All Chapters of The Lycan King’s Forgotten Wife: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

RONAN POV"Say that again," I said, and my voice came out low enough that the room went silent.Councilor Baines blinked at me across the long table, a pen still in his hand. "I only observed, Your Majesty, that a convict has no business offering opinions on the royal dosage schedule. It's a matter of protocol.""A convict," I repeated, setting both palms flat on the polished wood. Arden sat at the far end on her stool, back straight, a folded sheet of notes in front of her, and she hadn't said a word since he spoke. She looked at the table instead of at him, the way she always did when she was swallowing something."Her record speaks for itself," Baines went on, a little less sure now. "I only meant that someone of her background should sit where she's put and let the council decide."Aurel surged up under my skin so fast that my vision flashed gold. The water glass in front of me cracked straight down the middle with a sharp snap, and the water ran across the table toward the counci

ARDEN POV"He's back in the city," the kitchen hand whispered, sliding a tray of cups onto the steel counter. "Garrick. My cousin saw him outside a bar on Fifth Street, laughing with three men nobody knows."I was standing at the prep station with a mortar of dried moon-root in my hands, and the pestle stopped moving. The kitchen smelled of onions and hot bread, and the radio above the dish pit was playing something soft and cheerful that made no sense in the moment."Who told you that?" I asked, keeping my voice flat."Everybody's saying it," said a second kitchen hand, a heavy young man named Toby, who didn't bother lowering his voice. He wiped his hands on his apron and grinned at me. "What's the matter, Lady Arden? Miss him?"A few of the others snickered, and one of them made a choking sound with his hands around his own throat. I felt my face heat, but I didn't drop the mortar, and I didn't look away."You think that's funny?" I asked quietly."It's a little funny," Toby said, s

ARDEN POVThe crash echoed down the whole length of the gallery, a high, bright shatter of porcelain that made every head turn.I had been halfway through a sentence to Elias, standing outside the east parlor with a tray of vials, and I dropped the whole conversation. Inside the parlor, a young maid stood frozen beside an overturned display table, her hands pressed over her mouth. At her feet, scattered across the dark floor, lay the white and gold pieces of a small porcelain wolf."Mercy," I said under my breath, and I put the tray down on the nearest ledge."Who is responsible for this?" Senior Steward Oreo swept into the room with two footmen at his heels, his gray hair slicked back and his mouth already set in a thin line. He looked at the broken wolf, and then at Mercy, and the color drained out of his face. "Do you know what that was, girl?""I'm sorry," Mercy whispered. Tears were already running down her cheeks. "I was only dusting, I didn't touch the table, I swear, I only br

RONAN POVKael didn’t move right away. He took a slow sip of his coffee, set the cup down on the stone, and looked up at me with an expression that was far too relaxed for the moment.“The delegation is waiting,” he repeated. “In your office.”“That’s what I said.”“Funny,” Kael said, rising from the bench and brushing off his coat. “I walked past your office some minutes ago, and the only person in it was a secretary eating a sandwich.”Arden pressed her lips together, and I saw her shoulders shake once before she turned her face toward the fountain. I stared at the side of Kael’s head and felt the heat climb my neck.“They have arrived since then,” I said.“Of course they did.” Kael clapped me once on the arm, hard enough to make a point, and leaned in to murmur close to my ear. “Next time, pick a better excuse, my friend. Or just say what you came to say.”“Go,” I said through my teeth.“Going.” He nodded to Arden with a small, easy smile. “Thank you once again for the company, Lad

RONAN POVThe state dinner filled the 90th-floor ballroom beneath crystal chandeliers, with Blackthorne City glittering far below the windows. Two hundred elite guests in formal wear filled the room as waiters moved with platters.Arden sat far down the head table between Elias and an elderly Moonvale healer, wearing a high-necked black dress. She hadn’t looked my way once all evening—and I had counted every minute."You're staring," Lucian said, without turning his head."I'm watching the room," I said. "It's my job.""Of course." He sipped his champagne. "Then you've noticed the caterers."I frowned, glancing over at the service doors. Six men in white jackets stood along the west wall by a row of covered carts, moving nothing like actual waiters. They were spaced too evenly, hands resting too close to the carts, each watching a different section of the room."Those aren't ours," I said, very softly."No," Lucian said, setting down his glass. "I checked the roster an hour ago, and t