CHAPTER SIXTEEN
2217 Words
ELINA
"She looks like you, how cute," one of the women around Zane says in an idiotic voice as she giggles at Alissa who is in Zane's arms, and I have to contain my homicidal impulse.
Zane shoots me an apologetic look as I try my best to put up with this nonsense for another hour, but with each passing second it's harder not to regret the stupid decision I made a few days ago to let Zane make the announcement, that was already bad enough, but now this is downright unbearable, such little babies don't need a party of any kind, they won't even remember this moment, and instead of wasting time and patience here, we should be planning how to get around this war and not entertaining a bunch of idiots.
It still amazes me how easily they accepted the news, I thought there was going to be much more resistance from the Crimson Wood’s alphas regarding some babies who they did not even know existed, and now are being announced as heirs to the throne, but it seems that they don’t care in the least that the babies were born before the marriage, apparently, Zane's father was a good king but he was also extremely strict, and everyone just accepted as perfectly reasonable the excuse he gave them as to why something so important was kept in secret for so long.
"I thought the day would never come when I would see twins in this realm, they are extremely rare, did you know?" An elderly man explains to his daughter, who is more interested in Zane than in the babies.
"It is said that only the most powerful alpha queens can give birth to more than one baby at a time," the man continues to explain to his daughter while looking at me in admiration, but she continues to be distracted by Zane's face.
She looks at him with adoration and lust, almost as if she wants to throw herself on top of him here and now, although I don't blame her, as he looks strangely sexy when holding a baby in his arms, and that seems to be the general feeling of all the women here today, who have not stopped giving him flirtatious glances or getting too close to him with the excuse of seeing the babies more closely, and although it does not bother me at all, because I do not feel the slightest bit of jealousy or possessiveness towards Zane, I can't help but want to have a little fun with the poor women who seem as scared of me as they are enchanted by him, so when the girl focuses her gaze on me I raise an eyebrow at her, and inwardly smile as I see her face go pale instantly before taking her old father by the arm and quickly saying goodbye to us.
“Stop scaring them, those poor girls are going to faint if you keep looking at them that way,” Zane tells me in an amused tone.
“If they are so scared of me, they shouldn't be so bold and try to flirt with my husband in front of me,” I reply, and he grins.
"Are you jealous?" he asks me in a tone that sounds a lot like vain hope, and for a moment I feel a little guilty for making him believe things that are not true.
“No, how could I be jealous of women like that? It just seems extremely disrespectful to me every time they try to flirt with you when I am present, they should know better what could happen to them if they dare to cross me, I was just giving them a little reminder," I reply with a shrug and he laughs, although frankly, I do not know why he finds it funny, I am being very serious.
Because although I am not jealous of them, I do not intend to let them minimize my power and my presence here, long enough I had to put up with people looking over their shoulder and believing themselves better than me, I have already had to endure humiliation and mistreatment from women like them who think that because they have a higher social status they could do whatever they want with me, now I am the one who is in the highest seat of this kingdom, of the Rogue kingdom, and soon of my legitimate kingdom as well.
The very thought of the war with the Varks makes my blood boil again, and although it is still uncertain if they knew who was in the camp at the time of the attack, it is most likely that they had every intention of hurting my babies, and that is something they will have to pay with their own blood, no matter how much they have denied the accusations, the evidence is overwhelming, they are responsible for it, and I will see to it that they suffer the consequences.
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When the stupid party finally comes to an end, I take the babies, one in each arm, and walk out of the main room into my bedroom so I can immediately bathe them and shake off all that stench of annoying people pinching their cheeks or touching their hair, so I put them in the bathtub and I feel sad when I think of Lily, who was their favorite person in the world after me, I don't know if they are aware of her absence, but I am, and a lot, every day I feel her loss as if it had just happened, and it weighs on my conscience to have left her there in that camp.
I should never have taken them with me, but I still don't trust the people of this realm and I didn't want to risk leaving them here so far from me, but I should have, I should have had them stay with a group of my own warriors to take care of them, maybe so Lily would still be alive today and she would be here helping me to bathe the babies as she had always done; She always took care of me, I don't know if it was on my uncle's orders or because she wanted it that way, but that doesn't matter anymore, she was my first friend and ally in the Varkolak palace, she helped me escape, she was with me in all this process, and I lost her because of my stupidity and my selfishness.
Someone clears their throat behind me and I get startled, but immediately calm down when I notice Camille, one of the leaders of the Red Army, a tall girl with red hair like fire, blue eyes, and freckled nose, strong, and reserved as only she can be, she is one of my best warriors and she has earned my trust over time, as she has shown that she is willing to give her life for me and for our cause, after all, she also lost her parents in the war and she wants to return to the realm where the rest of her family is, in the Moonstone pack, of course.
"I am sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to scare you," she tells me, and I shake my head.
"No, it's okay, you can come in, do you have something to tell me?" I ask her, and she seems conflicted.
"Actually, I do," she responds, and something in her expression tells me that whatever she has to say is not good.
I look at the door and notice that she has already locked it, so I ask her to help me get Aiden out of the tub while I grab Alissa, and we take them back to the bedroom to put on their pajamas.
"You can tell me anything, I hope you know that," I tell her and she nods, then takes a deep breath and starts talking.
"I don't know if you know that I still have relatives in the Varkolak kingdom, my aunt and cousins are in the Moonstone pack, from which I escaped when I turned fifteen and joined the Red Army," she begins and I nod, then I wave my hand at her to ask her to continue.
“Well, recently one of my cousins contacted me through one of the Red Army warriors, I don't know how he managed to give them the message, but he wanted us to meet, he said it was very important, and I thought maybe they wanted to join our cause, just like your mother and brother did,” she says and stops suddenly, her gaze full of guilt and I start to worry.
"Did you meet him?" I ask her, and she nods.
"And your family wants to join our cause?" I ask her, and she shakes her head.
"No, he wanted to give me a message from someone else," she says with a small voice, and I have a feeling that this has nothing to do with her family but with me.
"What message did he give you?" I ask her, and she gulps.
"The beta of the Varkolak kingdom wishes to meet with your majesty," she tells me, and I frown.
"August wants to meet me?" I ask more for myself than for her.
"Maybe he wants to join our cause too," she says hopefully, but clearly even she doesn't believe it.
"No, August would never betray Bastian," I tell her, and she purses her lips.
"Did your cousin tell you anything else?" I ask her.
"Just that it was a life or death matter," she replies, and I frown even more.
"Why are you telling me this until now?" I ask her, and she looks at me guiltily.
“Honestly, I felt guilty for meeting him in secret, but I only did so because I believed it was something related to my family, and then I debated whether to go with Prince Arthur or with your Majesty, but finally decided to tell you directly,” She responds, and I nod.
"You did well," I reply, and she smiles slightly.
"Should I answer by saying there will be no meeting, or do I just ignore it?" She asks me.
"Neither," I reply, and she looks at me in confusion.
"Tell him I agree, but we will meet on my own terms," I tell her, and she opens her eyes at me in surprise.
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