Chapter 33: The King Is Dead

Three days had passed since the Kingdom heard of the Alpha’s King's death turning the Kingdom of Kerquin on its head. Dolores silently walked the streets of Mesa listening to it’s citizens gossip, a large hood hiding her identity.

"Have you heard? The Alpha King is dead!" A merchant werewolf said to another.

"No way! Then why didn't the high priestess host his funeral?" The second asked as he paid for a loaf of bread.

"This is quite scandalous... I've heard the high priestess had to resign!" An elderly female whispered to a younger female as Dolores walked by.

"How could that be possible? I've never heard such a thing happening before!" The young female exclaimed. "Are you sure? Do you mean the current Priestess Crystal? I thought none of the high ranking witches could leave priestesshood.

Dolores lowered her hood, further remembering Crystal calling up a cloud of wings horses to leave the Capital. After hearing of the Alpha King's death Crystal hadn't stayed to attend the funeral. She and Daflon rode the conjured steads towards the Mountains. Jasper, wanting to keep good relations with the Kingdom, had stayed in the Capital.

Being the Sage of the Kingdom, it was his duty to coordinate the King's funeral. The entire situation had Dolores's mind feeling like a revolving door. Every day collecting new information, a new puzzle piece to add too many unsolved mysteries. The kidnapping, the assassination, the betrayal and murder between Pearl and Polly, the hidden treasure of The Silent Maw, and now the death of Alpha King Zachary. Along with---

"I've heard there is something suspicious going on in the palace…." A thin wicked looking werewolf interpreted Dolores's thoughts.

"I have heard that as well." Hissed a fellow werewolf that could have been the first's twin.

"I even heard that the king was killed by his..." The first male hissed.

Dolores stood rooted to her stop listening intently to the malicious looking werewolves. She had her suspicion, but that was all they were. This was why Dolores was here, walking around the Capital. Dolores hoped to hear anything that would be useful, anything that could help piece together the scattered facts she had learned.

A horn sounded through the Kingdom, quieting the werewolves' discussion and Dolores's hope to find new information. The information she had speculated to be Adam's dark secrets.

Hurrying back to the castle, Dolores met her mother and Ellie in the courtyard. As Princesses and a presumed mistress of the late King of Krequin, they were required to be a part of the funeral parade that would walk through the streets of Mesa.

The royal horses pulled a grand carriage draped in black and adorned with the blue and silver colors of the Royal household that carried the Alpha King casket. Before the casket carrying carriage was the Sage Jasper leading the parade to the Sanctuary.

The Alpha King's family followed in order of birth divided by three sets of royal guards. Adam, the Crown Prince, and his mother were first in line, followed by Luna, Queen Elizabeth and Bryan. Dolores and her mother, Diana, were last in the parade even though Dolores was the third born child of King Zachary.

Ellie, being that last born, walked alongside Dolores and Diana, her false mother Polly still mad and refined to her room. Dolores held Ellie's hand feeling her small tremors through their clasped palms. Neither said a word, as was their duty. They were told to remain silent, so they did. Only communicating through their eyes.

Once they arrived at the Sanctuary, only the guards that carried the casket from the carriage to inside the church, the Royal family, and a select high ranking Pack members were allowed inside. The common werewolf was forced to wait outside the closed doors.

Seated in the back, Dolores noted that Jasper's smooth, pleasant voice was cold and calculating as he stood above the King's casket giving the eulogy. Highlighting mainly about the great warrior he was, the war between the Vampires, and the peace he tried so hard to create between the Werewolves and Vampires.

A bellowing sob filled the space, and Dolores saw that female she didn't recognize was weeping into another's arms. Looking around the room, she saw that they weren't the only ones crying for the death of the Alpha King. Even Ellie's eyes were filled with tears.

Gently touching her own eyes, she knew she would feel nothing but delicate skin and thick lashes. She didn't understand how so many shed tears for such a male, regardless of his title. She knew that if she forced herself to cry, she would feel like a hypocrite.

Though by blood, the King was her father by anything right he was not. He was only the Alpha King of the Kingdom. A father who had abandoned her only to find her again and wish her dead. A male that had raped her mother and left her to die. Why should she cry for such a male?

A stone of grief dropped into the pit of her stomach, sending ripples of sorrow through her. The more she thought about King Zachary, the more those ripples spread until she felt tiny pricks behind her eyes.

*Perhaps,* She silently thought. *This is a sadness of what I never had, what I lost even before I was born. Now I will never have a father that adores me, who supports and loves me. The kind of father I have always dreamed of, Dolores scoffed quietly as admitted to herself: but then again, I never did have a father such as that.*

Warm liquid slid down Dolores's cheek, jolting her from her thoughts. Wiping the water away, she found that she was crying for her father, the King, or a version of her father she never got to have. Looking at Ellie and everyone else with tears in their eyes, Dolores wondered if they too were crying for themselves just like she was. The thought comforted her somehow, knowing that she wasn't alone in her feelings.

At that exact moment, Dolores locked eyes with the one person who had made her unknown dreams come true. She smiled warmly at her mate, and the smile widened when he winked at her. She would thank the Goddess for the rest of her life for giving her Jasper.

The weeks to follow the late Alpha King's death were a whirlwind of change. The Lune Queen, or now known as simply the Lady Elizabeth and her son the second Prince Bryan, left the Capital immediately after the funeral to stay in their Packs territory.

Jasper also had to leave the Capital after Crown Prince Adam decided that he would not need the aid of Wizard and Witches during his rule. Dolores had almost begged Jasper to take her with her but didn't when she remembered her mother and Ellie were still here with Adam.

In the past weeks, Adam had been busy organizing the grandest coordination the Kingdom had ever seen. Dolores had heard that there were to be ships built so that Adam could parade down the river that connected every Packs territory in Krequin.

After, there was to be a fest that could feed the entire Kingdom throughout the winter twice over, but only the highest of the highest quests would attend. Dolores, of course, would be expected to attend, she and Ellie. Being sisters to the future Alpha King, they must show their support.

Dolores had heard whispers, though when she traveled through the servant tunnels to her mother's quarters, she refused when Adam invited his brother Bryan to his coronation due to the Landy Elizabeth suspecting Adam of misdeeds.

After hearing such gossip, Dolores lay in her mother's spare room, listing all she knew and didn't know. Wishing desperately she could talk things out with Jasper. He would know something, that Dolores was positive.

On the day of Adam's coronation, Dolores learned that she was the only sibling invited that showed. Adam had even selected a dress to wear. Along with the amber amulet that he had gifted her after winning the Archery Tournament.

Dressed in a red satin gown with a dip that stopped only a sliver above her navel Dolores resolved her nerves as she walked into the banquet hall. Thankfully, she could leave her heavy cloak on during the crowning since Adam chose to be crowned on a boat and at every territory, but now she felt naked as she walked into the overly decorated room.

A random noble male whistled as she walked past, and another gave mocking howling noise. Dolores kept her chin high as she strode to her assigned seat at the elongated table filled with too much food, not allowing them to see just how much their disrespect stung.

Finding her spot, she read her name card, and red hot fury pulsed through her veins. Rouge Princess. Crumpling the card into a tiny ball, she dropped into a glass a champagne flute that passed her by on the arm of a kitchen maid before taking her seat.

Feeling already exhausted from these new Alpha Kings games, Dolores massaged her temples when the screeching of legs on a chair sounded beside her. A scurry of hope danced through at the thought of Jasper.

Looking over, excitement filling her eyes, she met with amused scarlet colored eyes and found Keylon sitting beside her.