Chapter 64 The Verdict of Councils
News spread through the palace like wildfire despite the confinement. By morning, every servant knew. Every guard whispered it. The Alpha King had seen his dead wife's ghost. Had screamed her name in the night. Had tried to chase her phantom through the palace halls.
It was a great abomination in the land. The dead were meant to rest. If a spirit returned, it meant something was terribly wrong. It meant the Goddess herself had rejected the departed soul. It meant curse.
Adrian sat in his study, his wounded arm freshly bandaged, his face pale with exhaustion. He hadn't slept after Marcus brought him back to his chambers. Couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Celeste's face. Heard her accusations. Felt her dead hands gripping his wrists.
Doctor Iris had examined him at dawn. Checked his pupils. Felt his forehead for fever. Inspected the wound on his arm for signs of infection.
"The wound is clean," she'd announced. "No fever. No signs of plague infection. But Your Majesty..." She'd hesitated. "The amount of sleeping draught you consumed would fall three grown men. Hallucinations are a known side effect. Especially combined with stress and trauma."
"So I imagined it." Adrian's voice had been flat. "The ghost was just drugs and exhaustion."
"Most likely, Your Majesty."
But it had felt so real. Celeste standing on that landing. Her green dress. Her cold eyes. The way she'd turned and walked toward Lila's chambers.
Now, sitting in his study with morning light streaming through the windows, Adrian tried to convince himself Iris was right. Tried to believe his mind had conjured the ghost. Tried to ignore the voice whispering that Celeste had truly returned to punish him for his forbidden bond.
A knock at the door. Thorne entered without waiting for permission, his face grave.
"Your Majesty. The council has received the reports about last night. They wish to convene an emergency session."
"Let them convene." Adrian didn't look up from the papers scattered across his desk. Reports of the plague's spread. Twenty new deaths overnight. Twenty more souls lost to the curse. "I'm not interested in their opinions about my nightmares."
"It's not about nightmares, Your Majesty." Thorne moved closer, his cane tapping against the floor. "The death toll has risen. Twenty people fell sick and died yesterday despite the confinement. The disease isn't slowing. If anything, it's accelerating."
Adrian's hands clenched. Twenty deaths. Twenty families destroyed. Twenty more reasons to question everything he'd fought for.
"The people are afraid," Thorne continued quietly. "They believe this is divine punishment. A curse brought down upon the kingdom by forbidden acts. And your vision last night, seeing Queen Celeste's spirit..." He trailed off significantly.
"Say it." Adrian's voice was hard. "Say what you're thinking."
"The council believes Lady Lila must be sacrificed to lift the curse."
The words hung in the air like poison. Adrian's wolf surged. His hands flattened on the desk, claws emerging to score deep gouges in the wood.
"No." His voice came out as a growl. "Absolutely not."
"Your Majesty, please understand their position. The plague began when you announced your mate bond to Lady Lila. It has escalated with each passing day. The people see a pattern. They believe the Goddess is expressing her displeasure."
"The Goddess created the mate bond!" Adrian was on his feet now, his chair crashing backward. "She chose Lila for me. Why would she then demand I sacrifice her?"
"Perhaps the bond itself is the test." Thorne's voice remained maddeningly calm. "Perhaps the Goddess is testing whether you will choose duty over desire. Your people over your mate."
"That's not a test. That's torture."
"Sometimes they're the same thing, Your Majesty."
Adrian wanted to hit him. Wanted to throw the elderly councilor out of his study. Wanted to roar his defiance until the very walls shook. But he was king. Kings didn't throw tantrums. Kings made impossible choices.
"What form is this sacrifice supposed to take?" His voice was cold. "Are they suggesting I murder my mate? Slit her throat on an altar? Burn her alive to appease angry gods?"
"The council doesn't know yet." Thorne met his eyes steadily. "That's why we're waiting for the diviner. She should arrive today. She'll tell us exactly what the curse requires."
"And if she says Lila must die?"
"Then you'll have a choice to make, Your Majesty. The same choice kings have always faced. One life against thousands."
Adrian moved to the window. Outside, the city lay quiet under confinement. Smoke still rose from the lower districts where they burned the bodies. Twenty more pyres had been lit overnight. Twenty more families grieving.
How many more would die if he did nothing? How many souls would be lost because he couldn't bear to sacrifice his mate?
But how could he live if Lila died? How could he rule knowing he'd murdered the one person the Goddess had chosen for him?
"Tell the council I'll attend their session." His voice was rough. "But I make no promises. If they think I'll hand over my mate without a fight, they're gravely mistaken."
"I'll relay your message, Your Majesty." Thorne moved toward the door, then paused. "One more thing. The servants whispers Lady Lila has been asking about you. What would you do?"
"Keep her confined." Adrian didn't turn around. "Don't tell her about the council's discussion. Don't tell her what they're planning."
"Your Majesty…"
"That's an order, Thorne." Adrian's hands clenched on the windowsill. "If Lila finds out they want to sacrifice her, she'll try to run. Or worse, she'll volunteer. She'll think she's saving the kingdom by dying."
"Would she be wrong?"
The question hung between them. Adrian had no answer. Thorne left quietly, his cane tapping down the hallway.
Adrian stood at the window and watched his kingdom burn. And wondered if the price of love was always this high. Wondered if the Goddess laughed at the impossible choices she forced on those who dared to want both duty and happiness.
Wondered if Celeste's ghost was real after all, and if she'd returned to see him suffer the way she'd suffered in their loveless marriage.