Chapter 140
“She is not her father.” Rose said. “She is just a girl who needs someone to show her love.”
Cherry snorted. “Show her love? That can be anyone else but not you. You’re a queen. You can’t be subjecting yourself to an audience of mere peasants. Mere enslaved people.”
“Being Queen means that I appreciate my great or small people. Rich or poor. Omega or Alpha.” Rose said.
Cherry shrugged. “Fine. But you have to be careful. When we return home, I will show you how to be a true Queen.”
Cherry flicked her black hair. “You were never meant to be Queen, so you weren’t raised correctly.”
Rose felt a pang.
A reminder that she was not the true ascended.
“Don’t worry, since it was my birthright. I’ll manage to show you how to handle the ropes of being Queen.” Cherry said. “You can thank me later.”
Rose gave a stiff smile and then excused herself. “Thank you. I must be on my way now.”
And then she left behind the uneasy feeling she had of her sister.
Rose eventually shook it off with the belief that she was just being paranoid and imagining this.
She was happy to have her sister back.
Elated in fact, this feeling was just her being anxious and that was it.
Her guards escorted her as she went to Xaden’s room.
The doors were opened for her without knocking and then she found a half naked Xaden still asleep in his bed.
“Who the bloody hell dares wake me up.” Xaden said, frowning at the way they had barged in.
“It’s the Queen.” Rose said, announcing her presence before her guards did.
The two girls who were naked in the bed gasped and flushed in embarrassment.
Xaden sat up in bed and scowled, but he was still awake.
He was shirtless, and he had his waist covered in the bedsheets.
“May I have a word with you?” She asked. “Alone”.
The girls got the hint, hurriedly escaping from the bed covered in sheets and scurrying out of the room.
“Would Her Majesty give me a few minutes to get decent?” He asked.
She shook her head. “No, that will be very unnecessary. What I wish to discuss with you will not take too long. After all, I am expected to leave for my castle.”
He yawned and remained seated on the bed.
He nodded his head, ushering her to say what she wanted to. “I wonder what made the Queen find her way into my chambers. I am all ears, Your Majesty.”
His guards ushered a seat for her, and she sat gracefully.
“It’s about Jasmine.” She said.
His eyes widened. “What has she done? Killed someone else? Attempted another murder? Or her bastard father planned a siege of my pack while I was fucking last night?”
Rose saw he was irritated, and if there was one thing she had heard of the young man, he never let his guard down.
He was expressionless, if he lost something dear to him, you would never know because all he did was hide it.
But here he was, showing his frustration. All because of Jasmine.
“No, none of that happened.” She said. “I wish to discuss Jasmine and the allegations laid bare before her. Have you decided what would be done with her? What will you do? Kill her?”
“I will send her head to her father in a box.” He said. “She is Bale’s only surviving and favorite daughter. It would be a blow to him when he discovers she is dead. He won’t have any reason to live anything. I heard he doesn’t even care about his Luna. But that girl? He does.”
The Queen sighed and crossed her fingers expertly together. “You will not be capable of killing her.”
“Why?” He said. “You have no right to make decisions in my packs unless I disobey a law, which I have not.”
“We both know that you will not be capable of killing her, Xaden.” She said, holding up two fingers. “For two reasons. One, you are bonded to her. I know that you took her from
Her father, and the only way you could do that was by marrying and bonding with her. And you know that being bonded with her means she dies, you die.”
“I have a seer who can sever the bond.” He said arrogantly.
She smiled. “You mated with her for the halo festival. Do you truly think the goddess would let you sever that bond? Do you?”
He said nothing, and then she cleared her throat.
“I thought as much.” She said. “You can ask your seer to see if this plot of yours would work and wait for the results.”
Then he turned to her. “So what if my bond can’t be severed with her? What do you want?”
“I don’t believe Jasmine had a hand in your attack.” She said. “She is the daughter of your enemy. But I promise you, she is not the enemy.”
Xaden clutched his knuckles as he listened to her.
Then she sat up in her chair.
“I want Jasmine to be freed from her prison.” She said. “I want her to be freed from all allegations. I want her to return to living in the pack.”
He blinked at her. “That is a reach. Even for you, your majesty.”
She sighed, knowing she had to bargain with him.
“Then fine.” She said. “How about we do it like this? She still gets to work and resumes her duties. But she does not get subjected to wipings.”
Xaden gritted his teeth. “She will remain in the dungeon. She shall resume her punishment as enslaved, but she has always slept in the dungeon.”
“Didn’t she get poisoned the last time she was there?” She asked him.
“H-how did you know?” He asked.
“I have eyes and ears everywhere, Xaden.” She said to him. Then, she went back to their discussion. “No, Jasmine will not remain there.”
“Your majesty, her father sent a spy to kill me!” He snapped. “And she was aware! Do you truly expect me to let it go?!”
The Queen’s guards stood at attention, ready to strike him.