87: Preparations

Quincy St. Martin

I glance back. Queen Sophia is now standing alone by the window, staring outside with her back to us. A lonely figure. Her posture is straight and regal, showing her aristocratic upbringing.

I cover Caspian’s hands in mine. “I’ll see you in a moment?”

He studies my features before his gaze lingers on his mother. Finally, he looks at me again, and he nods his head. He kisses my forehead before he lets go of my hand and walks out, closing the door behind him.

The queen turns to face me. I glimpse a flash of vulnerability on her face before it’s replaced by the usual coolness. We stare at each other for a moment. Studying, sizing each other up.

“You knew they were planning this. That’s why you wanted him to mate Lady Celeste so badly and claim the throne,” I state calmly.

“No, I didn’t know this,” she says. “All I knew was that Katya wanted her son to rule. It’s her revenge. If she couldn’t be queen, she wanted her son to reign.”

“How do you live like that?” I blurt out.

I squeak out an apology right after the words leave my mouth. I didn’t mean to ask that question, but it’s been in my head for a while. I mean if Caspian did that to me, I’d kill the other woman for sure…right after I killed him—maybe. Then I’d die. I internally shake my head at my morbid thoughts.

Instead of getting mad as I expect her to do, Queen Sophia waves away my apology and moves to take a seat on the chair she abandoned earlier.

She signals me to sit on the chair previously occupied by King Alexandros.

“I have a feeling you don’t usually mince words, Quincy St. Martin… Romanov,” she says. “I don’t expect you to start now because I don’t intend to either.”

Okay, that’s good, because I have a feeling I might end up in the dungeon tonight if I can’t speak freely. I’m bad at pussyfooting around. I have a broken filter.

“Let me tell you about my upbringing,” she says. “I grew up knowing that I would be the mate of the future king one day. It was decided for me when I was a baby. I was brought up to know this. I didn’t have a chance or a choice to even think whether or not that was something that I wanted for my life.”

She sighs.

“We mated when it was time for Alexandros to be crowned king. I felt no love for him in the beginning. Later, I learned to love and respect him, and I assumed he felt the same for me. I thought we were happy. There was never anybody else for me.”

I’m beginning to feel sorry for Queen Sophia.

“For three decades, five years, and six months, I had him all to myself. Then he met her. Katya. He was instantly consumed by her. There was nothing I could do. We still had the mate connection. He couldn’t deny me, yet he was obsessed with her. He blatantly installed her in the nearby residence. Had a son with her. Played at being a happy family with her. It has always felt like I’m in a competition with her. One in which I am always a few steps behind.”

I nod, trying to envision the life Queen Sophia has had, what pain she has felt.

“When she had her son, I was frantic to have a son too. I was obsessed with the thought of having a son until I had him. My Caspian. So, how do I live like this? Trapped in a gilded cage? Oh, what a cage. It’s a wonderful life for a queen.”

She pauses for a moment.

“I grew to resent him, my mate…to resent them. Some days when I knew he’d just come back from being with her I couldn’t even look at him. If I could get out of this triangle, I would,” she says.

“But I also wanted to win,” she adds with a rueful smile. “A queen doesn’t give up her position unless it’s for her son and his mate.”

“If you can’t stand the triangle, why haven’t you taken her out of the equation yet?” I ask her the question that has been nagging at me. Surely, she must have thought of that.

“Alexandros,” she says without hesitation.

Meaning, she would have killed Katya in a heartbeat if King Alexandros wasn’t in the way.

“The same reason why she hasn’t gotten rid of me yet.” She raises an eyebrow and smiles at my curiosity. “Any more questions?”

“You knew that Æmilius is the king’s son. Why… Why…” I can’t make myself say it.

“Why have I slept with him?” She smiles, wicked and bitter.

“To get back at my mate,” she states simply. “If it were any other men, Alexandros would have killed them before the sun rose. No matter what happens, I’m his mate, and he’s very possessive. Surely you know that by now. My son would kill anyone who touches you.”

It sounds like a warning, but I just nod and she continues.

“Æmilius is the only one who isn’t scared of him, and he’s equally motivated to raise his ire. He’s the one Alexandros wouldn’t kill even for soiling his queen, for fear of upsetting his erasthai.”

“Does it help to make the king favor his golden son over his backstabbing son, or does it help to ensure he wouldn’t mind as much if the backstabbing son were killed one day?” I ask her.

Queen Sophia’s vivid green eyes flicker up to look at me closely. The corner of her lip curls up into a tiny smile of respect and, strangely, pride.

I return her smile. Rightly or wrongly, I admire this woman.

Queen Sophia is a very dangerous woman. She’ll cheat, lie, steal, and kill to get what she wants. She recognizes herself in me, and she’s not wrong. I’ll do anything for the people I love, and I’d kill with a smile on my lips if that would get me what I want.

The only thing that makes me breathe easier is the fact that she loves her son fiercely, and destroying me would be destroying her son.

Isn’t it funny how her son fell for someone who is exactly like her?

“I chose Lady Celeste for him because she’s easy to control,” she says.

I don’t miss the flash of wickedness and self-deprecation in her eyes.

“If you weren’t his erasthai, I wouldn’t have chosen you. There’s not a single subservient bone in your body. You look sweet and innocent, but really, you’re not. You’re so young, but you’re already very strong, clever, and dangerous. But now I’m glad that he mated you. I’m looking forward to seeing how much more dangerous you’ll grow to be.”

“Is that why you were against us before?” I ask. “You wanted somebody you could control?”

“That and I didn’t believe that you two were real mates,” she answers. “Can you blame me? The last time he claimed to be mated, it was to his pack mate Persephone, who’s already mated to Commander Darius. I didn’t want to be fooled again.”

She studies me. “I could see the difference with you, but I had to be sure. After last night, when I saw you two bloody from the fight and the way you cling to each other, I knew for sure.”

Queen Sophia shakes her head.

“No, I wouldn’t have chosen you, but I can see now that you’re what he needs. He’s a different man with you. He’s the man that I always wished he’d grow up to be.”

“It only took him a couple of centuries,” I quip.

She smiles. “It took him being with the right one. You.”

“I think he was already great before he met me. He just hid it well.”

“Loyalty and honesty. I like that,” she says. “Beware of Æmilius. He’s consumed by his jealousy for my son. If he wins and reigns, he won’t let Caspian live. He’ll take everything he regards as rightfully his and everything that should have been his, including you.”

“You know that will never happen. If he kills Caspian, I will use my last breath to destroy him.”

She nods and says, “I would expect nothing less from you.”

“And now I know what to expect from you,” I reply.

I smile at her as we reach an understanding.

Queen Sophia isn’t somebody who trusts easily or whom I could give my trust easily to, but right now, we’re fighting on the same side. When I get up to leave the room, she once again stands up to look out the window. A beautiful lonely figure staring out into the darkness.

Günter is waiting for me outside the door of the king’s office. His solid hulking figure follows me silently as I walk the long, massive hallway back to our wing.

My steps grow faster as I think of my waiting mate. The urgency to be with him intensifies as I think of tomorrow.

I feel a lot better, safer when we reach our part of the palace. Our sanctuary.

Caspian is sitting at the reading nook by the bay window in our bedchamber, waiting. He has already discarded his jacket, waistcoat, and bowtie.

The top of his snowy white dress shirt is unbuttoned, and the sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. His impeccable hair is now all messed up.

My heart aches at the sight of my beautiful mate. I try to push the thought of tomorrow to the very back of my mind for the moment. He needs me, and it won’t do us much good if I think about it now. He sits staring at me for a while.

In the next second, he’s on his feet and standing right in front of me.

His hands come up to cup my face while his intense eyes study my face like he did before he left me with his mother. I feel his tentative touch in our bond as he’s trying to sense my feelings.

“You’re worried about me.” I look up into his eyes and cover his hands with mine.

“My mother is a manipulative bitch,” he says.

I stand on tiptoe and kiss the tip of his nose. “I know, but I like her,” I tell him before I pull back.

Those electric-green eyes follow me as I walk into our closet to change.

“We have a lot in common.”

“Pray tell, what is it that you have in common with my mother?” His voice comes close from behind me, whispered into the cool skin of my neck.

The tips of his fingers skim the tops of my bare shoulders.

“We both love you something fierce,” I tell him. I feel his smile against my skin. “Now help me undo these buttons.”

My fancy ball gown has a thousand tiny buttons at the back.

“I’m lucky to have the love of two of the most powerful and dangerous women I know,” he says as he works on those tiny buttons.

Once in a while, he stops to kiss my exposed back, leaving a wet trail that makes my skin tingle. His patience with the buttons only lasts a few more seconds. He rips the bodice apart, and then he lets it fall into a pool of light blue silk at my feet.

I’m surprised he lasted that long.

“Did you scare away the maids who were supposed to help me undress?” I ask him. I try to look serious but fail when my lips tilt up into a smile.

“Yes, I did,” he admits without any shame or remorse. “I know I’m fabulous, but I have no patience for silly, tittering women.”

“Good to know your ego is still big, healthy, and thriving, my love,” I say, and his lips curl up into a wicked smile.

Maids in this palace are mostly werewolves from the nearby packs. Indeed, they blush, giggle, and sometimes even drop things whenever Caspian, Constantine, Lazarus, or Darius is around. He turns me around and covers my lips with his. I reach up to grab a fistful of his silky golden hair and run another hand over his chest and the back of his strong neck.

His warm, firm, but soft lips feel amazing against mine. His incredible scent alone dulls my ability to think.

I forget my worries when he’s kissing me like this. He reluctantly pulls back when I’m about to deepen the kiss.

“We have a meeting with the pack in five minutes,” he says regretfully with his forehead pressed against mine.

I pull on a pair of jeans with a tank top and add a comfortable hoodie on top of it. We walk hand in hand to the media room, where everybody is already sitting, waiting for us.

The atmosphere is grim. They’re not poking fun at each other or making silly jokes.

Darius is looking especially formidable. Penny is perched on his lap with her arms wrapped tightly around him.

We take a seat next to them and Constantine.

“So...tonight was very unexpected,” says Constantine. “They were very clever to issue the challenge during the ball tonight. They needed the audience to tie our hands behind our backs.”

I hear everybody’s collective agreement, and I tighten my hold on Caspian’s hand.

“Lady Celeste came to ask for Jorden’s protection earlier tonight. We have Jorden and Lady Celeste heavily guarded,” informs Lazarus.

“The king has sent the army to the northern region and some other parts of the realm as well.”

“From what I gathered,” adds Darius, “they’re responsible for a lot of the rebellious acts from way back. Probably partly responsible for Milan’s attack on Genesis as well, manipulating Milan for his end game since King Alexandros was threatening to replace Caspian with Constantine as the crown prince.”

“And the killing of your commanders and their mates?” says Caspian.

Darius gives a jerky nod of his head. I can sense the fury coming out in waves from him.

Penny puts her hands up to cradle his face.

“One thing is for sure, he’s not going to be alive to rule as our king or to get his hands on Quincy. Never,” she vows. “Even if it takes all of us to do it.”

“I will fight till my last breath to make sure that none of you die in his hands,” says my mate.

I bury my face in his chest and wrap my arms tightly around him. I feel his hand gently cradling the back of my head.

“Now, let’s get some rest. We have to be up at dawn tomorrow,” he says.