Semua Bab Bound to the Alpha Twins: Bab 11 - Bab 20

The soft thunk of the knife against the wooden board filled the kitchen as I cut the vegetables. The fire crackled behind me and the evening light slipped quietly through the window.I did not need to turn around to know my mother was watching.She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, a half smile playing on her lips. Her somewhat grey hair fell loosely to her shoulders and she wore the same worn dress she always wore. Nothing fancy, it was never anything fancy."You've been quiet," she said."I'm always quiet.""You know what I mean," she sighed.I kept my eyes on the vegetables. She pushed off from the frame and walked to the table, dropping into a chair loudly, the way she did everything when she wanted to be noticed."So," she said, dragging the word out. "Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?""Tell you what exactly?"She snorted. "Girl, the whole of Ashen Ridge is buzzing. Even the fishes know. You and the Alpha twins." She leaned forward, her eyes brigh

The footman led me through corridor after corridor. His long legs carried him in huge strides, leaving me struggling to keep up with his pace.In spite of this, I tried my very best to take in as much of the beauty that stood around me as I possibly could.The palace grounds were nothing like I had imagined, which was to say they were worse, in the way that beautiful things are when you are standing inside them and you know, you are fully aware, that you do not belong.From the moment I had stepped through the imposing, well-secured eastern gates, I was startled. First by the stone fountain that caught the last of the evening light and reflected it back in colourful fragments. Everything was meticulously placed in a manner that each complemented the other, intentional, by someone who had the luxury of deciding where things went.Marble floors, polished to a mirror shine, reflected the flickering torchlight.I quickened my pace as we moved through the well-lit corridors. High ceilings a

Gertha, she had told me in a whisper as we left the library, was her name. She walked ahead, holding a small candle, her steps light as a feather, the steps of someone who had learned long ago how to move without being noticed.I followed her in silence.The corridors up here were quieter than the ones below, the torches set further apart so that the light came in pools with stretches of shadow between them. The paintings on these walls were smaller, more private somehow.I was still reeling from the library.Not from his nearness or his scent or the moment when the air had gone still between us. But from his words and the way he had laughed at me.I pressed my lips together and kept my legs moving."First time in the palace?" Gertha asked, her voice barely above a murmur."Is it that obvious?""You have been looking at every single painting like it stole something of yours. Most guests stop doing that by the third corridor."I almost smiled despite myself.We turned a corner and the c

The doors closed behind me. Seven pairs of eyes stared intensely.Behind the Council table, elevated on a dais, sat two thrones.King Aldric watched with a face so blank it might as well have been carved from stone. Beside him, Queen Selene's expression was unreadable, but her eyes were sharp and alive.The other five Council members flanked them on either side.No one spoke for a long moment as I moved to stand in the centre of the room. My hands smoothed the sides of my dress, and an adrenaline rush crept through spine.Chief Judge Darkholme broke the eerie silence first."Ophelia Tyme. You stand before the Council of Silver Fang.""So I have been told."Elder Zakira's lips twitched. The Queen's eyes flickered with something that might have been amusement."State your lineage," Darkholme said."My mother is Phaeytthe of Ashen Ridge. My father is dead. I never knew his name.""Convenient," someone muttered from the end of the table.I turned to look at him. Elder Obelix. Round-faced,

"You should eat something before you go.""I am not hungry."Gertha folded a grey dress and placed it in the satchel. "You said that yesterday.""I am saying it again today."She reached for another dress. "The carriage will be ready within the hour.""I know.""You will need your strength.""I know that too, Gertha, thank you."She spared me a glance, then went back to her folding."The white dress," I said. "Who sent it?""You asked already.""And you did not answer.""I will not answer now either."I watched her hands, quick, the reflex of someone who was used to this. She had done this for others before me. She would do it for others after."You speak in circles," I said.She tied the satchel and set it by the door. "The carriage is waiting."I picked up the satchel. She did not follow me out.I had hoped the twins would come to see me out. Some foolish part of me had imagined them standing outside my room, waiting for me.They did not.Of course they did not. The King had said the