

He spotted me and swallowed. “I got bored. One of the cooks was talking about football. I left.”

I chuckled. “Okay, then. Where’s my sandwich?”

Vincent glanced down at his food, a look of dawning confusion on his face.

“You want mine?” he finally asked.

“No, it’s fine. I’m joking. Come on, I’ll call for tea or something to be brought up.”

We went into my office, and Vince took the seat he’d had before. I picked up the phone, calling the kitchens to have tea and some light lunch items brought up.

“Where’s Rasp?” I said as I settled in my chair. “I haven’t seen him all day.”

Vincent shoved the final bit of his food into his mouth and spoke through the wad of bread, meat, and cheese. “He’s out on a job. Something for his dad.”

If I had to guess, it was some simple task my uncle had given him. Rasp, as much as I loved him, was too immature to be trusted with much more than low-priority items.

The food and drinks arrived ten minutes later, and Vince and I spent the early afternoon together in a mostly companionable silence. I worked while he read more of Frankenstein . Eventually, he put the book down and sighed heavily.

“I miss Elle.” He pointed at the book. “It’s not as good when I’m the one reading it. It was better when she read it.”

“I miss her too,” I said.

A thought occurred to me then. An idea that, until that moment, hadn’t even crossed my mind.

When I’d left Brielle on the sidewalk outside her apartment two days before, I’d done so with the thought that I’d never see her again.

But why ? I knew where she lived. It was less than a forty-minute drive from the estate.

Not only was it close by, but I was the bloody prince .

Why did I feel like I couldn’t go see an ally whenever I wanted to?

That was exactly what she was too. Elle may not have been a part of her family’s life, but she was still a Laurent, regardless of what her parents or brother thought.

“Vincent?” I said, looking across the desk at my friend. “Do you wanna go say hi to her? Go with me for a little visit?”

His eyes widened, and he leapt to his feet. “Yeah, I do. Are you serious?”

Rising from my own seat, I felt a strange elation at my decision. Like I’d done something huge and full of consequence.

“Go grab one of the servants. Tell them to put together a gift basket. Maybe some baked goods, some snacks. A few of our magical beauty and toiletry items as well. Let them know it’s for a high-born lady. I’ll call the valet to have a car around. You and I are going on a little drive.”