Chapter 4 Treaties And Alliances
CHAPTER 4: Treaties And Alliances
Seraphine's POV
“What the hell?!”
The words jumped out of my mouth before I could stop them. Honestly, anyone in my position would've said worse.
“Language, Seraphine,” Rowan... the king’s stiff and annoying advisor... snapped immediately. “You are standing before His Majesty.”
I shot him the dirtiest look I could manage.
“Then maybe His Majesty shouldn’t drop news that sounds like a sick joke.”
Rowan opened his mouth, probably ready to lecture me like some overcooked schoolteacher but the king raised his hand gently.
“Seraphine,” he said as calm as ever, “let me explain.”
I folded my arms tightly, mostly to keep myself from punching Rowan in the face.
“This plan is crazy,” I muttered. “Utterly and completely crazy. Maybe something came into your head, Your Majesty...”
Rowan gasped.
“You will not speak to the king like that!”
“Oh, shut up, Rowan,” I snapped. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
His jaw fell open like I had broken some sacred rule of the universe.
King Greyjoy sighed, rubbing his temples like he suddenly felt much older.
“Seraphine, please. Sit.”
“I’ll stand,” I said flatly.
He nodded.
“Very well.” He looked at me with a softness that made it hard to stay angry... almost. “The truth is… this war with the Lycans has gone on too long and too much blood has been spilled with too many families destroyed.”
My stomach tightened. Too many families destroyed. Yeah, I knew a little something about that.
“This arranged marriage,” he continued, “is the first real chance we have seen in years. A chance for peace. For stability and for both races to finally rest.”
I couldn’t believe this.
“And the Lycan King actually agreed to this?” I asked.
“Yes,” King Greyjoy said. “Aric Draven accepted. He believes this marriage can serve as a new beginning and a bridge between our worlds.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. A Lycan King agreeing to marry a human? It sounded like the start of a terrible joke and a bad one for that matter.
The king’s voice gentled.
“This is what your parents would have wanted, Seraphine.”
I swallowed hard. I wanted to shout no.. I wanted to say they would want revenge, justice and blood... anything but this. But I stayed quiet. My voice wouldn’t have sounded steady anyway.
“So… why me?” I asked. “Out of every woman in the kingdom... why me?”
A new voice answered from behind me.
“Because I recommended you.”
I turned around so fast my braid almost hit Rowan in the face.
“Uncle Magnus?”
He walked in calmly... tall, strong as always, dark hair tied back and his travel cloak dusty from the road. He looked like someone who had stories from a hundred places, the kind of man who always knew something you didn’t because he did.
“Magnus,” the king said warmly, “good timing.”
“Your Majesty.” My uncle bowed before stepping toward me.
I blinked at him in disbelief.
“You recommended me? For this? To be some… Lycan’s bride?!”
Magnus gave the king a polite nod.
“May I have a moment with my niece? Alone?”
The king agreed immediately. Rowan looked like he wanted to object but one glare from Magnus shut him up fast.
Good.
Magnus led me outside the hall and the moment the door shut behind us, I spun on him.
“Have you lost your mind?” I burst out. “How could you recommend me for something like this? What makes you think I want to go be Queen of the Lycans?!”
He didn’t flinch.. not even a little.
“Because,” he said, “you can handle yourself better than anyone I know.”
“That’s not the point!” I threw my hands up. “Aric Draven is...”
“Responsible for the attack on Red River Village,” Magnus finished. “Responsible for your family’s deaths.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“Exactly!” I snapped. “Why in all the realms would I want to marry the bastard?”
Magnus stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“Because this is your chance.”
I frowned.
“Chance? For what? Wearing fancy gowns and pretending not to stab him at dinner?”
Magnus leaned in even more.
“No, Seraphine. A chance to kill him.”
I froze. Kill him? My breath caught. He studied my face carefully.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it? That’s what you’ve trained for your entire life.”
“I…” My voice trembled before I steadied it. “I want him dead. Yes.”
“Well, this marriage is the first time anyone will ever get close enough,” Magnus said. “Close enough to end him.”
My heart thumped hard.
“You’ll be inside his palace, inside his circle,” he continued. “You gain his trust. You learn their weaknesses.. you gather intel and when the time is right…”
He sliced his throat with one finger and I stared at him.
For six years, I had dreamed of killing the Lycan King. Six years of imagining it, planning it and craving it but I had never expected… this.
“You’re saying,” I whispered, “that this marriage is… basically an operation?”
“Yes. A secret one.” Magnus’s tone sharpened. “No one else can know and not even King Greyjoy.”
I nodded slowly, trying to process it all.
“And after I kill him?” I asked. “What then?”
“You escape,” Magnus said. “By then, we’ll be ready to strike the Lycans based on everything you’ve learned from the inside. The kingdom will think you were just trying to survive and you… you’ll have avenged your family.”
Something hot and fierce burned in my chest... something that felt like purpose, like justice and like satisfaction.
“And you think I can really pull this off?” I asked.
Magnus smirked.
“Seraphine, you've killed more Lycans than General Greenfield himself. I think you can do anything.”
I tried not to smile but I failed.
“So I go there,” I said slowly, piecing the plan together. “I act innocent. I act like I’m there to be a good little bride. I wait. I gather information and then…”
“And then do what you were born to do,” Magnus finished quietly.
I nodded, feeling a grin spread across my face... a dangerous and sharp grin.
“I can do that,” I said. “I can do that perfectly.”
Magnus raised a brow.
“Especially the part about killing him, I suppose?”
“Oh, especially that part,” I said with a satisfied smirk. “I can’t wait to kill the cursed Lycan King…!”