3rd Person POV
“How?” asked Dagen.
“We'll invite Reginald to a soiree and then we'll invite only those families with the women we want,” suggested Lord Edvin. Lord Tyler cringed at the idea. He could not believe the two of them. They still looked very young (as werewolves aged slowly) but they were already behaving like old men.
“You are such an intelligent man, Edvin. It will be as though we did not have a hand in it at all,” replied Alpha Dagen.
They did not ask for Tyler's contribution because they knew he had no interest in such things.
“I should start writing invitations then, I intend to invite some families outside our pack. For instance, my good friend, Beta Phillip, has a beautiful daughter I would like him to meet,” said Alpha Dagen.
“Yes, yes, I have some suggestions to make too. I will start writing a list,” said Lord Edvin.
Lord Tyler was beginning to wonder if he could leave now since it did not seem like they were discussing anything of importance.
However, before he could take his leave, a servant came into the study holding a letter. It had to be important otherwise he would not have interrupted the Alpha.
“Alpha Dagen? A letter from Queen Euphrates,” said the servant. The three men looked among themselves as they had no idea who that was. Still, Dagen motioned with his finger for the servant to drop the letter on his table.
“Thank you,” he said to the servant. When the servant had left, Dagen asked, “Do we know of Queen Euphrates?”
“Not at all, never heard of the name,” said Lord Edvin, Lord Tyler nodded no.
“Only one way to find out,” said Alpha Dagen.
He reached for a glove on his table before touching the letter at all. That was the manner of opening letters as several letters had contained poison and several rulers had been killed as a result.
He broke the seal on the letter and opened the letter.
The letter read:
*From: The Queen of Faes, Euphrates*
*To: King Dagen, Alpha of the Shadowclaw pack*
*I write to inform you of the presence of our existence on the planet. We Faes—elves, fairies, white witches—are sharing the planet with you. As queen, I am confident that you will be a strong ally of ours. It is my wish that you accept our offer of friendship. Having said that, I am inviting you to a soiree that I am hosting a fortnight from now.*
*I hope to see you there. At the bottom of this letter is a card that will grant you entrance to Mount Shasta.*
*Euphrates*
The letter dissolved afterwards and in place of it was a small card.
“Wow! So the rumours were true,” remarked Lord Edvin. They had heard that Mount Shasta was real and in fact, Prince Ashton had tried to use the fairies to kill Rosaline but it had not worked.
“Princess Regina never tells us anything,” said Tyler. He was especially hurt by being left in the dark. He missed Regina when she had been in Dagen's palace; he missed their friendship and the special bond they shared.
“Will you go?” asked Lord Edvin.
“What do you think?” quipped Alpha Dagen.
“The Faes will be a good ally, I think we should do it,” said Lord Tyler.
****
“I see you've taken my advice,” said Regina.
Queen Euphrates rolled her eyes. She just wanted this woman to leave Mount Shasta but it did not seem like there was a way to do so.
“Is there something I can do for you?” quipped Queen Euphrates.
“You know what I want,” said Regina.
“I said I would think about it, I will let you know when I'm done thinking,” said Queen Euphrates.
“She does not have…”
“Tell me something, Regina…” Regina cringed inwardly because Queen Euphrates had refused still to refer to her by her title, “Is there a way I can banish you from my kingdom?”
“Unfortunately, there is no way to do that,” smiled Regina. What Queen Euphrates did not know was that if Regina should engage her in a fight based on their powers, Regina was more likely to win. Regina did not want to compel Queen Euphrates to help Irvette or she would have done so. However, if matters got out of hand, she would turn to Hades for help. That was another option she was not willing to explore. She did not like taking advantage of Hades’ feelings for her to get things done.
“No way? I assure you I will find a way,” scoffed Queen Euphrates.
“Is there a reason you do not like me?” asked Regina. It was unlikely but perhaps a fragment of her life as Nydia still remained with her.
“Do I need a reason to dislike you?” asked Queen Euphrates.
“I do not think you can win Alpha Dagen's friendship if you refuse to heal Irvette's mind. This is an opportunity to show them that you…”
“Are you spying on me?” asked Queen Euphrates. She did not like the things she did in private becoming knowledge to Regina.
“I know everything,” said Regina. The former queen had made her privy to the intentions of whoever the next Queen would be. It would be a while before she no longer knew everything that Queen Euphrates did.
“Stay out of my business,” said Queen Euphrates.
****
Reginald woke up earlier than he usually did and long before dawn came he was in Lord Augustine's house. He saw Lord Augustine and Lady Lowell in their full riding gear; he had also dressed appropriately for the occasion. He had borrowed Harlin's as he had not brought his with him.
Greetings were exchanged.
As Lord Augustine walked Reginald into his stable where he kept several horses, he placed himself in between his daughter and Prince Reginald. He was not going to entertain any funny business.
“This is Mira,” said Lord Augustine pointing to a yellow horse.