Chapter 143 LAWS THAT DO NOT BEND
RAGNAR’S POV
The council chamber is colder than I remember.
Or maybe it’s just me since if the situation was any different, I wouldn't be caught dead here.
The stone walls rise really high and are carved with the old laws. The really crucial ones that govern us and the barbaric ones that trap us when it matters most.
Like now.
The long table at the center is already occupied when I enter with the Elders seated in their usual places and their expressions unreadable.
Waiting.
Always waiting. I wish I had the job of just sitting and summoning people to do things as I see fit.
Even if I don't want to, problems would find a way to locate me
I don’t bother with pleasantries. We all hate each other, mostly me, so I won't want to waste any of our “precious” time.
“There’s been a challenge issued,” I say, my voice cutting clean throughout the room. “And I want Sebastian removed from participation.”
Silence follows like they were all expecting this.
One of the Elders leans forward slightly with a smirk. “That is not within your authority, Alpha Ragnar.”
My jaw tightens.
That is the reason I'm here in the first place.
“He’s under my command,” I counter. “My guard. If I remove him from duty, he shouldn’t be bound to the challenge.”
Another Elder shakes his head slowly.
“The law is clear.”
Of course it is. It's always when it suits them that the law is “clear”.
“It states that any guard in active service to an Alpha at the time a challenge is issued is bound to participate.”
“I’m well aware of the law,” I snapped. “I’m asking for an exception.”
“There are no exceptions,” the first Elder replies calmly.
My patience frays on both ends
“Then I’ll simply remove him from my employ,” I say. “Effective immediately.”
A pause.
“It will not matter at all whether he's in your employ or not.”
The words hit like a wall to my fist as I stare at them.
“What?”
“He was your guard at the time the challenge was issued,” another Elder explains with his tone almost bored. “That is the determining factor of his participation, not his current position.”
My hands curl into fists at my sides.
“So even if I dismiss him–”
“He is still bound to participate.”
The finality in their voices is suffocating as they all say it together like the creepy old men they are. For a moment, I don’t speak.
Because I’m trying, the Moon goddess knows I'm trying very hard not to lose control in a room full of people who would love to see it.
“You’re telling me,” I say slowly, “that there is nothing I can do to remove him.”
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t have to participate,” I pushed once more. “There has to be a way to exempt him. He’s an Omega.”
“And yet,” one of them replies coolly, “he accepted a claim from an Alpha in public and is employed as a “guard” to another.”
When he emphasizes the guard part, there are a few snickers around that shuts me up.
Because I know what they’re implying.
“He is not some defenseless Omega,” the Elder continues. “He has made himself a participant in matters of power so he has to join.”
My jaw clenches so hard it aches.
“This isn’t about dominance,” I say. “This is about his survival.”
“It is always about survival,” another one replies. “That is precisely why the law exists. To govern us.”
My control slips, just slightly.
“Then your laws are flawed.”
That earns me a few looks of disapproval and scoffs but they don't say anything. This isn't the first time I've insulted their laws to their faces.
“This isn’t justice,” I continue. “This is a death sentence.”
“Only if he loses,” one of them says.
I let out a humorless breath.
“Against Alphas?” I ask. “Against them?”
No one answers my questions because they all know what it means.
And they don’t care. Some “Elders” they are.
The realization settles cold and heavy in my chest as I want to find a way to remove him.
There’s nothing here for me, no help or solution to my predicament. They're all useless.
I turn without another word and walk out before I start shouting.
___
By the time I reach my father’s quarters, the frustration has settled into something calmer.
I don’t knock, he's probably already scented my arrival or some Elders have already reported to him.
I merely push the door open and step inside to find him there.
He's seated by the window with a book resting loosely in his hand, though I can tell immediately he’s not reading it.
He looks up as I enter and for a moment, I can see the wry mockery in his eyes.
He's probably thinking about how I didn't end it when he told me to and now I have no one to help me.
“You went to the council,” he says.
Not a question, a statement that makes me run a hand in my hair and exhale in frustration.
“They won’t do anything,” I say. “They won’t remove him from the challenge.”
“I didn’t expect them to.”
That answer from him only irritates me more.
“You knew?”
“I know how the laws work, child,” he replies calmly, closing the book and setting it aside without a care. “You should too, you know? Maybe take up reading?”
“I was hoping for an exception in this case.”
“Then you will find none Ragnar.”
Of course, always the same tone when I go against his precious “Elders”.
I pace around the room with the energy under my skin refusing to settle and make peace.
“I even tried to dismiss him,” I add. “They said it doesn’t matter and that he was my guard when the challenge was issued.”
“Yes.”
Just–
A mere yes?
Like that’s supposed to be acceptable and enough for me?!
I stop my pacing and turn firmly to face him fully.
“There has to be something,” I say. “A loophole or a clause. Anything.”
He studies me quietly for a moment before he finally gives me a quiet response.
“No.”
The word lands harder than anything the council said. For a moment, I'm sure I misheard him.
“There is nothing you can do through the law to remove him,” he continues.