Toby ranted about the whole Maddock situation to Lucianne for a good ten minutes through the mind-link before he could finally calm down and opted to take a nap on his jet.  Xandar was agitated, too, but the sight of his wife on his lap and their daughter in her arms soothed his internal fury. The scent he greedily took from Lucianne’s hair further calmed the storm in him as he held her close to his chest. As little Reida slept, she hugged one her father’s pinky finger tightly to her chest like it was her mini bolster, and any remaining anger in the Lycan King vaporized into the air. When they got home, it was late evening. Mrs Parker got Reida to bed after Lucianne was done bathing and breast-feeding her. Lucianne and Xandar then had dinner with Tate and Stella. They got Stella to talk more about herself, and learne

Lucianne swallowed a lump in her throat and admitted, “When she wants to be.”  A pause, leaving both men confused before she continued, “Margaret is not just hurt. She is in great pain. She has been since the rejection. Over the years, she buried that pain deep under the layers of hatred for everything and everyone. The bitterness is not something that any one of us can just…tear down.” She gave Tate a moment before continuing, “This is her fight, Tate. Until she decides to feel the pain and practice letting go, she won’t improve from her current state. We can be there for her during her healing process but the work, the bulk of the healing, is a lone journey, and Margaret would only embark on it when she chooses to.” Tat

The other recommendations from around the table were glaringly flimsy: strip him of his dukedom, increase sentencing, banishment, etcetera. Honestly, what would stripping the dukedom do? It won’t reverse any damage or bring back any lives that could be lost. Increased sentencing? Greg wouldn’t care less if he stayed longer in prison. If he did, he wouldn’t have gone in in the first place. And banishment? Really? Before Lucianne showed up in Xandar’s life, Greg practically self-banished when he disappeared from the kingdom for sixteen years. These weren’t going to work as leverage. Everyone went back-and-forth with no satisfactory or agreeable idea. When Toby came to terms that there was no other way but the sinister one he had in mind, he cleared his throat and raised his hand. The whole room quieted down as they waited for the defense minister to speak. Toby chose his words carefully, “I don’t think conditional pardon for all ninety-eight of them is the right way forward. Not all cr

The policewoman informed Margaret about Tate’s visit, as usual. She groaned in annoyance before she was escorted from her temporary cell to the interrogation room. She wondered why there wasn’t a limit to the number of times Tate could visit her in a day when her own daughter was only allowed fifteen minutes. When she stepped into the room, Tate was already there, leaning against the wall behind his chair. Margaret’s eyes stuck to the floor, like it did the last few times. But unlike the last few times Tate came to see her, she didn’t feel his gaze on her. She took a peek, and realized that Tate had his hands in his jacket pockets as his eyes fixed on the floor. The creases on his forehead showed that he was pondering deeply. Margaret couldn’t deny that Tate was one hell of a looker with his diamond-shap

In a separate interrogation room, Lucianne met with Greg, who shook her hand less awkwardly this time. Greg noticed her uneasy demeanor, and prepared for the worst. They took their seats, and Lucianne began, “Your Grace, the monarchy and the government has agreed to provide the ninety-eight creatures under your care conditional pardon for all crimes, except murder.”  Greg was internally grateful that he always preferred torture to death, and he never allowed his people to kill. The long-term goal of keeping these tortured creatures alive was for them to heal and live on to spread tales about how no one should mess with Greg Claw. Lucianne registered his silence and pressing gaze before she continued, “The pardon comes with two caveats.”