Chapter 84

Erik gives the human doctor and the healer a disapproving look. “I agree. You should have. We would have stopped—”

“I would have helped,” Leanna finishes, cutting off Erik.

He shakes his head. “Whatever. Conduct your autopsy in private. Nobody is to know about it.”

“There is one more thing.” Jerry holds up a sheaf of papers. “The preliminary medical examination report that the intelligence unit gave you have two pages missing. We didn’t catch it before because the flow was uninterrupted. But the page numbers indicate that two pages are not there.”

Erik frowns, checking the report. “They’re not the type to be reckless. I’ll go have a word with them.”

“What about Harold’s body?” my mate asks, stepping forward. “It must have decomposed a lot. Will you be able to conduct the autopsy properly?”

A strange look passes over her friend’s face. “Well, that’s the odd thing. His body is perfectly preserved.”

Jerry nods, his own expression tense. “It’s as if he died just yesterday. Aside from being cold, there is no change.”

“How is that possible?” I glance at Erik, who looks equally shaken. “A year has passed.”

“We’ll find out for sure after I examine him. You’ll have my report in a few days. I need to test his blood, which is going to take a while since I’m working alone without a full laboratory.”

“I’ll arrange one for you.” Erik sounds defeated.

I can sense that my mate wants to stay, but it’s been a long day for everyone, and I want her to rest. “I’ll be taking Leanna home now.”

“No, you won’t.” Erik gives me a grim look. “A message arrived from the North. Your presence is needed.”

I stiffen.

If a message arrived at the palace here, that means it was sent by the elders.

What are they up to now?

Chapter 24

Cedric Raine

Crossing the Veil and leaving my mate by herself isn’t ideal, but I need to deal with this matter immediately.

“An heir?” I stare at the old farts in front of me. I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have left my kingdom for so long. They seem to have forgotten their place. “You think you can order me to produce an heir?” I ask slowly, wondering which of us have taken leave of their senses.

The elders exchange a look between them, and I see the satisfaction on their faces. From my mild tone, they must think that I feel cornered.

I wonder whose heart I should rip out first.

“It is a matter of duty, Your Majesty. You need to produce an heir. This dispute between you and Queen Vivian has gone on for long enough.”

“I don’t recognize that woman as the queen.” I shrug. “There was no mating ceremony.”

They bristle but are clearly prepared for this argument. “Be that as it may, according to the laws of this kingdom, if the elders of the noble families collectively agree that it is time for an heir to be produced, the royal family has to comply. Aside from this, the elders have the right to proclaim a queen in the absence of one. It is Vivian’s signature on the document that ties the two of you, therefore we have decided—”

“Decided?” The corner of my lip curls in a half smile that has a hush falling over the room. “You’ve decided? Then I’ll drag her in here and you can decide which one of you useless pieces of meat wants to fuck her, because I won’t touch her.”

“Your Majesty, you are crossing a line!” Bella gets to her feet, her expression outraged. I stare at her in silence, and she falters. However, true to her personality, she mutters, “Don’t disrespect the queen.”

Once she sits down, I look at the tense faces in front of me. Under that tension is arrogance. They truly believe they can get their way. Studying them, I’m pretty sure of what they plan to do. Controlling me is getting harder for them, so they intend to have me sire a child, and then they will find a way to get rid of me so that they can put that child on the throne. With Vivian already in their pockets, they will then be able to fully control the kingdom.

They must really think that all the fighting on the border has dulled my intellect.

“I didn’t realize the noble families paid such close attention to the laws of the kingdom. But if that’s the case, let me enforce another law. The one that says each noble family has to appoint one member of their family to go fight on the border. I’m sure you remember that there is a law governing this.”

I see their expressions shift to uneasiness.

“I have been wondering why the noble families have been sending such weak fighters to the border. Or to be more exact, I’ve been curious why nobody from the main families have fought at the border in the last two decades. There’s a new squadron that is going to be dispatched tomorrow. I will be choosing whom to send from the noble families. After all, it is my right as the king to choose, according to the laws of this kingdom.”

“Sire, you can’t do this!”

I watch as the elders cry out in alarm. I gaze at them in apparent boredom.

My eyes come to rest upon Bella, who is sitting beside her father, Henry, one of the elders of the council. Bella recently became the head of her family. She’s watching the proceedings in stony silence now.

“You say I can’t do this?” I study her father, who was the one who spoke up. “Why not? I think I’ve been quite lenient so far by letting you select who to send to the border. As I recall, it is up to me who goes and fights. I’m simply exerting my right to choose.”

Henry Asher tenses in his seat. “Times have changed, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t think they have. The laws sure haven’t changed, as you have just reminded me.”

“Then, perhaps they must!” The man who speaks now is Luther Fenrin, Derrick’s uncle, the one who removed Derrick from the family for refusing to marry Bella.

“That sounds reasonable.” I shrug. “Maybe I should start by reducing the power and authority of the noble families. I feel they have far too much say in the king’s personal matters.”

A strangled silence falls upon the room, and I smile sharply. “You’re also free to try to depose me before I produce an heir for you to control. Would you like to give it a shot?”

The elders exchange troubled looks, and finally, one of them says, his voice cautious, “Your Majesty, why are you acting this way? The kingdom has run fine for the past eight years. Why are you suddenly trying to make changes?”

My smile widens, and I feel anger burning through me. “It’s interesting that you specify the past eight years. Because for the past eight years, I’ve rarely returned to the castle, and this council has had free rein to do as it pleased. If anything, I would say that you have been running the kingdom for the past eight years. Am I wrong?”

My attention moves to Bella again, and she meets my gaze, anger sparking in her eyes. “Well, we didn’t have much of a choice, Your Majesty, since you ran off to sulk because you didn’t get your way.”