*Maddy*
There’s a commotion in the hallway outside the parlor door. I don’t know how long I've been sitting on the ground staring into the fire, but the click of the knob catches my attention, so I turn my head. Hannah, with her curly blonde hair tied back from her kind, smiling face, steps in through the door.
She takes a deep breath, wiping her hands on her apron. “Not fluent,” she reminds me, but her smile is warm and inviting as she extends a hand to me. I take it and allow her to help me to my feet. Why not? What am I going to do now, run? How can I do that when what feels like every royal guard in the kingdom is in the house or on the property?
Hannah leads me through the castle and up a flight of stairs. She says nothing as we walk along the second floor foyer–a balcony that overlooks a section of the first floor, where the commotion I’d heard can now be seen below. I freeze, my skin prickling with adrenaline as Reginald fights in the arms of several guards. A golden-haired man, slightly shorter than King Isaac, is standing in the foyer ignoring the shouts of protests from Reginald.
King Isaac walks into view, his hands tucked casually into his pockets. I can’t catch what they’re saying–not with Reginald carrying on in the background–but eventually the golden-haired man turns and snaps his fingers, and Reginald is carried out, right out the front door.
“That was the Alpha of Crescent City’s son, Magnus,” Ella says, and I startle. I hadn’t heard her walk up to us. She looks down at the foyer below with a smirk on her lips before her eyes meet mine. “Reginald has apparently been terrorizing that Alpha’s territory for some time, so Isaac is allowing him to deal with his punishment.” She pauses and sighs. “Death, most likely.”
“Oh,” I reply, thankful Ella can speak my language so fluently. “Why am I here?”
“Do you have anywhere else to go?” she asks. Hannah is watching us intently, her eyes darting between my mouth, and Ella’s, like she’s trying to make sense of what we’re saying.
“No,” I say after a long moment, and to my surprise, Ella’s somewhat grave expression shifts to what I can only describe as relief.
“Well, you’ll stay here then. It’s not too bad. It’s drafty and enormous.” She laughs, waving a hand. “It’ll be nice to have another woman our age here, though.”
Ella drops into conversation with Hannah, the two of them turning to walk away from the balcony. I know I’m supposed to follow, but my feet are firmly planted on the ground as I steal one last look down at the king.
My cheeks go crimson when he looks up as if he felt me looking at him. Am I imagining the ghost of a boyish smile that touches his lips when he sees me? Did he just… wink?
“Jenny, come on! You’ll get lost for sure.”
Jenny. That’s what they think my name is. Short for Genevieve? Or because I said, “Je ne sais pas” to the king? I turn to Ella as she says it, and I wonder if maybe that name is all right for now. Maddy died a long time ago, didn’t see? Maddy wasn’t anything special. Maddy lost everything she ever loved.
Jenny, on the other hand, had a future, even if it is uncertain.
I follow the two women through the expansive second story of the grand house. I could easily get lost. Several hallways connect at multiple points, hidden staircases leading to the third floor and higher pop out of darkened corners.
We pass maids and male servants, everyone busy, but everyone well fed and lacking the bruises and dark circles that Glenda and Clare wore. I wonder what will happen to them now that Reginald has been arrested.
My chest tightens at the thought. I don’t know if they could be called totally innocent in what he did to me, and I’m sure to others, but still. All in all, they were as kind as he would let them be.
Ella and Hannah stop in front of a door, speaking in low tones. Ella seems slightly confused, and Hannah is doing her best to get her point across. I listen closely, watching their mouths, trying to pick up as many words as I can.
Ella says, “Are you sure?” Sure. That word is a confirmation of sorts. She wants to know if the room Hannah is trying to lead us into is the correct one.
I smile to myself knowing I got it right. I understand the gist of their conversation.
I follow them inside and nearly gasp in shock. Bright yellow wallpaper decorated with muted cream florals hangs on each wall. Windows as high as the ceiling send sprays of moonlight dancing over plush, soft carpet. A four poster bed sits against one wall, but the rest of the room is slightly bare. A dresser, a small table, a chest at the foot of the bed, and an armchair by the window. That’s it.
And it’s more than I’ve ever had.
I have nothing to my name. Even the clothes I wear are borrowed. I feel tears start to prick my eyes as I follow them deeper into the space. I turn when a rush of warm air brushes over my skin. A white marble fireplace casts waves of heat toward us, warming the room.
Warmth. A bed with a mattress that doesn’t have springs sticking out of it.
“This is the ensuite bathroom,” Ella says to me, guiding me into an adjoining room. More marble, white walls, and delicate frames housing dried flowers hanging from the walls. A large tub, an even bigger shower. I can’t remember the last time I saw a real shower.
“Is this your room?” I ask Ella.
Ella snorts, giving me a curious look. “No, this is your room.”
“Mine? Why?” I figured I’d be put to work in some way. While I understood that King Isaac is looking for a wife, a Luna for his kingdom, it would never be me. The thought of it is almost laughable.
But a maid, or servant… that’s not so bad. If a room like this is where he houses his help, well, my luck really has changed.
Unless I’m wrong, and his possession of me now carries a heavier weight, and a more dubious expectation.
Ella must have been watching the questions reel behind my eyes because she lays her hand over my arm and tilts her head toward the bedroom. “You’re a guest.”
A guest. I say the words over and over again to try to drown out the idea that he could be keeping me as a mistress, a slave, someone to warm his bed.
“I can work,” I say quickly. “I can clean, and cook. Anything you need. I’ll be anything you need, but–”
But not that. I can’t be that.
Ella narrows her eyes at me. “Did you think you’re going to be expected to…? Oh, nevermind. No, don’t worry about that now. I’m just happy you’re safe. That incident in the market scared the hell out of me.” Something in her tone gives away her own anxiety about the situation.
“I am to be his Breeder?” I ask without meaning to.
Ella's eyes darken and look so much like her brother’s. “No. Not his Breeder.”
* * *
*Isaac*
It’s nearly midnight when Reginald and his band of rogues are finally disposed of. Magnus, the son of the Alpha of Crescent City, seemed happy enough to take the burden of their punishments off my shoulders.
After seeing the damage he’d done to Jenny’s body, I had it in mind to shift and rip the man to shreds with my teeth in my foyer. But, I have to be diplomatic about these things. Making an example of him will come later, which Magnus assured me. Reginald will be hung like the rest of the traitors in his camp, and I’ll be there to watch.
It doesn’t seem like enough. Not after tracing my fingers over those bruises on Jenny’s skin. I grind my teeth just thinking about it.
For whatever reason, the thought of someone else touching her sets my teeth on edge and my blood boiling.
Commander Leo Fendley stands beside me on the back terrace. I can’t even remember why I asked him to meet me out here of all places, but the night is cool, the air is crisp, and I need a moment to breathe.
“Thank you,” I say to Commander Fendley.
The commander gives me a tight smile that fades quickly. Cassian looks like him, but Leo is more level headed. Cassian would have simply torn everyone to shreds, and spent the rest of his night hunting for the stragglers. I believe he’s out in the city doing just that right now, actually.
“The girl is safe, then?”
“I believe so.” I lean on the terrace and look out over the garden. “I did reach the actual Alpha King of Celestoria. The money I offered him is real.”
Leo shifts his weight, his eyes locked on the wall at the edge of the garden as he drops into thought. “For an army, not the girl?”
“Yes, exactly.” I straight up, my throat dry as I continue, “His armies are not large by any means, but the conditions his wolves train under are harsher than ours. I have his word that he’ll send troops when I ask for them. As for the girl….” I heave a breath as the reality of the situation settles in my chest. “He doesn’t know her at all. The name doesn’t register. She’s Celestorian, that’s clear. The Alpha King is thrilled by the idea I’d take a Celestorian wife and make her my Luna.” I push off the terrance and turn to Leo. “Find out what you can about her from Reginald before he hangs. I doubt she’ll tell me much right now, but the Alpha King of Celestoria means to gift her home pack with something–money, I’m guessing, as a reward for one of their own becoming a Luna in my kingdom.”
Leo nods and turns, disappearing through a door back into the house.
I should feel good about the items I’ve checked off my list today. A new ally. A promise of the soldiers I so desperately need. A wanted criminal captured and facing the death he desires.
A wife.
I swallow against the painful lump in my throat and steal a glance toward the second story windows.
I doubt she even knows what's about to happen. I doubt that spineless man told her the real reason she’d come here and what would be expected of her.
Could I really force her into a marriage destined to be loveless? She’d have the world at her fingertips, at least, to make up for the fact that we’d never love each other. She doesn’t have a wolf, so the chances of her ever finding her mate are slim.
She’s alone in the world, for all I know.
What else could she want, if not safety, a roof over her head, and power?
That’s what they all wanted–power. These women who groveled at my feet and showed off to try to catch my attention.
“You put her in a room that adjoins yours?” Ella says from behind me.
I turn to her, watching the moonlight dance over her face. “Does she know what I expect from her now?”
“She thinks she’s meant to be nothing but your Breeder,” Ella says, but her voice loses the icy tone she’s had with me lately. “Is that true? What exactly do you mean to do with her now?”
“Marry her,” I say, matter of factly, before walking past my sister and into my house.