When Pellethia left her people under Octavia’s supervision and stepped onto the jet, the three policemen who stayed behind to guard Lucianne and Reida growled in defensiveness and ferocity. “Guys. Guys. It’s okay. This is the empress,” Lucianne immediately said as she held Reida who started crying not long after they landed. The embarrassed policemen bowed low in apology before acknowledging Pellethia, “Your Imperial Majesty.” “Sorry about that, Pelly. They really meant no harm,” Lucianne apologized as well. The policemen still held their heads low, and as Pellethia walked past them, she said, “It’s alright. Heads up, gentlemen. You were simply defending your queen.” As she dropped into the seat close to where Lucianne was walking about with crying Reida, Pellethia mentioned in passing, “It’s good to see you’re being protected in this lifetime. The rubbish and blatant disrespect you had to deal with in your last life was horrifying, unbefitting for a princess and future queen. Not
Xandar’s link came through, ‘Hey, baby. Everything alright?’ ‘Yes. How are things on your side?’ ‘So far, so good. Greg was right. The scents here only point to three lycans. No wolves. We’re now going to check if there were any proditors. Are you alright on the jet?’ ‘Since my overprotective husband left three policemen with me and our daughter, even sending the empress who clearly has the potential to be deadly if provoked, I really can’t see how I’m not alright.’ He chuckled. After a moment, he realized he had nothing to say, so he simply uttered, ‘I love you.’ As the familiar heat crept up Lucianne’s cheeks, she linked in response, ‘I love you too, Xandar. Stay focused, alright? They need our help.’ Xandar was in the mood to be playful. ‘We are helping them, sweetheart. What’s wrong with me speaking to my wife during the investigation?’ ‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because this conversation is steering away from the problem at hand?’ Xandar’s voice turned deeper and more f
As Amber entered the master bedroom with the rest, she said, “Rafael here is the most powerful decipio…”Rafael stopped at the open wardrobe and interrupted Amber by saying, “Skillful, Amber. The right word is ‘skillful’. Manipulation is a power given to a quarter of our population in equal proportion. No single decipio is more powerful than the other.”Amber rolled her eyes and turned to Toby and the rest again as she continued, “Rafael is the annoyingly humble vampire and the most powerful decipio of our time, even better than our empress herself. She still practices with him weekly to sharpen her skills. That’s how good Rafael is. I, myself, am a…”Rafael commented, “A misleading, small-sized insect
Toby ranted about the whole Maddock situation to Lucianne for a good ten minutes through the mind-link before he could finally calm down and opted to take a nap on his jet.Xandar was agitated, too, but the sight of his wife on his lap and their daughter in her arms soothed his internal fury. The scent he greedily took from Lucianne’s hair further calmed the storm in him as he held her close to his chest. As little Reida slept, she hugged one her father’s pinky finger tightly to her chest like it was her mini bolster, and any remaining anger in the Lycan King vaporized into the air.When they got home, it was late evening. Mrs Parker got Reida to bed after Lucianne was done bathing and breast-feeding her. Lucianne and Xandar then had dinner with Tate and Stella. They got Stella to talk more about herself, and learne
With his fingers laced tightly together as his forearms pressed on the dining table, Tate explained, “Stella and I went to see her today. Margaret spoke to her briefly, still asking her to lie or do something to get them out. Stella fought back, as usual. Came out drained after that, so I bought her a soda before I went in next.”Tate cleared his throat and continued, “Margaret…is still not talking to me, and I tried everything I know: I asked her if she needed anything, I asked if she wanted to eat something in particular, I asked if she’d like me to take her out for a walk for an hour or so.”He ran his hand through his light brown hair as he heaved a sad but frustrated sigh, and exclaimed as softly as he could, “She’s not talking to me! She doesn’t even want to look at m
Lucianne swallowed a lump in her throat and admitted, “When she wants to be.”A pause, leaving both men confused before she continued, “Margaret is not just hurt. She is in great pain. She has been since the rejection. Over the years, she buried that pain deep under the layers of hatred for everything and everyone. The bitterness is not something that any one of us can just…tear down.”She gave Tate a moment before continuing, “This is her fight, Tate. Until she decides to feel the pain and practice letting go, she won’t improve from her current state. We can be there for her during her healing process but the work, the bulk of the healing, is a lone journey, and Margaret would only embark on it when she chooses to.”Tat
In government headquarters the next morning, NO ONE was pleased that Greg was ‘demanding’ pardon for his ninety-eight people in exchange for cooperation to track down and annihilate whoever was in on challenging the Queen’s Authority. “Lucy,” Toby began with an anger-suppressed tone, “You DO know you can just use your Authority and make him and his people comply, don’t you?” He tried not to sound condescending, and he didn’t. He just sounded angered. He couldn’t understand why Lucianne wasn’t just taking the shortcut. The Moon Goddess gave her the damn shortcut. It was meant to be used! Lucianne knew this was coming. She was surprised that whatever Toby said didn’t come from her mate first. She had been cracking her head for a plausible argument ever since Greg asked for the pardon, and she only came to one mental block after another with each argument. “It doesn’t feel right,” Lucianne said. Although her voice was softer than usual, she still held the attention of the room. “He i
The other recommendations from around the table were glaringly flimsy: strip him of his dukedom, increase sentencing, banishment, etcetera. Honestly, what would stripping the dukedom do? It won’t reverse any damage or bring back any lives that could be lost. Increased sentencing? Greg wouldn’t care less if he stayed longer in prison. If he did, he wouldn’t have gone in in the first place. And banishment? Really? Before Lucianne showed up in Xandar’s life, Greg practically self-banished when he disappeared from the kingdom for sixteen years. These weren’t going to work as leverage. Everyone went back-and-forth with no satisfactory or agreeable idea. When Toby came to terms that there was no other way but the sinister one he had in mind, he cleared his throat and raised his hand. The whole room quieted down as they waited for the defense minister to speak. Toby chose his words carefully, “I don’t think conditional pardon for all ninety-eight of them is the right way forward. Not all cr