*Isla*
“Death?” I repeat as Maddox stares at me unblinking. “Really?”
Maddox nods. “Yes, that’s the punishment for committing treason. What do you think it should be? I mean, we have to be tough on these people who break the law.”
“What about all of those Alphas who just fought against you in the war?” I counter. “How many of them have been sentenced to death.”
Maddox shifts slightly in his chair. “Well, that’s a little bit different. Those are Alphas. They have a different standard that they are held to.”
“Shouldn’t it be higher?” I argue. “I mean, those people have sworn allegiance to you, too, and not only do they fight you themselves, but they also force others to do so as well, whether they want to or not. If you can put someone to death for lying about their background, shouldn’t you be doing the same for the men who just tried to take your throne from you?”
Maddox stares at me with his lips pressed together. “You seem awfully invested in this,” he says. “I’m not exactly sure why. Did you and Commander Pepelos become close while he was here?”
I narrow my eyes at him. What exactly is he implying? Does he think that I’m having an affair with the man that he left in charge while he was off fighting these men who won’t even be held accountable for their actions?
“No, we did not,” I say to him. “I’m just interested in what’s fair. You’ve been gone for quite some time, and you’ve been fighting a lot. People have died. People have been injured and pulled away from their families. I just think it should be fair.”
He takes a deep breath, holds it, lets it out, and says, “I’ll look into it.”
He will not look into it.
Maddox isn’t used to hearing anyone else’s opinions. My next question is one that I should not ask.
I ask it anyway. “What did Luna Queen Rebecca think of your policies regarding treason?”
I see anger flash behind his eyes as he contemplates how to answer me. When he does, his words are clipped. “Rebecca never involved herself in such things. She was more interested in doing a Luna’s duties, which include looking after the needs of women and children, not concerning herself with the laws regarding criminals.”
“Interesting.” I cross my legs and look out the window, not really seeing anything that’s out there.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he wants to know.
I look back at him with my eyes wide. “Nothing. Only… I was always under the impression that Rebecca took interest in a lot of needs in the kingdom, and I would’ve thought that would include the oppression of criminals.”
“Oppression? Isla, I really don’t think you know what you’re talking about! I am not oppressing anyone. People know the consequences of their actions before they commit their crimes. I am not sure why we are talking about any of this anyway. Perhaps I shouldn’t have come here.” He stands and takes a few steps toward the door.
I feel a fire burning inside of me. I am so tired of him treating me like I am an idiot, like I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, like the only thing I’m good for is making babies. “Why did you come here?” I demand to know from him. “Why are you here and not in the front? Is everything over?”
“Everything I have to do is over. Not that I have to justify what I’m doing in my own home!” he shouts at me.
“I didn’t say you did, but I wasn’t expecting you so soon. So… what does this mean for….” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I wasn’t even sure what to call them, and the only words that came to mind were “the disaster looming in the distance.” I didn’t think he’d appreciate that.
“For the Alphas’ daughters?” he asked, and I nodded. “It means… they will begin to arrive.”
He stops talking, and I can tell by the way he holds his chin in the air that he doesn’t want to finish his thought.
“When?” I ask, feeling the oxygen fading from my lungs. “When will they begin to arrive?”
He continues to hold my gaze for a long moment. My world crumbles with every passing beat of my heart. Why can’t he just tell me and get it over with already and answer me?
“Tomorrow.”
The word hangs between us like the word has substance.
Tomorrow.
They will begin arriving tomorrow.
My knees give way, and I have to sit down. I stumble backward into my chair. I see a flicker of concern in his eyes, but when he sees that I’m all right, he lets that look fade from his face.
“I don’t know why you are so anxious about this, Isla. I’ve already told you, it has no merit. It’s just an exercise in placation.”
I have no idea how to respond to that. He really thinks I should just shrug this off and accept it while he was jealous of Commander Pepelos, thinking perhaps there was something going on between us.
“I think I should go home for a bit,” I tell him. “Stay with my parents while you go through this.”
“Absolutely not. You need to be here. You are also an Alpha’s daughter,” he says, folding his arms.
“And you think I should compete as well?” I ask him, feeling the vein in my temple begin to throb.
“No, it’s not a competition. But I need you to be here as part of the women so that when I choose you, the others cannot say it wasn’t fair,” he explains.
The giggle that escapes my lips is almost maniacal. “Shall I move upstairs? Shall I make an appointment to see you? When the other women ask why I’m feeling sick in the morning or why I’m gaining weight, what do I tell them then? I’m going to start showing soon. Are you planning on this only lasting a few weeks?”
“I don’t know,” he says, exasperated. He runs a hand through his hair. He probably hasn’t been sleeping when he’s away from me. I silently wonder if he likes sleeping enough to keep me around. “You’re not going anywhere. You must be there the night after tomorrow, and you will need a dress.”
I don’t even want to ask him what for. Flashes of my dream flicker before my eyes again. “Wh-what for?”
“There will be a ball, of course. You must be there.” He steps back toward the door. “I’m going to go get an idea of what has transpired while I was gone. You say you didn’t spend much time with Commander Pepelos?”
I want to tell him the truth right then, that he needs to stop chasing after Commander Pepelos because he is my cousin, and even though I don’t want to do what he was trying to talk me into, I don’t want him hurt either.
Instead, I say, “I rarely saw him. He checked on me some.”
Maddox nods. “Good. His hiding place has been discovered, and he’s surrounded, so he’ll be tossed in prison before morning. Unless he doesn’t surrender, in which case, he’ll be dead.”
My face wants to betray me. I nod. “That’s a shame. He seemed like a nice person. I hope you don’t have to… hurt him.”
Maddox shrugs. “I don’t want to get into that again. I’ll see you later.” He opens the door and walks out, and I immediately reach out to my cousin.
“Antony! They know where you are! Maddox just told me!”
“Maddox?” Antony’s voice sounds faint in my head like he’s a long way away, which I suppose he is. “How is that possible? Isn’t he still on the battlefield?”
“No, he came back. He said everything is finished there. He said you’re surrounded, so you should probably go ahead and surrender. Let them bring you back here, and I’ll make sure that you’re not harmed.”
“Fuck no!” he shouts. “I don’t trust that man to listen to you. Not after the way he’s been treating you recently. Isla, you have to realize that he's just using you as a breeder. You need to get out of there. I’m going to make a run for it. I’ll let you know where I’ve gone when I can.”
“But Antony, if you’re surrounded, how in the world will you get out of there?” My heart begins to pound in my chest. I can’t imagine anyone getting hurt over something so silly. He hasn’t done anything but lie about his past. He didn’t hurt anyone, unlike those stupid Alphas who are only getting their hands slapped.
“I have my ways, Isla. I’d tell you, but I don’t trust you,” he says.
“Why would I tell you they’ve got you surrounded if I wasn’t trustworthy, Antony?”
He has to think about that for a second. Then, he says, “There’s a tunnel under this house. It lets out in the woods about half a mile away. I think I can get behind their line. If you hear anything else, let me know. But if you can’t reach me, I have friends in the service who you can trust. You can mind-link John Tracy or Corigan Wallace. They’ll know how to get the message to me.”
My mouth moves a few times with no words coming out. I have no idea what to say to that. “How? How can I mind-link them?” I asked him. “They aren’t part of Willow pack, are they?”
He actually laughs in my head. “No, they’re from Maatua. You can mind-link anyone from Maatua, silly.”
I have no idea if that is true, but I wonder then if that means I can mind-link Mystica. I’ve never tried.
“Just be careful. Don’t get killed.”
“I’ll try not to,” he says. “But if I do, you know what you need to do, Isla. Go kill my mom and break the curse.”
With that, he fades out of my mind, and all I can do is curse beneath my breath.
Poppy throws open the door. “What did Maddox tell you?” she asks, sinking down in the chair where he’d been sitting.
“Where do I begin? He’s going to kill my cousin. He’s not going to kill any of the Alphas that tried to kill him except for maybe Geoffrey…. He’s having a ball for all of his girlfriends in a couple of days that I must attend, and I’m forbidden to leave the castle.”
Poppy stares at me for a long moment. “Shit. That’s a lot,” she says.
I nod. “I know.”
“Well, if they kill your cousin, he deserves it,” she says with a shrug.
I want to throw something at her, but then she laughs, and I think she might be joking.
Nothing about it is funny.
All I want to do now is run away, but I can’t. I’m forbidden to leave the castle.