His Luna’s Vengeance

4. Charity Case

I do not leave my room for two days. Even though my bedroom has been situated by the gardens and I have no means of seeing incoming carriages that will most likely bring my best friend Marina, I decide that I prefer the solitude and will rather not be in the company of the smirking Cruel King.

The Alpha King may think I am sulking at my embarrassing defeat at court and I would prefer it that way. He is completely ignorant to the fact that I am plotting his downfall while I stay hidden in my room. The problem is, my plans are falling short of me. I changed everything the moment I decided to marry The Alpha King and now, I don’t have the gift of foreknowledge.

I don’t know who I can or can’t trust in this icy palace and who I can drill for information that can help me take down the Alpha king before he decides to lay a finger on me. In my past life, I was thrown right back into my room at my father’s castle and locked up for displeasing the Alpha King. This means that I had no association whatsoever with the werewolves in The Greater Moon Kingdom and I have no allies. The only thing of importance that happened when I was exiled to my room was my father’s and Marina’s death. If I can in any way try to stop their deaths or find out who would want to kill them, then I might have a clue.

My only plan as of now is to find an inside man that can help me get out of the palace whenever I wish so I can figure out the mystery behind his death and also, I would need an ally. This is why I need Marina. It would be better if she stays with me at the moment so I can also protect her. She is the daughter to one of the elders in our kingdom and unlike me, she is more friendly and easy going. If my plan of ruining The Alpha King is to work, then I need Marina to know the truth. She already knows about the Prince I am in love with and I can vouch for her loyalty.

A knock on the double doors brings my mind out of my scheming and I stand, smooth the skirts of my dress and straighten my back.

“You may come in,” I say, folding my arms.

A werewolf comes in to my room and I stare passively at him. He clears his throat and speaks.

“Lady Marina is here,”

I bolt past him as soon as I hear Marina’s name, hope blooming in my chest. It has been a long time since I felt any excitement and suddenly, it feels like the times when the palace staff would inform me about her presence and I would bolt down the stairs to find her.

Except that this palace is huge, built not as a fortress but to show the ostentatious wealth of the werewolves, second only to the dragons. Wherever the need to impress is present, there is also grandeur. Which means the palace is too huge and instead of finding the stairs, I might end up fumbling into a dark hallway that hasn’t been touched since the werewolves relocated their kingdom from Western Europe to the Land bordered by the Pacific Ocean.

I slow down and turn around, embarrassment biting my cheeks at my impertinence and wait for the Palace guards to run up to me.

“This way,” one of them says and leads me through another hallway that brings me to the grandeur staircase.

I take some time to admire the art hanging on the walls and the colors of the draperies to tamper down my excitement. After walking through halls of high silver ceilings painted with the Renaissance era art, delicately curved hallways, chandeliers that twinkle with diamonds and gold, French windows that offer an outstanding view of the luxurious capital city that goes beyond the castle and carpets that blanket the sparkling white floors, I finally reach the entrance of the castle.

A weight in my chest lifts as I see the familiar carriages from our kingdom and just like that, Marina pops out of the carriage, taking the hand of the footman and Letting him help her out of it.

It doesn’t take long before her bright blue eyes spot me and she rushes up to the stairs. I race after her and we collide at the top of the stairs in a hug, giggling and smiling at each other.

“I missed you,” I whisper honestly, holding her back by her shoulders with a small smile.

Marina’s blue eyes shine with radiance as she beams right back at me.

“I was so worried you were hurt. My father said you were unfit for travel because of a sudden injury falling down the stairs so I assumed you had lost a few teeth and cracked a lip,” she whispers, lowering her tone.

I want to tell her it’s useless because the werewolves have keen hearing but I just let her be.

“It’s such a lie. Nothing happened. They just found the best way to get rid of me,” my voice trails off as I spot the amount of luggage she brought.

“Why do you bring so many clothes? Surely you are to return after the wedding?”

Marina sobers and lowers her head, blonde curls framing her face.

“I would like to speak to you privately,” she says and tugs my hand with another reassuring smile.

I turn towards the receiving female staff and politely order some tea and biscuits to be brought into my room.

When Marina is in my room and on my bed, I notice there are tears in her eyes.

“What happened?” I frown, going to the bed to sit with her.

“My father says he wants to make me your Lady in waiting,” she confesses, wiping her eyes.

“That’s a lie. I shall only be a wife. I will not be chief consort or Luna Queen. There is no need for me to have a lady in waiting,” I frown.

“Exactly,” she agrees.

“My father wants to w.hore me out as well. He is Hoping I can catch one of the eyes of the other nobles and miraculously get married,”

I am so furious that I know I will end up yelling some profanities so I fist my hands and pace the room back and forth.

“We need to teach these men a lesson,” I say, picking up my teacup and taking a sip.

“I believe that this treaty with The Greater Moon Kingdom is not enough to help the lands heal from its previous onslaught. Every person sitting on the top of our kingdom is corrupt, stupid and self centered. I even doubt they can uphold the treaty without letting their foolishness ruin everything they acquired when they tossed me into The Alpha King’s thighs,” I continue.

Marina raises a blonde eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

“What are you proposing?” She inquires.

I inhale and play with a loose curl that has been displaced from my tiara. I know that I have big plans and big dreams that seem impossible to accomplish but if I do not step up, no one else will do the dirty work.

“I think we need to take over. Steal the throne from my father and disband all of the elders,”

Marina bursts into such a harsh fit of laughter that the next time tears run down her eyes, they are of amusement and not sorrow.

When Marina sobers up and notices that I am not laughing, her jaw drops.

“You can’t be serious! You don’t have any political power at the moment unless King Cardan lifts you up in his ranks- which is useless because our kingdom is independent of The Werewolf Kingdom,” she starts explaining and in all honesty, she’s right.

“Moreover, you hate our kingdom. The people dislike you too and you are only getting popularity because you were able to uphold a treaty that will alleviate the general poverty of the masses,”

When Marina gives me her voice of reasoning, it makes me feel foolish. There is so much that needs to be done and yet, I am at best a two man army. How do I destroy The Alpha King’s Kingdom when I am dependent on them to help my own kingdom? How do I kill The Alpha King without consequence? How do I even overthrow my father ‘s reign?

My mother’s werewolf genes makes me stronger than most humans but in this battle, I cannot use my fists and my double swords. I need a brain and as much connections as I can utilize.

All this while I have been obsessing about how I can sneak in and out of the palace but it seems I need to focus more on finding allies within the castle.

“The people will see that we need the werewolves and I will gain popularity. Hopefully, they can forget that I am half human, half werewolf too,”

When I see the skeptical look on Marina’s face, I continue.

“But more needs to be done. I will draft a plan. For now, I need to tell you something,” I say, inhaling.

Marina needs to know that I’ve been reborn. She needs to know that I saw the future and all of the bloodshed that lay in it.

“And what is-“

A rapid knock to my room door causes me to jump slightly.

Before I can even reply, the doors are kicked back and a middle aged woman walks in, her head tilted high and a tiara sitting on her head.

She is slender and beautiful with dark blonde curls piled on the top of her head. The only thing that makes her age obvious to me is the age lines around her eyes and the slight slack of her jaw.

She has to be one of the werewolf royalty to wear a silver diadem.

Maids troop into the room from behind her and suddenly, my spacious room is small.

“Your Grace,” I curtesy, not quite certain the petite woman outranks me.

“Princess Adeline,” her gray eyes twinkle with unshielded curiosity.

“I am the Duchess of Richmond, The Alpha King’s aunt. I am tasked with preparing you for the wedding and to become The Alpha King’s first wife. As such, you will get fitted with the modiste for a wedding dress,”

I press my lips together to stop myself from gaping. I just can’t catch a break!

“You are kind to assist me Duchess. But I already have a wedding dress,”

The Duchess scowls and glances at my wardrobes.

“I will like to see it,” She insists, her eyes flitting towards the maids.

The maids rush to my wardrobe and produce my wedding gown and one look from the Duchess tells me that she doesn’t think it’s good enough.

“As I was saying, you will come with me and get fitted for a dress fit for a King’s wedding,” she rudely dismisses my blue and white wedding dress.

I turn towards Marina and she gives me an apologetic smile.

“I will settle down in my room while you are away,” she says.

And with that, I am whisked away from my room.

We travel down the hallways and into a room brimming with luxurious materials fit to be worn by a Queen.

I am f.orced to stand on a stool while the modiste picks and prods me with her deathly needles, measuring every inch of me.

“What material would you rather use?” The modiste asks, showing me an array of materials ranging from silver, gray and white.

“I want something blue,” I answer, not giving the materials a second glance.

The room suddenly falls into silence and the Duchess is scowling, clearly displeased.

“You will marry The Alpha King. You should wear the color of our kingdom, Silver and white,” she explains with a wave of her hand, like I made a small mistake.

“I have not married him yet,” I persist with a frown.

“The cerulean blue represents the color of humans- of my own kingdom. This wedding is a union between two kingdoms and I will like to represent it in the way I dress,” I explain as politely as I can.

It does not come as a surprise to me that the werewolves will try to talk down on my kingdom and the fact makes my tone a little bit upset.

“And were you a part of those people?” She inquires, raising an eyebrow.

“Your people hate you because you have Nesta’s blood running in your veins. Our kingdom did you a favor by rescuing the last of her bloodline from possible death in that horrid hellhole and this is how you deem it fit to repay us?”

“I was not made aware that I was a charity case,” I say bitterly, fury boiling in my chest.

The Duchess laughs bitterly but it does not reach her eyes. Those eyes grow dark and I know that her wolf is resurfacing.

“What exactly will my kingdom gain from a bratty girl that locks herself away from her own fiancé? Our kingdom gains nothing except losing our soldiers to selfish humans that will burn our heads on stakes! You should be grateful to us for rescuing you before those blood thirsty humans came to m.urder you just like they did Nesta! And what is your worth? You didn’t even inherit a wolf. You are nothing but a human at the end of-“ she cuts herself off and puts a hand to her chest, her face suddenly paling.

“Excuse me,” and with that, she turns around and storms out of the room.