Chapter 106 The Rot in The Walls
Thomas’s POV
I marched down the main hallway like I owned the damn place…because today, I basically did.
The king had handed me the keys to the kingdom and the palace while he and the queen ventured on their trip.
I needed to make sure everything stayed locked down tight. My chest felt lighter than it had in weeks…well, since the princess woke up.
No more Lady Margaret whispering into the king’s ears and around the corner, deciding who ate what, who slept where, who got punished for breathing too loud.
The king had finally shut that door.
It’s been days since he instructed her and Prince Levi to move out to the new quarters beyond the outer walls with zero palace access. Locked and guarded that they won’t be able to breathe without someone reporting back to me.
But I wasn’t stupid. I’d caught her shadow slinking around her old quarters a few days ago. Still trying. Still thinking she ran things. Not on my watch.
Today, I’m putting everything back where they belong.
Warriors flanked me…ten of our best, boots hitting the marble in perfect sync. Omegas darted past us like startled rabbits, arms full of silk gowns, jewelry boxes, luggage, and enough perfume to choke a horse. Good. Time to scrub every trace of those two out of here.
I planted my feet at the junction of the south wing and bellowed, “Remember! I don’t want to see even a single pin from their rooms in the palace after today. Move all their things out and into their quarters outside the palace, lock the doors and get me the keys immediately!”
The “Yes, Beta!” that bounced back at me felt like thunder. Music to my ears.
I didn’t dare say the next part out loud. Not with whatever the hell was crawling through these halls. I opened the mind-link instead, my voice calm but steel-edged inside every warrior’s head. ‘Sniffing dogs released yet? I want them covering every inch of the kingdom. Now.’
‘Already out, Beta,’ came the quick reply from Jax at the kennels. They’re going nuts…scent’s popping up in three different spots at once. Pack house, main courtyard, and the damn laundry wing, but nothing has been found.’
My stomach twisted. Same rotten whiff I’d caught twice already in the last couple of days…faint, like spoiled meat left in the sun, then gone. Never in the same place twice. Pack house, palace, outer halls, all reported at the exact same minute.
How many of these things were there? One creature couldn’t split itself like that. Could it? It has to be black magic. That’s the only explanation.
‘Keep the dogs moving,’ I shot back. ‘And double the patrols at the gate. If anything even twitches wrong, take it down.’
We charged through the palace like a storm…up staircases, down corridors, ripping open doors, sniffing every corner. Nothing. The scent danced away every time we got close. Whoever…or whatever…was doing a damn good job of playing hide-and-seek.
Just as we hit the grand foyer again, Philip slid up beside me, breathing steady like he’d been out for a morning jog instead of spying on the devil herself.
“Beta Thomas,” he said lowly, “I have something to report.”
I didn’t slow down. “Walk and talk.”
He kept pace. “It’s Morgana.”
I stopped so fast my boots squeaked. My warriors nearly plowed into me. The mysterious legend that had lived for thousands of years? The one no one knows her original face or real identity? That monster?
“Morgana? Impossible. Wasn’t she locked in that cave with enough wards to hold a dragon?”
Philip’s jaw tightened. “Margaret was on the phone in her bathroom this morning…didn’t know I was awake. She said Morgana latched onto a maid’s body, slid right in like a parasite and blended perfectly. That’s how she got past the wards.”
A maid. Of course. No wonder the scent kept flickering…rotten one second, normal the next. That viper had found a new skin suit. My blood ran hot. “Did she say which maid? Which department?”
“No name. Just that the host was ‘perfectly placed.’”
I almost laughed out loud…almost. Margaret thought she was running a spy movie. Sneaking around, recruiting Philip like he was some two-bit traitor.
She had no clue about the blood oath every king’s warrior swears. Betray the throne? Your heart stops mid-beat instantly. None of us would risk our lives that easily.
The king had spotted the setup the day we left to find the princess. That night Philip spilled everything. So we flipped the script. Philip fed her garbage intel while feeding us gold. Double-agent gold. I wanted to high-five the guy right there.
Before I could say anything, one of the younger warriors…Rafe…came sprinting up, face pale. “We’ve combed every floor, every closet, every cellar and nothing has been found. The only place left is… the king and queen’s private wing.”
The words hit like a slap at first. The royal wing. Where the princess and the king slept. Where the scent had never been detected at all since we started the search…because of course it would hide in the one place we’d been avoiding out of respect.
That sly monster… Could it be?
My pulse slammed in my ears. “With me. Now.”
We took the stairs two at a time. The closer we got to the royal corridor, the thicker the air turned all of a sudden. Sweet at first, then sour, then straight-up corpse rot. By the time we reached the private maids’ alcove at the end of the hall, it was unbearable. We all yanked our sleeves over our noses, eyes watering. Warriors growled low, claws already out.
I didn’t knock. I kicked the door so hard the wood cracked.
We burst in at one.
There she was…a young maid in the princess’s dressing gown, standing at the vanity, fingers hovering over a steaming container like she was conjuring something.
She whipped around at the noise. Wide, innocent eyes met mine. Isn’t that the princess’s personal maid? Liana?
Then her face… changed immediately. Just for a split second. Something ancient and ugly flickered behind those black hooded eyes.
She opened her mouth like she was about to scream for help… And then, collapsed.
Her body hit the floor with a sickening thud. No twitch. No breath. Just… gone.
I stood there, heart hammering, warriors frozen around me, the rotten stench now pouring off her like smoke.
What the hell?
I took one step forward, boot crunching over herbs and piles of dirt, and whispered, “Somebody get the healer. And somebody get the king on the phone. Right. Now.”
The palace had never felt so loud and so deathly quiet at the same time.