Chapter 42: Mathew's POV
2318 Words
CORONATION PART II
I didn't even have to walk to Queen Merrida, which was the respectful thing to do as a host. I narrowed my eyes at her and knew she would feel my eyes on her and be the one to come to me.
"King Alden" She sounded nervous and she should be. When I graciously extended to her the opportunity to enter into an alliance with the Werewolf kingdom, she refused. If it had been a mere refusal it would have been somewhat acceptable, but the woman insulted me and my kingdom. That makes it the more difficult to have a conversation with her. She wasn't even going to come to the coronation, but now she had no choice.
"Queen Merrida, you're here", I snarled at her.
"Hey Mathew" Sebastian was clearly trying to ease the tension. "How are you man? It's been a while."
I shook his hand. I wasn't all that happy to see him. If Elizabeth and Mike were in the Silver kingdom, then Sebastian definitely knew about it. But asking Sebastian about her wouldn't help me. Elizabeth is his friend so he wouldn't be too keen to tell me where she is. Queen Merrida on the other hand has a whole kingdom at stake. She will be forced to tell me where my Queen is.
"Sebastian, I believe King Alden and I have a few things to discuss. Please give us some privacy."
Sebastian left and I led Queen Merrida outside to the balcony so that we could have more privacy to talk.
"King Alden, I -"
"You're not getting the alliance, Merrida."
She gasped out from shock, but I needed her to understand just how serious I was. If she wasn't going to tell me where Elizabeth is, she wasn't getting any damn alliance from me.
"Unless you tell me what I want to know", I continued.
She pursed her lips out of frustration. "What do you want to know?"
"A few days ago a girl left your kingdom. Her name is Elizabeth. Tell me where she is and I will CONSIDER giving you an alliance."
She balled her fists, almost as if hesitating to tell me. "What do you want with her?"
"That's my business, Merrida."
She stayed quiet for a few minutes. "I can't tell you where she is, Alden." Merrida is one of a few people who refers to me by my surname rather than my name.
I started walking away from her to make it clear that our conversation was over.
"Wait!", she yelled after me, "whatever you want with her, it's not worth hurting her. That girl she's, she's good. Give me your word that not a single hair on her head will be harmed."
I looked back at her. She really looked like she was concerned for Elizabeth's wellbeing. "Merrida, I give you my word. No harm will come to her; just tell me where she is."
She gave a deep breath before answering me. "Your'e right, she was in my kingdom a few days ago. I don't know where she is right now, but I've been told she's no longer being cloacked so she should be easy to find."
I felt a small smile forming on my face. If she wasn't being cloacked anymore, I would be able to find her within a couple of days or maybe even hours.
Keyon, who had been by my side this entire time without even being noticed by Merrida, immediately started making calls before I even gave him an order to. I could tell from the phone conversation that he was checking with the trackers whether they've found her yet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. We are about to begin." I suddenly heard a voice booming in the ball room. The coronation was about to start.
I gave Merrida a firm look to let her know that she would reconsider an alliance with her kingdom and rushed into the hall.
***
"Our most esteemed guests", Elder Anaia announced, "thank you for being here tonight."
The old woman looked radiant tonight in a long white and silver dress. She had someone by her side to help her since she's blind.
Normally a king would be crowned by the previous king. However, since my parents are no longer here, I asked Elder Anaia as the oldest seer in the Werewolf kingdom to crown me. Of course, I've been working as the king for the past three years and technically I'm already the King, but the crowning ceremony is tradition. It symbolises my reign over the Werewolf kingdom. It also presents an opportunity to have all the alphas, betas, lunas and royal members of other kingdoms with an opportunity to see the strength and pride of the Werewolf kingdom firsthand.
"For those of you who do not know me", Elder Anaia continued, "my name is Anaia and I have recently learned that I am the oldest seer in the Werewolf kingdom."
The crowd laughed.
"I was there when the former Werewolf king, King Ezekiel was crowned. And I was also fortunate enough to have been invited to the crowning of King Ezekiel's father, King Daniel."
I watched the crowd's reaction as it dawned on them just how old Elder Anaia must be.
"When I attended King Daniel's coronation as a young woman, a fellow seer told me that night that I would be the one to break the tradition of a former King crowning the incumbent King. At the time, I thought she had just had too many drinks, but here I am today about to crown King Nathaniel Mathew Alden as the Werewolf king."
She looked in my direction. I knew she couldn't see me, but the way she was looking at me made me feel like she could actually see me. She was beaming with so much joy and pride.
"If I were to stand here and go through all the miraculous things this young man has done, we would be standing in this hall for a number of years."
The crowd chuckled again.
"Needless to say, he has achieved in three years what most fail to achieve in multiple lifetimes. It is no easy feat uniting packs that had shunned the world and each other. And it is most definitely not easy to convince the kingdoms of other magical creatures to fight together. Which is why we in the Werewolf kingdom would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to King Killian, the Gryphon King and Queen Merrida, the Queen of the Northern Inkling Kingdom for being here with us tonight. We do not know what the future holds, but one thing is certain, Raphael is here for all of us and he is gathering his armies."
The mood in the hall suddenly turned very serious.
"As we speak, Raphael is plundering through the magical world, draining magical creatures of their magic and forcing others to help him find more people to feed his evil quest to become a god. If we do not stand together, he will pick us off one by one. That is why I am grateful to the Moon Godess for bringing back our king. He has looked past all our differences and somehow united us in the fight against Raphael."
People applauded her after she said this.
"Without further ado, I would like to call King Mathew Alden to the stage."
I approached the stage and knelt as soon as I stood infront her. The person who was standing next to her to help her placed a crown in her hands. The crown was gold and silver and had a few jewels in it. I wanted it to contain silver so that it serves as a reminder to everyone that, unlike normal werewolves, I am not weakened by silver and it can't kill me.
As soon as she placed the crown on my head, I felt the moon's on my arm radiating with light.
I turned my head slightly to look at the crowd, and they were so amazed by it that they weren't even moving. They were just staring at me.
"I hereby crown you, Nathaniel Mathew Alden as king of the Werewolf kingdom. May your reign be long and prosperous and may you find a queen worthy of you."
I smiled as I stood up looking at the crowd. The moons on my arm were just shining brighter and brighter, and I noticed a few alphas bowing their heads to me. Slowly, all the wolves and magical creatures that live in my kingdom started bowing their heads.
I opened my mindlink and decided to use it to speak to all the werewolves here tonight. This would be my first time revealing to everyone that I am connected to every werewolf and can mindlink them any of them if they are a certain distance away from me.
"Alphas, lunas and betas", I said through the link. I could see the shock on their faces as they looked amongst one another to make sure they weren't the only ones who just heard my voice through the mindlink.
"Werewolves are the warriors and the protectors of the Werewolf kingdom. It has never been more important than now for us to take responsibility and protect our world. I know you have all felt the strength that courses through your veins and have seen how the Moon Godess has blessed this kingdom in the past three years. I trust every single one of you to use this power in service of protecting the magical world. Rise and welcome a new era for the Werewolf kingdom."
They all got up and started applauding and cheering for me.
I held my hand up for the crowd to stop cheering and used the mindlink to ask Kendrick and Keyon to come to the stage.
They both knew I could mindlink all werewolves, but they had never actually seen it in action. They still looked a bit shocked at what happened.
"I, King Nathaniel Mathew Alden, the king of the werewolves, hereby appoint you Kendrick Aragon as the royal beta to the Werewolf kingdom; and appoint you, Keyon Salvador as the royal delta to the Werewolf kingdom."
I handed them each a gold encrusted werewolf pin to symbolise their positions. The crowd erupted into another wave of cheers and applaude.
I knew the crowd would most likely forget that Keyon was even my delta due to his ability to go unseen, but the man still deserved this recognition.
The two of them were beaming while looking at the crowd and Kendrick even called Esther and Ishmael to join him on stage and started waving at the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen", I said to the crowd, "I now ask you all to join us outside. According to our traditions, the alpha and beta of each pack must join the newly crowned king for a run after the coronation. If any luna wishes to join us, you are more than welcome."
The two large doors to the hall opened and everyone rushed outside. Kendrick and Keyon gave me very concerned looks, but I felt good about this. They are the only two people who know that Orion has refused to talk to me for the past three years. I've tried shifting so many times, but nothing happens.
I know he's still there though, but he has locked himself up in the deepest corners of my mind because he's in a lot of pain. The day we found out Elizabeth had left, he made a promise to me that he wouldn't shift until he saw her again. I thought that in time he would realise that I really needed him to shift. I can't be the Werewolf king without my wolf. But I was wrong. Despite everything I've done to placate him, he refuses to make an appearance.
But I was certain tonight would be different. The brighter the moons on my arm shone, the more I felt him. He didn't say anything, but I felt him more than I've ever felt him in the past three years. And we were this close to finding Elizabeth now. He would come out for the run tonight.
I stood in the middle of the crowd on one of our large open fields. I had to be the first one to shift. I searched for Orion in the depths of my mind, but he was still quiet. I called for him repeatedly in my mind.
Orion, we need to shift right now!, I roared at him.
He didn't say anything.
Damnit, Orion! I have not asked you for anything in these last three years. Do not let me down right now. Shift!
When he remained quiet, I realised that despite this momentous occasion, he was going to keep his promise. He wasn't going to shift until he saw her again.
Murmurs started spreading amongst the crowd when after a few minutes I still hadn't shifted. Then a cruel and loud laugh ripped out of the crowd.
"Just as I thought! The almighty Werewolf king can't shift."
I couldn't believe my eyes at first. It was former Alpha Gideon. The man was drunk and anyone could smell the alcohol on him. This was a f*****g nightmare. Everything I had worked for was going to be ruined in just one night. And all because I can't f*****g shift.
Orion, I shouted at him again. Orion, I know you're hurting. I'm hurting too, but we're close to finding her. She's not cloacked anymore. She'll be here with us where she belongs.
Orion, please, I begged him. If we don't shift, all the packs and magical kingdoms will question our authority to rule. There will be an uprising.
He didn't say anything. I could barely even feel him anymore.
Damnit, Orion!
- Writer
