Chapter 26
“Is something wrong with her?” the King asked worriedly. He had been too cooped up with work and was always tired most of the time. Sure, he slept beside Ralphine every night, but he always come to bed late and woke up a little too early in the morning. He never really got to spend time with her. Maybe it was because he believed that she was in safe hands, or maybe because he didn’t want to make her feel like she was trapped with him. She already knew she wasn’t, but would that ever be enough?
“Sire, it’s Drescher, Kara said carefully, worried that this would ik the King
With the mission against the warlocks so dangerous, the Lycan King had suspended all operations that dealt with Drescher Volkov. He had promised to come back to that later on, because there were more pressing matters. He wanted to be the one to take Drescher’s head off, but that wouldn’t be possible if he was at the frontline fighting the warlocks.
“The Koslov beta?” Miroslav asked tiredly. He wasn’t in the mood to get back to that, given that Kara knew what to do, but he also knew that Kara wouldn’t have mentioned it if it wasn’t important. Perhaps he just had to listen and judge for himself, right? Maybe there was something that could get him back to high spirits this time.
“Yes, Your Highness. He has been seen lurking around the Lycan borders. We have also intercepted his letters to the queen, claiming he is apologetic about what he had done and asking her to come back and be with him. I know this isn’t what you want, but what do we do about that, your highness?” Kata asked. She thought this was not good news and that it could go wrong in so many ways. However, she understood that things had to be done.
Kara had been monitoring all the messages that came to the queen, and while Ralphine had never really sent any out there, there was still the threat of people who had seen her, coming after her, threatening her for being the Lycan king’s queen. Not any were pleased with her position and so, the only way for them to let it be known was to send her letters.
Letter stalking wasn’t a new thing in the Lycan kingdom, hence the presence of the letter–collecting team. That team was meant to analyze everything that came into Asmoria and went out, to make sure that no one in the kingdom was dumb enough to start selling the secrets of a kingdom so feared.
“Does she know about that?” the King asked as he looked at the queen’s high guard.
If Drescher was coming to Astoria and daring to send letters to the queen then there had to be someone communicating with him. If that was his queen, then he wasn’t sure what he would do with her. Miroslav Ibrahimovich despised traitors. He hated people that went behind his back to betray him and he sure as hell hoped that his queen wasn’t the one encouraging
this.
‘Sire?” Kara asked, like she hadn’t heard the man.
“Sire?” K
Surely the king couldn’t be insinuating that his queen, the one that had been abused by Drescher and left for the dead, was pining towards the beta, despite everything that the king had done for her, right? That would be the cruelest of all assumptions and yet at the same time, the last party they both had been to, the two had been communicating well, at least from the king’s perspective.
“Answer the question, Warrior Kara,” King Miroslav commanded his tone cold and powerful, like he was compelling her to tell her the truth. It wasn’t easy for him, but he needed his answers because he couldn’t blame his queen. He just couldn’t, not when he had been working on making her settle well. Betrayal was dangerous and the king couldn’t have that for his crasthai.
“No, she doesn’t. She’s been focused on training to be a better queen. However, Drescher on the other hand has been sending some letters that you might find offensive. His letters all plead with her to go back to him. In some, he apologizes for the way he treated her and swears on his mother that he wouldn’t ever hurt her.
He seems to miss her and it would be hard to know how our queen would react to that,” Kara said earnestly. She had known Ralphine for a few months now, and she knew the Lycan queen wouldn’t entertain some thoughts. However, the king before her didn’t seem convinced. Perhaps that was also why the warrior wasn’t surprised at the request the king made to her
Let her see the letters and tell me what she says about them,” King Miroslav said and Kara sighed. She wanted to defend her
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Chapter 26
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queen even more. She wanted to explain to the king that the woman was innocent, but even she understood the magnitude
of the situation.
Their queen was unclaimed and unseated, so the king wanted to know if he was making the right decision or if he was just blinded by love and was making the worst mistake of his life. It was a cruel assumption but what else could he do? The man wanted peace of mind and Kata was determined to prove to the king that the queen was a loyal one. There was just no way that Ralphine would ever entertain Drescher. But what if?
“Okay sire,” Kara said before she bowed and left the room. She could only hope that Ralphine didn’t fall prey to all of this. She was innocent and that shouldn’t have happened to her 9in the first place.
“Your Highness- Kara greeted when she reached Ralphine’s chamber. In her hands were a bundle of the letters that Drescher had sent the queen. Kara was conflicted about this test, but she knew that she had to do as commanded. For the Lycans, Loyalty was everything. Life without loyalty was useless and that explained why they all hated traitors. It was always a sore topic for them.
“Oh Kara.. It’s you. I learned a few things today too. Also, told you to just call me Ralphine when we’re alone. Please try it sometime. It makes me feel at case around you,” Ralphie said and the warrior just watched her with a smile on her face. She was already feeling terrible that she had to resort to this, but then she couldn’t step back.
“How have you been, your Highness- I mean, how have you been, Queen Ralphie,” Kara said with a smile on her face as she looked at a happy Ralph.
“Well, that could work. I’m doing great, but you don’t look too great. Are you fine? You look pale, your hands are tre ling. and your hair is unusually out of place. Did something happen? Does it have to do with the kingdom? Is Ibrahim alright? Was there an attack? Is there something I should know of?” Ralphine asked, rambling as she hoped and prayed that everything was okay.
She knew she was safest here and wasn’t worried about herself. What worried her was the safety of the warriors. She had seen them training day and night as they prepared for any attacks, especially since the day that had murdered the two warlock rogues that had trespassed.
Ralph knew that it was a declaration of war and that soon enough, the Lycans and warlocks would be at each other’s throats She could only howl that the battle ended well or that they didn’t fight. But then the chances of a zero fight grew more minimal with every hour she watched the warriors training. It was almost like the Lycan warriors were preparing for an apocalypse of sorts and that scared the shit out of her.
I am fine. I just came here to give you these. They are from one Drescher Volkov. If you need me you can call for me, excuse me. Queen Ralphine,” Kara breathed out in one breath before she handed her queen the letters and disappeared. It was almost like she didn’t need to be here when the queen read the letters. She didn’t mean to be there for the raw reaction. She wanted to come back later and see if the queen had something to say or if they had chosen the wrong
“What the hell?” Ralphine asked as she looked at the door through which Katra had disappeared through. She then looked at the letters while her mind thought back to Drescher. What the hell did he want this time? Ralphine didn’t want to know what Drescher did. She didn’t want to imagine what the man would do and more than anything, she wasn’t in the mood for any Drescher conversation.
Ralphine stared at the bundle of letters and she felt so angry. She hated that even though she was this far and out of touch with Koslov the bastard still had the guts to send her letters. What the hell did he think he was doing trying to keep her hooked like that? Why would he even do this? Forgiveness was not something that just came because it was one’s desire and that was something Ralphine knew she would have to embrace eventually
“Oh–hay, Your Royal Highness. I hear you have been training so hard so I asked Miro to lend you to me and he agreed!” Polina’s voice interrupted Ralphine who was staring at the letter in her hands. She wasn’t sure what to do with them and frankly, it was fucking with her mind.
Oirone hand, she wanted to know what he said, and on the other, she didn’t even want to be a foot closer to anything that reminded her of Drescher, the man had hurt her more than once and had made her feel like she was useless not to mention
would never want her.
someone
