34

I slap Bella with the back of my hand, causing her to fly sideways and hit the wall. I catch Derrick flinching out of the corner of my eye, but he doesn’t say a word.

It’s the first time I’ve ever raised a hand against a woman.

“I trusted you.”

Bella gets to her feet, rubbing her jaw and groaning.

I advance on her. “I trusted you, and you betrayed me. You filthy little creature.”

She squares her shoulders, defiance in her eyes. “What are you complaining about? You said we needed the real Princess Vivian. Now, here she is. I’ve had people looking for her for a long time. There was nobody, remember? Just someone with a mark on her wrist. I tracked down the true princess and brought her here.”

My eyes widen. “So, you manufactured this entire incident?”

Bella isn’t showing an ounce of remorse. “I never betrayed you, Cedric. The Asher family has always looked out for the royal family’s best interest. The purity of the bloodline—”

“Purity?” I say mockingly, grabbing her by the back of her hair and forcing her to look at me. “Purity of the bloodline?” I drag Bella over to Vivian and throw her at the princess’s feet. “Why don’t you fuck her, then, because I will not touch this female.”

Bella pales. “You have to! You have a duty to maintain the royal bloodline.”

“I have no duty to anyone but my fated mate. Because of you, she is dead. You had her believe that I wanted her to be tortured. You had her believe that I was going to execute her. You used my seal illegitimately.”

“I did no such thing!” Bella retorts. “I was your delegate. I had the right to use the royal seal!”

“Not for an order of execution!” I snarl. “You wanted my mate to die? You’re the one who will die, Bella. In the same manner you planned for her execution.”

Vivian steps forward, shielding Bella from me. Her voice is high. “You can’t touch her. She’s my royal advisor.”

“And who the fuck do you think you are?” I grab her by the jaw and shove her aside. “Derrick, capture the traitor. Throw her in the dungeon and starve her for three weeks.”

When Derrick advances, Bella goes pale. “You can’t do this! I’m the Asher family heir.”

“You are nothing but a traitor who betrayed your king and your queen,” I say furiously.

As Derrick takes hold of Bella, she shouts, “Let me go, Derrick! Don’t you know me? Why’re you mishandling me like this? Cedric’s just pissed off for no reason!”

Derrick is silent.

“I did nothing wrong!” Bella screams, a hint of panic in her eyes now. “I was well within my rights. You can’t execute me just because you’re mad that whore of a woman died. I hope she suffered. I didn’t break any law. I did everything by the book! And if you execute me, the elders will turn against you. This kingdom will descend into chaos!”

“Take the traitor away!” I roar. “And Rothan, go release Harriet!”

Vivian bristles. “You can’t do this! I’ve chosen Bella as one of my most trusted people—”

“You are no one to make decisions in this castle!” I growl. “Edgar, strip this thief of my mate’s belongings and lock her in a cell!”

Vivian gives me a hateful look as she is dragged off. Alone now, I stand in the entrance hall, quivering with rage. Everywhere I look, Leanna’s efforts are showing.

“Your Majesty.”

A woman’s voice has me glancing over, and I see a familiar face approaching me. It takes me a second to place her as one of the maids who once assisted Bella in mocking Leanna.

“What do you want?” I snarl at her.

She has tears in her eyes. “Your Majesty, we helped the queen escape. Is it—Is it true that she’s dead?”

All the fight leaves me.

Dead.

My beautiful Leanna is dead. My shy mate—the one who liked to chase my tail in her wolf form, the one who used to burrow her face in my chest when I held her at night—is no more.

A thick, rolling wave of grief staggers me. “Yes. Leanna is gone.”

“Leanna?”

“That was her name,” I say hollowly.

And I loved her.

How did she do that? How did she go and make me fall for her so effortlessly? I don’t even know where to go and ask her. I don’t know which room to search for her. She’s not going to be there.

It’s hard to breathe. I failed her. I failed her, and that will haunt me forever. She died thinking I had lied to her, used her.

I don’t know which is worse, that she’s gone or that she believed that of me as she died.

 

  

“They’re asking for help at the border.”

Edgar gives me his report as I stare at the paper before me, my eyes unseeing. “So, send help. What’re you asking me for?”

Edgar clears his throat, looking tense. “They’re requesting your presence.”

“I’m busy. They can deal with it themselves.”

“The elders are insisting you help them. The monsters are encroaching on their territories.”

“The elders, huh?” I think about the twelve men who claim to be loyal to the royal family. “Tell them to send their sons to the battlefield.”

Edgar flinches. “Cedric—”

“No.” I look at him coolly. “It’s ‘Your Majesty’ to you.”

My childhood friend doesn’t look away from me. He meets my gaze head on. “Don’t question my loyalty, too, Cedric. I faced my father in a physical duel to claim the position of head of the family so that I could side with you during the council meeting two weeks ago. I went against my parents, went to bat for you, to prove my loyalty to you. There’s nothing more I could have done.”

I don’t respond.

“What is that woman doing?”

“Which one?” Edgar asks quietly.

“The queen.”

“She has called a designer. Bella is assisting her.”

“Restrict her budget. I don’t want that frivolous creature emptying the treasury.”

Edgar nods.

“Call Harriet.”

He leaves the room, and a few minutes later, Harriet enters.

I soften when I see her wan complexion. She has aged ten years in the past month, ever since the elders called for a council: an act where they can pass certain rulings that even the king has to obey. Calling a council is rarely effective because most of the time the elders are in conflict with each other. This was the first time they have ever agreed on something unanimously.

Princess Vivian was to become queen. A proper mating ceremony was to be held.

And Bella Asher was not to be executed.