**3rd Person POV**
Alison blinked several times. She was not certain she had heard correctly. Alpha Raphael was soliciting her help to talk Queen Emily into agreeing to continue the betrothal? She found it suspicious given that Dagen was a very close friend of Alpha Raphael. If Raphael wanted his son to one day marry Charlotte should he not have this conversation with his friend?
“I believe you should be making this request of Alpha Dagen,” Alison promptly returned. The situation with the twins was quite messy and she was not interested in getting in the middle of it. For all she knew, the twins could in future decide to make a legitimate claim to their royalty here. They were so cute now and willing to make cake bombs with baby Harlin but they could decide that they wanted Harlin's throne which should have been theirs in the first place.
“He would punch me in the face,” sighed Alpha Raphael.
“Then why come to me? Do you believe I have no fist?” quipped Alison.
“Of course not. I do believe I have a proposal you will find irresistible,” he said with a serious tone.
“I am afraid this is not a good time, Alpha Raphael. As you well know, I am still looking for my sister and there are so many things that need my attention. I am not too concerned about Princess Charlotte’s marital affairs,” Alison dismissed the man as politely as she could. For all she knew it was a ploy to test her. She could not put anything past the Council of Elders. She knew that at the slightest sign of personal greed, they would stop her from ruling her pack.
“This conversation is not over, I assure you.”
****
“You should grant Queen Emily’s request to release Nydia to her as a criminal,” Lord Edvin was saying to Dagen at one of their closed curtain meetings. Lord Tyler was present too. Dagen had come to terms with the fact that Tyler was not a threat to his throne. Besides Regina had personally requested that Tyler become a major player in Dagen's rule if she were to agree to having the children announced as Royals in Dagen's court. Tyler was the only person she trusted fully in the pack.
“They would torture her,” returned Dagen who was not willing to give her up just yet. Somehow he managed to blame himself for what had happened. He felt that it was his negligence that had pushed Nydia into doing what she had done.
“They are meant to; you are meant to but you provide her with care,” returned Lord Edvin who was clearly pissed off at Dagen but could not express himself fully.
“I will release her to Queen Emily if you will tell me why you hate her so much,” replied Dagen. He was tired of viewing what had transpired between the two of them. This time he wanted to know what had happened.
“It is personal,”
“You do realise that as your king I can order you to tell me but I respect your personal thoughts and decisions just like I expect you to respect mine. I loved Nydia. She was once very important to me. I cannot just give her up knowing she would be tortured where I'm sending her to,” said Dagen.
“She hurt your children,” inputted Tyler in a soft tone, afraid not to stir up Dagen's anger.
“If you take no action against Nydia. Your enemies will think you have gone soft and they will come after you,” said Edvin in one last motion to change Dagen's mind.
“When Nydia has regained full strength, I would interrogate her and then decide on a punishment for her but not before that,” said Dagen. He had no intention of letting Nydia go scot free but he felt she deserved a chance to be heard. If for anything, he wanted to know if it was his actions that had led her to derail or if she had always been a wicked person.
“Queen Emily is not known for her patience,” commented Lord Edvin.
“Let her know that Nydia would pay for her crimes,” said Alpha Dagen.
The three of them became quiet. After about two minutes of utter silence, Dagen asked, “The deadline to choose an heir from my children is fast approaching and they are yet to receive the education that would qualify either of them to be named Crown Prince or Princess. Has there been any words from Queen Emily in response to my request that they come here for their training and education?”
Although Regina was back, she had refused to communicate with Dagen at all. In the meantime, Queen Emily was their royal guardian and she was the one responsible for their education and social appearances. Dagen was aware that Emily only did what her cousin asked her to do when it came to the twins which was very frustrating for him. He had tried many times to plead with Regina but his best efforts had failed him. He had to give her credit though for not making him out to be the evil parents. The twins had accepted him rather quickly as their father and whenever he was granted the opportunity to be with them, they were friendly enough with him.
“I'm afraid not,” was Tyler's response.
“Seriously? They have the right to sit on their father's throne and take advantage of their royal privileges,” vented Dagen.
“Perhaps, if you release Nydia to them, they will be amenable to your request?” Lord Edvin did not think that it would hurt if he gave it one more try.
“Their future is more important than Nydia. They cannot deny the children their rights because of Nydia,” returned Dagen.
“It could be that they do not want Nydia in the same place with the twins,” added Tyler.
Dagen had not considered that possibility but he senses that there was truth to what Tyler had said. He made up his mind to put an end to Nydia's stay quickly.