Into The Wild ~ Book 3 ~ The Royal Blood Collection

Chapter 19

I was the first. The only one to go against the king that they called the Annihilator. Province one didn't count, they'd offered their treaty before Alaric turned his attention to them. They jumped ahead of themselves to save their own necks. Alaric's reputation had spread far and wide and the royal families that were still in power, they feared him. I could stop that fear, I could tell them that battling against Alaric wasn't so hard so long as they found his weakness. In Alaric's case, it was his family and that damned ridge.

I wouldn't tell anyone of what has passed and the staff were bound to a confidentiality agreement. Of course, I offered an easier spin on the situation. The child growing inside of me was a part of each family. I told Silas that he could tell the world that we'd formed an alliance through a partnership and the child would be living proof of that alliance.

He accepted it as a good idea but pointed out that most alliances that were formed in such ways were usually done in marriage and the female portion of the agreement moving to the male's province. I told him that he could go to hell if he thought that I was moving house for him and our child would be remaining in this province with me.

But I could see the underlying theme of where he was headed. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. He wanted more. I could see it when he turned around and saw me earlier. It was the words that were not said when he was dragged into Alaric's estate, it was the hours of taunting me because I now realized that the more he resisted, the longer we took to return. He wasn't trying to escape to run away from the ridge or his family, he was doing it to spend more time with me. The inevitability of my departure weighed heavily upon his thoughts and his answers to the problem were handcuffing me to the bed or picking the handcuff and driving off.

He knew that I would find a path back to him.

As for right now, he was returning to five with Alaric and the guards. It didn't sit well with Alaric but Silas was determined to return here as soon as he could. I guess that meant that he'd pack his bags and come back, leaving Alaric without an advisor. Oliver would have to return, not that it was a difficult task for him. They all had to accept that his life was now changing. Silas had given up many years of his life raising Alaric and Nisha. He'd ignored so many possibilities to get that spoiled brat back to where he belonged and now it was time to cut him some slack.

"You did well." My mother offered as she approached.

"I hate lying."

"It had to be done."

The lie? The peace treaty was a forgery. A beautiful forgery. I'd shown it to Asa as a test to see how well it could work. He believed it until I told him differently.

The issue that I had with the way that Alaric handled the situation was that he had no respect for anything. Our fathers had a verbal agreement. A gentleman's handshake. Back then, it meant something. Today it meant nothing. The only thing that got me through tonight was a piece of paper with forged signatures.

At least now I had a real one. It might not be enough to stop him from rolling in with the army again but at least if he did then I could fight back and steal his ridge from him. Now that he knew the price of war with this family, he might just keep his eyes on the north.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better now that they are gone."

"But he will return."

"Silas?"

My mother nodded, looking at me with a fond smile.

"It's okay to let the wall down."

"I bedded the enemy. I let the wall down and this is the result."

"Our path in this life is never perfect. There will always be potholes in the ground, stones under our feet. We come to crossroads, sometimes there are multiple paths. You cannot expect that it will be easy and trouble free. If that were the case then it would be a rather boring path, don't you think?"

"Boring is predictable, this is nothing but chaos."

Her hands took mine, urging me to the lounge and away from the window.

"I think that your father would be impressed at what you've done tonight. You outwitted them, you brought grown men to their knees without raising a weapon to them and no, I don't think that the tranquilizers or the pain implants are weapons. They are effective tools that have given the two provinces a finality to this mess without any death. You won the battle. Because of tonight, you have ensured this family will be safe and it's not just you or me now. This child will heal the wounds."

"In time," I murmured. "I think Alaric will spend many years avoiding my company."

"Nonsense." She chided.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because my darling, I've seen the news, I've watched this new king. One vampire and his wife, a child on the way and adopting five children from an orphanage. In the years that have passed, their family has grown. What does that say to you?"

"That he's crazy?"

She laughed softly, shaking her head.

"That he is a family man. The queen is just as bad, I can see that she wants many children. When she learns that you are pregnant, I can guarantee that they will want to be a part of this world. Their history shows that they have missed out on this kind of life and they claw at every single opportunity that appears for them. This is one of them and trust me when I say that she's not going to let him stop her from coming here."

Oh, I had no doubts about that. Somehow, I think that Emmeline will demand and Alaric will begrudgingly comply.