Page 28 of Unwilling Queen (Kingdoms #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Colbie

I ’m dead by lunchtime. Here lies Queen Colbie may she rest in peace, her brain fried with an overload of information.

I thought learning about shifter politics would be tedious and boring, but I’ve been completely captivated, absorbing everything the king, queens, and Sable have been teaching me, but it’s definitely an intensive course. I don’t even think we’ve touched the tip of the iceberg.

When Lucas sends me away to grab something to eat, I’m pretty sure I have a solid understanding of the people on the council and their various positions. They spent hours drilling me because I’m going to meet them all tonight, and not only them, but also other shifters who are gunning for their positions and hope to curry favor with me.

Mia said half the people there tonight will be sucking up to me, desperate to hold onto their positions, while the other half will be doing everything they can to usurp the current council members through sly comments, innuendos, and downright lies. Apparently tonight will be a cesspit of slander and malicious gossip, and I have to smile prettily through it all.

I groan loudly as Violet and I make our escape, heading toward the dining room where another buffet spread will have been prepared. “That was a lot,” I grumble, and she tucks her arm into mine and gives it a squeeze.

“It sure was. I had no idea being in the upper class was like that. It must be so stressful to be constantly worried about your reputation. I’m kind of glad I’ve never had to worry about it.”

The queens actually insisted that Violet had the same training as me to prepare her for all the crazy as well. I was so thankful to them for including her, mostly so I didn’t feel so alone and out of my depths, but they were all so patient.

“I had no idea how many different kinds of shifters there were and that some of them had more magic than just shifting.” Sable gave me a rundown, explaining the difference between regular and mythical shifters. They also pointed out which ones we need to be wary of tonight. A few of them like to push their dominance to try and get the upper hand. Without my pendant on, it wouldn’t be an issue, but we’re still trying to conceal how powerful I actually am. Without being able to control it yet, I’ll have all the guests on their knees every time the wind blows in a different direction.

There’s no one else in the dining room when we get there, and the two of us help ourselves to the food. I pile my plate high with potato and pasta salads and cold chicken pieces, before covering a bread roll with butter. I study the dessert options, but there is not enough room on my plate, so I decide to come back after I finish my first course.

We return to the table, grabbing seats next to one another. We’re silent for a little while as we devour our food, but eventually, I catch up to my hunger and slow down.

“Thank fuck we don’t have physical training this afternoon. I’m so tired, and if I have to smile and look pretty for hours tonight, I need a nap. Otherwise, I’m literally going to bite someone’s face off,” I joke, and Violet giggles.

“Are you worried about tonight?” she asks when she stops giggling at my dramatics.

“Not really. I give great customer service, and it can’t be worse than dealing with irate coffee drinkers, but I’m worried that no mates have presented themselves,” I admit. This is really bothering me. My mother’s passive aggressive ways have really messed with my head, and I’m worried I’m not cut out for this and there are men out there with marks who hate the idea of being shackled to a short, curvy former human. I mean, it has to rub some of them the wrong way, right?

Her expression softens with sympathy, and I wince, but before she can respond, the door to the dining room opens, and one of the palace staff hurries into the room. He looks a little stressed, like he’s not sure what to do about what brought him here.

“Your Majesty, forgive my intrusion, but you have some visitors. Shall I send them in?” He sounds as frazzled as he looks.

“Who is here?” Violet asks before I can respond.

“It’s two male shifters and a human woman. She claims to be your mother.”

No! Surely she wouldn’t? How would she have gotten here? She would need permission. My stomach rolls with dread as all of these thoughts whirl in my brain, and my food threatens to make a reappearance. Violet grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze as the dining room doors open once more and my mother waltzes in, escorted by Niles and Brock. They appear beyond giddy to be here and look around the room with eager eyes. My mother has a haughty sneer on her face and stares down her nose at the food on my plate.

“Colbie, dear, you shouldn’t make such a pig of yourself. Carbs are not going to do those hips any favors.” She grimaces with disgust.

I wince and feel my cheeks heat with shame. It’s the same argument she gave me when I decided I wanted to be a baker. I almost gave it up, but Granny wouldn’t let me. She and Mother had a huge blowout when Granny told her to shut up.

“Actually, shifters can eat all the carbs they want and not have to worry about weight. It helps fuel our animals, so when we rip people’s heads off, we don’t get tired,” a menacing voice from a doorway that leads to the kitchen growls, and Niles and Brock squeak with alarm and clutch each other in panic.

My mother just glares at Liam as he strolls to the buffet and puts a piece of apple pie on a plate with a huge dollop of whipped cream before adding a couple of colorful donuts to it as well. He stalks toward us and places it in front of me, never once taking his eyes off my mother.

“Eat up, my queen. You will need your strength to deal with all the fawning idiots tonight.” He doesn’t look at me, just gives the plate a nudge. My mouth drops open in surprise. He’s been nothing but indifferent toward me up until now. Violet fans her face like she’s hot. I guess my mother is a lot.

“Humans are not being given permission to enter the shifter zone during the transition. How did you get here?” Liam demands, and a sly smile crosses my mother’s lips as she reaches out and runs a finger over his broad chest, admiring him. He has a punk rock kind of look with his shock of white hair and the piercing in his eyebrow and lip. Liam is most definitely not the type my mother is usually attracted to, but she’s going to work whatever angle she can to get her own way.

“You wouldn’t deny the queen the support of her mother, would you?” she purrs and flutters her eyelashes, but he just removes her hand from his body.

“What help would you be? You know nothing about shifters. How did you get in here?” he barks.

She rolls her eyes and gestures to Brock and Niles. Brock stops clasping Niles’s hand and gets his shit together, straightening the vest he’s wearing.

“My father is on the council, and he gave permission.” He adopts a self-important air, one I’ve never heard from him before, and I blink in surprise. I had no idea that Brock’s father was on the council. He’s never mentioned it before.

“And just who is your father?” a voice booms out, and when I look past my mother, Brock, and Niles, I find Lucas standing there with an expression of fury on his face. Standing behind him are the queens, their faces neutral. I’ve learned that’s their public face, and I had better get good at my own.

“Vallen Tideman.” Brock puffs up his chest to make himself seem bigger, but he looks like a real weeny against Liam and Lucas.

“Ah, yes. Tideman’s son who was banished to the neutral zone for the sake of his reputation.” Lucas’s expression softens ever so slightly as Niles and Brock squirm on the spot. I am dying to know why, but I keep my mouth shut. There’s time for gossip later.

“Layla, Mia, Evie, it’s delightful to see you again,” my mother calls, not able to stand the lack of attention on her anymore.

I watch as the three women internally speak to one another. It’s the small, minute expressions on their faces that they taught me to look for. It means they are speaking through their mate bond. I guess they are trying to figure out how to play this. On one hand, I’m the new queen, and on the other hand, she’s the woman who has been designing for them for years and also my mother. They could very easily destroy her career, but she would make me suffer.

Lucas doesn’t give them a chance to respond. “No matter what my wives told you to call them in the neutral zone, you will address them formally here and give them the respect they deserve, and at least for a few more weeks, they are the queens.” The look he gives my mother would probably shrivel any normal sane person, but it doesn’t seem to affect her in the least. Narcissism at its finest.

I feel the pressure of his dominance in the air, and both Niles and Brock scurry to bow to their royals. My mom obviously can’t feel it, but I see her calculating her response. In the end, she dips into a curtsy, the overly formal dress she is wearing making it possible.

“You will also give our new queen the same respect. How dare you barge in without being invited?”

“She is my daughter, and I will do as I please,” my mother snaps, losing control at being spoken to like that, and I see the moment she realizes she fucked up. She whirls around, looking at me with pleading eyes. “Honey, I only want to be here to support you,” she cajoles, and I feel torn. Despite knowing she’s only here for her own gain, she’s my mother, but she also broke the rules, and I am now the shifter queen who has to see that they are enforced.

Before I can respond, the room suddenly fills with Watch Team One, Adam, and an unknown group of men who must be his team of shifters.

“Gryffin, Adam, can you and your teams please escort these three back to the border?” My mother turns to argue with Lucas, but he puts his hand up.

“Ms. Karridge, you may have received permission, but it was falsely given. I am still king, at least for a few more weeks, and my word is law. Be hopeful that your daughter will forgive you this trespass and still deign to see you once she is ready—ready being the operative word. As for you two, you should have known better. You know your father didn’t have your best interest at heart. I will be placing a six month ban on both of you.”

“But we live in this zone,” Niles cries out. “Our home is here.”

“You should have thought about that before pulling a stunt like this. You will have to find a place to live in the neutral zone for the next six months, as you will not be welcome here.” His attention switches to Brock. “Think very carefully about whether or not your father had your best interest at heart when he gave you permission, knowing banishment was a possibility for flaunting the restriction directive.”

Brock’s face clouds with anger, but he gives the king a nod, and both of them leave without a struggle, neither of them looking at me. Oh well, another semi friendship destroyed by my mother’s manipulations. Should I even be surprised?

“But I need to discuss the queens’ dresses with them.” My mother scrambles for an excuse, and she looks pleadingly at the three queens who shift uncomfortably.

I stand up, smoothing my own dress down and picking up my plate of dessert. I don’t want to make this harder than it is, so if I leave, whatever decision they choose is up to them. I don’t want to influence them either way. “I will retire to my room for now. It’s been a tiring morning, and I think I’ll have a small nap before tonight’s festivities. I’ll see you all this evening. Goodbye, Mom. I will send you an invite to the coronation,” I say mildly, and she grits out a smile, but I see the fury in her eyes. This didn’t go how she wanted at all. Now she needs to work her ass off to salvage her reputation. I wish her luck.

Violet stands up and takes both of our first course plates and hands them to one of the servers, who is being very discrete by pretending not to pay attention. She helps herself to dessert, and then we leave the room.

The tension that I’ve been holding in my body releases the farther we get away from my mother. “Wow, I can’t believe she convinced someone to bring her in. Those two are lucky they were only banned for six months. I wouldn’t want to be in Councilman Tideman’s shoes tonight.”

“Make sure you point him out to me. I don’t want someone like that on my council. What a shit stirrer.”

Violet waves her free hand. “Oh, he’ll claim it was a miscommunication or blame one of his lackies, and they will be out of job.”

“Do you know what Lucas was alluding to when he spoke to Brock?” I ask her, and she winces.

“Actually, I do. It was quite a huge scandal. When Brock mated with a male, Councilman Tideman disowned him.”

“Shifters are homophobic?” I’m kind of shocked to hear that. I would have thought with bond groups and sharing mates that possible same sex-couples would be common.

“No, not at all, but Councilman Tideman is.” Gretchin steps out from behind a pillar I hadn’t seen her leaning against and looks at my plate of dessert. “Bringing out the big guns?” she asks, and I grimace.

“My mother got into the castle,” I say by way of explanation.

She nods and joins us for the walk to my room. “I heard. Anyway, Councilman Tideman had big plans for his three children. His oldest son will follow in his footsteps.”

“If he keeps his seat, which is not looking good at this rate,” I mutter, and Violet nods her agreement.

“And he was hoping his daughter would be marked as a mate for a powerful bond group. He’s constantly throwing her at Gryffin and the guys. As for Brock, he was slated to join the army and move up the ranks and become a general—or that’s what the councilor used to tell anyone who would listen. I was in training with Brock after we finished high school. His heart was never in it, and for a shifter, he has terrible coordination. Then he mated with Niles. They have true mate marks gifted from the goddess. Well, Tideman was livid. You could hear him screaming at Brock from the council’s wing of the palace.”

Yes, this is interesting news, as was learning that the council lives in the palace too. Can’t say I was thrilled about that. Another point in the column of getting rid of them all and installing people I like.

“He kicked poor Brock and Niles to the curb and cut them off. Our moms helped them get back on their feet, find an apartment, and gave them a loan to start the business in the neutral zone.”

“Ah, so that’s why your dad and moms looked upset. They felt betrayed. They shouldn’t be, my mom would have run circles around Brock and Niles by pandering to their egos, they would have been putty in her hands. She might have played the ‘my poor daughter is traumatized’ card and told them she could make everything better. They were conned.”

“Doesn’t matter, they broke the rules, even if they were set up.” Gretchin stands firm, and I sigh.

“I guess I’m going to have to learn not to be so soft.” I push open the door to my room and set my dessert down on the bedside table.

“Maybe, but don’t lose your compassion. It shines so brightly in you, Colbie.” Gretchin gives me a kiss on the cheek and waves at Violet. “I’ll be back to supervise you getting ready for the ball,” she says on her way out, but it sounds like a threat.

“You’ll be here too, right?” I ask Violet as she takes her own leave. Her rooms are in this wing but down a different corridor. This whole section is for me and my supposed new mates, if any of them would deign to turn up.

“Of course. I don’t trust her on her own. Gracelin and I will be back with a whole staff of cosmeticians and hairdressers. We will help you pick a dress when we return. For now, just relax, take a nap, and maybe enjoy a bubble bath. Whatever you need to do to make your animal calm and relaxed, because tonight is going to be trying, and we don’t need you shifting and killing anyone just yet.”

She chuckles and pulls the door closed behind her. I think she’s joking, but I’m not entirely sure. God, I hope alcohol is provided tonight. I can always drink myself calm. Comatose is probably not a good look for a queen though, so maybe only one or two.