Chapter 100
I barely managed to get any sleep at night. As soon as I finished with Christine, I had to check on Camilla and I didn’t leave her side until well into the early hours of the morning. I was barely able to sleep three hours before I had to get out of bed to deal with the elders. The news about the vampires had spread and people were flooding the palace gates with their concerns and fears. I couldn’t help but wish that Camilla was here. She always took the edge off and it was easier to get through a long day with her.
The elders were already waiting in the council room when I arrived. I could tell they were looking for Camilla because they kept glancing at the door. Her whereabouts was something I planned to keep under wraps for as long as possible. The people didn’t need any more reason to go into panic mode.
“Will the Queen be joining us?” one of them finally asked as I took my seat.
“If she were then you would have seen her by now,” I drawled. “She has other duties to attend to. Is there a problem?”
“I just thought she would be more concerned with the well-being of her kingdom and people. It should be a topmost priority.”
“It is, that is why she is spending her time in a productive manner and not sitting here arguing with fools that lack brain cells,” I shot back and his cheeks flushed pink. I was already in a shi tty mood and he was making it worse. “I’m not someone you can push around, elder. I would tread carefully if I were you.”
He bowed and took his seat at the edge of the room, as far away from me as he could possibly go. There was silence for a full minute before anyone dared to speak. I could tell that they were analyzing the room and the atmosphere. Contrary to what anyone thought, they weren’t fools, they were just lazy and proud. I had no idea how Leanor put up with them for so long. I made a men tal note to look up the history and find out if there was any way to disband or change them.
“The people are concerned about the vampire attacks. I was thinking it would help alleviate their worries if the Queen made an announcement telling them that the problem is handled.”
“That will not be possible,” I said immediately and his brows furrowed.
“Your majesty, it will help ease the people’s minds.”
“I know but I said no. Now, are you going to keep kicking a dead horse or will you come up with something else? I don’t know why I bother spending so much time here when it never breeds anything productive. I would have better results if I spoke to my daughters.”
There were varying levels of anger on the faces of the elders. If they had their way, they would have left me a long time ago, I could have bet that they weren’t used to people speaking back to them. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Leanor was the first person to do so. One of them opened his mouth to speak and I waited to see if he would have the balls to say what they all wanted to but at the last moment, he closed his mouth and breathed deeply.
“We cannot fix this without the Queen.”
“You are not looking to fix it. You are looking to slap a cotton cloth over an open wound. If you wanted to fix it, you would have tried to find out something about the vampire attacking us. Have you tried that? Have you done anything to figure out how to stop the attacks?” none of them could speak. “You are the most useless set of people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.”
There was a loud gasp. “We are the elders of the monarchy. This position demands respect.”
“I will give you respect when you earn it. Right now, you are as useful to me as a dirty dish rag. Get out,” they sat there staring at me in disbelief. Even on my worst day, I had never spoken to them like this before. “Did I stutter or would you like to be removed from the room?”
They stood to their feet as one and the person closest to me turned to speak. “We are some of the most powerful people in this kingdom, You do not want to make an enemy out of us.”
“Was that a threat?”
“It was an incentive,” he smiled looking somewhat pleased with himself.
I stood to my feet and at my full height, I towered over him. His smile faltered a little at that considering he had to crane his neck to look at me.
“Allow me to give you some incentive of my own. If you ever threaten me again, I will make sure that you leave this palace with nothing but the clothes on your back. You will be a pariah and you will be forced to live the rest of our life in those woods alone. If you truly are one of the most powerful men in the kingdom then you surely have enemies. I wonder how long it will take for them to get to you.”
He swallowed deeply.
“That goes for my mate as well. Am I clear?”
He gritted his teeth and bowed. “Yes, your majesty.”
They filed out after that and I watched them leave. I knew I might have taken it too far with the insults but I couldn’t bring myself to care. My mate was in critical condition and I had no visible way to save her. The last thing I wanted to do was cater to the whims of old men.
I took five minutes trying to calm myself down before I began in the direction of the great hall to listen to the complaints of the people. I was almost at the door when I bumped into Christine. For the first time in a long time, I noticed that she was dressed up in an elaborate dress with a small tiara on her head.
“Where are you going?” I asked almost immediately. The last time I saw her dressed up was at Aurora’s ceremony.”
“I am going to hear out the people,” I opened my mouth to speak but she cut me off. I used to do it for the Queen before she passed. When she was too busy, she would send me. You have a lot on your plate right now, Ryker. I can handle this one.”
“Are you sure?” I asked and she nodded.
“A maid is with Aurora and if she cries, I will be notified. Audrey is doing her lessons right now as well. I am doing nothing, allow me be useful.”
“Thank you,” I whispered and she simply squeezed my hand.
She walked away without another word and I felt immense gratitude to her. Talking to people
had never been my strong suit, that was Camilla’s thing. I preferred to go straight to action, I wasn’t the kind of person who could alleviate people’s guilt or worry.
Instead of going to deal with people, I decided to go back to our room. I retrieved all of Camilla’s books and took them with me to the physician’s room. He was in there with his son but I ignored them and looked straight at my mate. She was lying on the bed but she looked even worse than before. Her skin had a sickly tint to it and she looked like she was barely breathing.
“How is she?” I asked and they hesitated before speaking. That hesitation told me all that I needed to know.
“There are no improvements, your majesty. I am trying everything that I possibly can. I am using old remedies but nothing seems to be working.”
“Then you try again,” he began to protest but I cut him off. “Let me explain this to you in simple terms, physician, my mate is not going to die. You are going to do everything you possibly can and more to make sure that she walks out of this room healthy.”
“There is nothing more that I can do.”
“Then you find someb*dy else to do it, I don’t care whose effort it is as long as she is alive,” I shrugged effectively shutting him out.
Did I know that I was being unfair to him? Of course I did but I didn’t care. If getting Camilla back meant that I had to step in the toes of everyone in this palace then so be it. I didn’t care who I [pis s ed off in the process as long as I got her safe and sound.
I opened up the first book and began to read as I sat next to her. I faintly acknowledged the physician and his son doing their own thing in the background but I paid them no heed. Most of the books were long, boring and unhelpful but I kept fl*pping the pages in the hopes that I would find something that would be useful.
By the time I got to the third book, I was almost at my wits end. There was nothing on vampires or their bites. I couldn’t help but realize how incredibly st*pid it was for us to have enemies and not know a thing about them. It was a recipe for disaster and that incompetence could possibly cost me my mate’s life. I risked a glance at Camilla on the bed and just the thought of life without her had my heart clenching in a disturbing way.
I stood to my feet abruptly and walked out of the room without a second thought or word. I knew if I stayed, I was going to lose my cool and that was the last thing anyone needed. I started in the direction of our room knowing it was the only place that I was allowed to lose control. I hoped no one would bother me until I got there but unfortunately, I couldn’t even get that prayer answered.
A guard rushed up to me. He took one look at me and his steps faltered. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly but no words would come out.
“Are you going to stand there gaping like a fish?” I spat and that seemed to snap him out of his stupor.
“Another b*dy was found, your majesty but this one is different?”
“How?”
“For starters, it is a guard and it was placed in the town square.”
