Chapter 51 Statue Of Love
CHAPTER 51: Statue Of Love
Aric's POV
My head was pounding.. the edges of the war map on the table blurred with the inked lines of human cities and supply routes swimming into a meaningless mess.
Caspian’s voice was a steady determined drone with his finger tracing a path along a river valley.
“…and if we strike the outpost here at dawn, under the cover of the river mist, we could sever their northern supply line before they even…”
I wasn’t listening. Not really. How could I? Every strategy and every plan felt hollow and useless. It all crumbled to dust next to the one, gnawing thought that had been eating me alive for days.
Seraphine.
Where was she? Was she hurt? Was she even alive? The thought of her out there, alone, or worse, in the clutches of our enemies… or the thought that she had simply moved on from me… it was a great pain in my chest and a constant aching hollow one.
“My King?” Caspian’s voice cut through the fog. He was looking at me with his brow furrowed with concern. “Your thoughts seem… elsewhere. The human threat is imminent but perhaps we should pause this? Take it up later when your focus is renewed.”
I dragged a hand down my face with the weariness bone-deep.
“No, Caspian,” I sighed with the sound heavy in the tense room. “Continue. The pack cannot afford for my focus to wander. Please, go on.”
He gave me a long knowing look but nodded slowly, turning back to the map.
“As I was saying, the river mist provides...”
The throne room doors swung open with a cheerful clatter, cutting him off. Darius strode in with a wide oblivious grin plastered on his face and he clapped his hands together.
“Well done, cousin! Bravo!” he announced with his voice echoing in the large chamber.
I stared at him with my confusion cutting through the gloom.
“What are you talking about, Darius?”
“The statue, of course!” he said, beaming as he walked over to clap me on the shoulder. “The pack is buzzing! It’s not every day our king unveils such a… creative piece of art. They absolutely love it. Really sets the tone for the impending celebration.”
A cold dread began to trickle down my spine.
“Statue? What statue?”
Darius laughed as if I were making a wonderful joke.
“Oh, come now, don’t be modest! The magnificent twelve-foot tribute to you and your lovely future queen, Lady Vespera. Right there in the pack square for everyone to admire! It’s quite… passionate. Really gets the message across that our king is… committed.”
My blood ran cold and I shot a look at Caspian whose face had gone carefully neutral wire a sure sign that something was terribly wrong.
I strode across the room to the large arched window that overlooked the main pack square and I saw it.
There I was, carved in ridiculous heroic perfection and wrapped in my arms, pressed against my body in a way that made my skin crawl was Vespera. The sculptor had captured us in a deep,
sensual kiss.
My stomach turned.
“What in the god’s name…” I whispered, my hands curling into fists on the windowsill.
Below, a crowd had gathered, pointing and cheering. They loved it. They saw it as a symbol of a strong union.. a future with their beloved Lady Vespera officially by their king’s side. The hollow in my chest yawned wider and filling with a bitter frustration. How had it come to this?
“I didn’t authorize this,” I growled with my voice low and dangerous. “I didn’t even know about it.”
A sweet cloying voice floated from the doorway.
“But I did.”
We all turned. Vespera stood there, leaning against the frame with that sickeningly sweet smile of hers.
“Isn’t it just adorable? The artisans worked so hard.”
The room grew deathly quiet and my jaw was so tight it ached.
“Caspian. Darius. Give us the room. Now.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. They bowed and left swiftly, closing the doors behind them. The moment we were alone, I turned on her.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” My voice was a low with barely contained roar.
She didn’t even flinch. She just pushed off the doorframe and sauntered into the room with her hips swaying.
“Oh, relax, Aric. Our marriage is not that far off. It’s just a little… motivation for the pack. I had them working on it long before that little bitch Seraphine ever came along and distracted you.”
Hearing Seraphine’s name on her lips sent a fresh wave of fury through me.
“You will take it down. Now.”
She stopped in front of me with her smile never fading but her eyes turning to ice.
“I don’t think I will.”
“I am the Lycan King,” I snarled, leaning into her space. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. And I want that eyesore gone!”
Her false sweetness vanished in a flash.
“Not for long, you won’t. Not if you keep going against me.” Her voice was a venomous whisper. “I have the hearts of the elders and the entire pack in the palm of my hand. You think they care about your missing human pet? They care about strength, tradition and me! If you refuse to cooperate, if you humiliate me by rejecting this… I will fuck you up, Aric. I will ruin you in ways you can’t even imagine. You will not recover from it.”
She gestured back toward the window, to the sound of the cheering crowd.
“Besides. Why would you want to take it down? Listen to them. They love it. They love us.”
She was right. I could hear them and their cheers felt like a prison sentence for me. I turned my back to her, staring out at the statue again, at my own stone face frozen in a lie and a wave of crushing helplessness washed over me. How? How could I, the Lycan King, be so utterly chained and controlled by this… this creature?
“You overplay your hand, Vespera,” I said with my voice flat and all the fight momentarily drained out of me.
“I play the hand I was dealt,” she replied smoothly. “And it’s a winning one.”
We were still there locked in our miserable standoff when a commotion erupted outside the throne room doors with shouts and the sound of a scuffle.
I didn’t pay it any heed. My world had shrunk to this room, to this impossible problem.
But the sounds grew louder and more urgent then the doors were thrown open, not with a gentle swing but with a violent shattering force that made the very walls shudder.
Vespera gasped and I spun around with my royal frustration instantly morphing into a king’s ready fury at the interruption.. and then my world stopped.
My breath caught in my throat and my heart which had been aching with a dull throb suddenly pounded against my ribs like a wild thing.
Because standing in the ruined doorway, framed by the stunned guards behind her, was Seraphine.
But it was a Seraphine I barely recognized. She was clad in filthy torn rags that hung off her frail frame. Her skin was smudged with dirt and… blood.. so much blood. She was trembling, swaying on her feet and using the doorframe to hold herself up.
Her hair was a matted tangle and her eyes… her beautiful eyes were wide, blazing with a fire I had never seen before.
Why did she look like hell itself had spat her back out…?