9. Chapter Nine - Leigh
As I make my way toward the throne room, shadows press in.
With each step, my mind races.
Lua is already at my doorstep, and the fact I had no idea they were even in my country has me jumping at every little sound.
It isn’t as if I’m alone—there are always numerous attendants inside the palace.
My equerry traipses behind me.
Her breathing is loud in the heavy silence.
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to ward off the cold that emanates from within, but it is useless.
My world is crumbling.
I nod to my equerry, then step inside the throne room to meet Lua’s representative.
The large gold-painted walls gleam before me.
Sizable chandeliers hang from the sloped ceilings, and crystal sconces catch the moonlight.
Mirrored walls scatter its brilliance in dazzling patterns.
During the day, they reflect sunshine pouring in from outside, filling the room with otherworldly light.
My breath catches in my throat.
A stranger sits upon my throne.
His posture is relaxed and confident, as if he belongs there.
He is a reed-like man, perhaps in his late twenties, with thick, short, coal-black hair, and golden-brown skin.
His heavy threaded clothes, more suitable for the northern climate, are out of place here, but they mold to his body like a second skin.
He appears to be talking to himself, yet that’s not the strangest thing about him.
He’s not a werewolf.
He’s a witch.
He doesn’t have elongated canines or pointed ears.
“Comfortable, isn’t it?” My voice rings through the space.
He jolts when my voice echoes off the walls.
The Lua representative shoots to his feet.
“Your Majesty,” he says with an accent can’t quite place.
“Forgive me. My curiosity got the better of me. I never should have?—”
“Who are you?” I interrupt, folding my arms across my chest.
The witch opens and closes his mouth.
I forge ahead.
“Well? Who the hell are you? Are you really from Lua, or was that a lie to get my attention?”
The stranger steps toward me.
“Your Majesty, please, I mean you no harm. I am a friend—more than that. I am family. My name is Ravi Deyanira. I am distantly related to Ivah, Aradia’s sister. I guess you could say we are cousins. Like you, I am a Lunar Witch.”
My glare could melt tungsten.
In the television broadcast I made before my coronation, I mentioned hoping to find my lost family members.
It seems too much of a coincidence that one has found me now, dressed in wolves’ clothing, in the middle of a disaster when my kingdom is most vulnerable.
“Fuck you,” I say, my voice cold.
“What?”
“Do you want money? Is that it?” Ravi blinks at the bite of my words.
“Are you here to exploit me?”
Ravi shakes his head.
“No. I am here to help you.”
“Liar,” I spit.
He doesn’t know me.
No one is that selfless.
“Why would I lie? I don’t need money.”
My laugh is bitter.
“Who do you work for?”
He hesitates, and I see red.
I don’t get the chance to continue before he says, “Prince Alden Lupas.”
King Simon’s second son.
“A witch working with wolves? Forgive me if I call your bluff.”
Ravi exhales.
“Are you always this suspicious?”
I’m a product of my circumstances, so yes.
“I bet you aren’t even a Lunar Witch. You probably?—”
Ravi closes his eyes, and his body slumps back onto the throne.
I gasp as his astral form rises from his body, shimmering but not translucent.
He stands before me with a smug smile on his face.
His eyes glow with an otherworldly horror.
“Do you believe me now?” he asks, his voice ringing strangely.
I can only nod, too stunned to speak, as Aradia’s voice whispers, He can teach you magic, Leigh.
I shake my head.
I have more pressing matters than learning magic from this trickster.
And just because he is a Lunar Witch doesn’t mean we are related, or that he knows Prince Alden.
The proof is in the details.
Ravi does have Ivah’s bone structure, Aradia says.
I close my eyes, praying for strength.
Ravi’s astral form sinks back into his body.
He opens his eyes, meeting my gaze.
“What do you want?” I ask.
Ravi presses his lips into a thin line.
“Officially, I’m here on behalf of Prince Alden Lupas of Lua. He requests a visit to discuss the possibility of an alliance between your people. The sooner, the better. He is at your disposal.” Ravi retrieves a missive from his pocket with a wolf insignia in a teal seal.
He holds it out to me.
I snatch it.
Inside, the script signed by Alden claims the wolves want to open negotiations for continued peace and need Corona’s resources.
Oil reserves are running low in the north, and they want access to our oil fields in Aurora.
Alden hopes to come to a solution that will benefit our countries and wishes to visit in two days’ time.
I frown.
Corona and Lua have been enemies for a long time, fighting over resources—mainly oil—and territory.
If the wolves wanted peace, they would have accepted my coronation invite.
Prince Zeus is Simon’s heir, the golden boy of Lua.
Alden Lupas is the Lua enforcer, the cutthroat leading the king’s armies.
“If Lua wants peace, why not send Zeus to discuss terms?” I ask.
Ravi lowers his outstretched hand.
“Zeus won’t leave his father’s ailing side. Alden is acting on their behalf.” Or Alden wants to suss out the competition, so he knows what size army to use when he tries to invade us.
I peer at Ravi.
Why would Alden Lupas send this witch to talk to me instead of coming himself?
To seem like less of a threat.
Does he know Ravi is claiming to be my ancestor?
“You said you are here officially to deliver the missive,” I point out.
Ravi shifts.
“What about unofficially?”
Ravi’s expression darkens.
“Unofficially, I’m here to warn you. You must refuse the invitation. Don’t let Alden come. He?—”
“ What? ” I snap.
Is he serious?
“You want me to guarantee war by dishonoring Alden’s request for peace? I’m sorry, but are you high?”
“No. But?—”
“So, you have a death wish? Because if I do that, I’ll be digging both our graves.” My voice rises with every word.
Who the fuck is this guy?
Is he trying to goad me into disrespecting Lua, so Alden has an excuse to attack?
It’s the only explanation that makes sense.
Ravi steps forward.
“The wolves can’t be trusted. If?—”
“Obviously!” I snap.
Ravi gapes at me.
“But if I reject Alden, he will have every excuse to invade.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Ravi quietly replies.
I scoff.
“If Alden thought sending you to pretend to be my family would convince me to give him an excuse to go to war, he seriously underestimates me. We are not family—but even if we were, that doesn’t mean anything.” Not anymore.
Don ensured that.
Something dark slots into place over Ravi’s eyes, erasing his wide-eyed mask.
Is this his true face?
“Tell Alden I will have a room made up for him,” I say.
“We look forward to his arrival.” We better have power by then.
Ravi bows and then leaves, his footsteps thundering in the empty throne room.
I’m brimming with dread.
My hands won’t stop shaking.
I just invited the wolves into my country.
That took an unexpected turn.
Didn’t it, Dynamite?
my father’s ghost says.
“It did,” I reply.
“Now what?”
Invite him back, and tell him you are sorry, Aradia suggests.
Hell will freeze over before that happens.
“Anything else?”
Talk to your mother.
You need people you can rely on right now, Father’s ghost says.
Father’s right, but not about Mother.
Her withdrawal has proved that I cannot count on her.
Someone on my Council is betraying secrets to Stellan.
The wolves are coming, and Janus is still missing.
Somehow, I need to find Stellan’s mole while convincing Alden that Corona is intact, powerful, and not to be trifled with—even when we’re on the brink of collapse.
Wolves are predators.
If they smell blood, they will attack.
As I leave the throne room, Aradia says, I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t know if I like it.
If I am going to emerge from Alden’s visit unscathed, I need advice from someone who has mastered the art of deception.
“I want to see if Gianna is home yet.”