Chapter 240 Leaving Them Behind

Chapter 240 Leaving Them Behind
The entire procession stopped. The brass music died away. The thousands of people watching held their breath, the silence falling over the mud flats like a heavy blanket.

Wex guided his black gelding closer to mine. His large hand rested on the hilt of his broadsword, his knuckles turning white. A fierce, protective growl vibrated low in his chest, ready to cut them down for daring to speak my name.

I sent a rush of soothing, golden warmth through our tether. I didn't need him to draw his blade.

I looked down at the three of them.

I searched my chest for the pain they used to cause me. I looked for the terrified little girl who just wanted her parents to love her. I looked for the deep, burning shame Karol used to make me feel when he called me a stray.

There was nothing. The well was completely dry.

They were not monsters anymore. They were not powerful figures casting shadows over my life. They were just sad, dirty strangers drowning in their own petty greed.

I didn't sneer. I didn't yell. I didn't offer them a single ounce of my anger, because anger required caring, and I had no care left to give them.

I looked right through them, focusing my sapphire eyes on the muddy, stained tent flapping in the wind behind their heads.

"Did you hear something, my Queen?" Wex asked. His rough voice was perfectly calm, carrying easily over the silent crowd, mocking their desperation with his pure indifference.

I turned my head away from the mud, looking over at Wex’s handsome, healed face.

"Just the wind dragging through the dirt," I replied, my voice light, clear, and completely hollow. I shifted my gaze forward. "Commander Conaill."

"Yes, Sovereign!" McKenna snapped to attention, her silver armor clanking sharply in the quiet air.

"Keep the path clear of debris," I instructed casually, flicking the reins to urge my stallion forward. "We have a treaty to sign."

"Move back!" McKenna roared, shoving her heavy silver shield directly into my father’s chest.

The force sent him tumbling backward into the deep mud, his arms flailing. He crashed into my mother and Karol, dragging them both down with him into the filthy, freezing puddles. They scrambled in the dirt, weeping and shouting, but their voices were instantly drowned out as the brass horns started playing again.

I did not look back. I rode past them, leaving them in the mud where they belonged.

Through the golden bond, I felt a deep, rumbling satisfaction radiating from Wex. He knew, and I knew. That was the end of them. They wouldn't be executed. They wouldn't be locked in a dark dungeon. They would simply be forgotten. History would erase their names entirely, leaving them to fade away as nobodies in the outer limits of my thriving empire.

We left the mud flats behind, riding up the steep, winding path toward the Grand Pavilion.

The pavilion sat on the highest peak of Lycanthia, an open-air structure built from polished white stone and tall silver pillars, overlooking the entire unified continent. The crowd gathered here was composed of the surviving generals, the wealthy merchant leaders, and the pack alphas. They bowed deeply, pressing their hands to their chests as we approached the summit.

I pulled my stallion to a halt near the white marble steps. I swung my leg over the saddle, my boots hitting the solid stone with a firm thud. Wex dismounted beside me, his large hand finding the small of my back, guiding me forward with a warm, steady pressure.

The massive stone table in the center of the pavilion held the Continental Peace Treaty. It was the heavy parchment document that would formally bind the three factions together under my crown forever.

I walked up the steps, the bright sunlight catching the silver vines of my gown.

But as I reached the top of the dais, the formal protocol shattered.

Shamus and Sacheverell did not take their places at the sides of the stone table. They did not pick up the feathered quills to sign the parchment.

Instead, both kings stepped directly into my path, blocking my way to the treaty.

Shamus reached up with his gloved hands and unclasped his heavy golden cape, letting the symbol of his Emperor status fall into the dust. Sacheverell drew both of his silver-plated blades, the sharp steel ringing in the quiet air.

The crowd gasped in collective shock. The elite Moon Guards immediately reached for their weapons, a chorus of steel sliding from scabbards echoing around the pavilion.

Wex stepped in front of me, his golden eyes flashing with sudden danger, his hand gripping his broadsword.

But Sacheverell didn't raise the blades to fight.

He threw them down. The expensive weapons clattered loudly against the white marble, sliding to a stop right against the toes of my boots.

Shamus and Sacheverell looked at each other, their expressions deadly serious. Then, in front of the entire watching world, they both dropped to their knees, bowing their heads so low their foreheads touched the cold stone.

"We are not signing as your equals, Sovereign," Shamus announced, his deep voice trembling with a sudden, fierce intensity that made the hair on my arms stand up.

Sacheverell looked up, his dark eyes entirely devoid of his usual arrogance. "The treaty is a lie, Eddena. We have a different confession to make to the realm before you take this throne."