Chapter 94
CAMILLA’S PO.V
I didn’t see Ryker for the rest of the day and I honestly thought I would be grateful to not do the extra practice session with him but I found that I actually missed it. I went looking for him around the entire palace and even asked a few guards if they had seen him but no one could tell me anything. I ended up retiring to my room in the hopes that he would come to bed while I was asleep.
By the time I woke up the next morning. I knew he hadn’t come to bed. His side of the bed was still neat and cold. I tried to search for him for as long as possible before training but it was as if he had disappeared into thin air. Christine was too busy helping me with Audrey for me to ask and right after training, I had to spend over an hour trying to calm Aurora down because she just wouldn’t stop screaming.
It was almost noon when she calmed down and I was already at my wits end. Christine offered to help me with her while I went ahead with my work but I knew that if I put her down, there was a huge possibility that she would start screaming again. I balanced her in one hand and went to my office to finish up some paperwork. It was hard trying to do that with a child in my arms but I managed.
It took twice as long as it should have and by the time I finished, I was exhausted. Aurora was passed out in my arms and I had planned to go into my room to relax when one of the elders approached me saying they needed to meet with Ryker and I. I couldn’t tell them that I didn’t know where he was so I made up an excuse about him being busy and followed them.
I could see the relief on their faces when they saw that I was alone. It should have annoyed me that they feared Ryker more than they respected me but I didn’t quite mind. It was the life I lived and it served me well on a good day. I sat down at my usual spot but it felt different without Ryker’s steady presence next to me. I squared my shoulders and plastered on my stoic expression as I faced them.
“We delivered the news of the curfew today,” one of the elders began. “The people are murmuring. They will not be held down like this for long. We need to come up with a more permanent solution.”
“What do you suggest then?” I asked and there was an awkward silence.
“You are the Queen, your majesty, it is your jo to come up with these things,” his tone was condescending. He spoke like I was a child that needed explaining to. “Our duty is to help as best as we can but ultimately, we cannot make the decisions for you.”
“That sounds very convenient,” I shifted in the chair when Aurora began to stir. “I’m not asking for a solution from you, I am asking for suggestions. You kept it a secret for so long so I assume you thought about potential outcomes. That is within your job description, isn’t it?”
I was tired of dealing with them. I decided to play on the same cards that Ryker used yesterday. I knew I wouldn’t be as good at it as he was but I figured it would be enough to leave majority of the brainstorming to them. They cast wary looks at each other but neither of them spoke. I knew I had trapped them in a tough position where they could either admit that they were slacking on their jobs or they could think of solutions for me.
“Your majesty, with all due respect, this is all very last minute” one began.
“I am sure that gives you an idea of how I feel about this then. I will leave you to the thinking. In the meantime, pacify the people. Divert their attention to something else. Do not make them feel trapped. Everyone will love a cage if it is presented as a gift. Make them feel safe and get me the names of the two other people who went missing.” There was a brief moment of hesitation and I knew there was something
they weren’t saying. “What is it?”
“Someone else went missing.”
My first instinct was to scream but the sleeping infant in my arms reminded me that I couldn’t do that instead, I focused on breathing calmly and I crossed my hands over my chest. “Why am I just hearing about it now? Who is it?”
“He is a homeless man. The only reason we know about it is because there is a guard who takes food to him every day. He realized the man hadn’t been there for a few days. We have it under control.”
“That doesn’t explain why I was not told.”
“It happened last night but we couldn’t find you. We assumed it wasn’t important. Especially since it was a homeless man.”
“That was not your decision to make.”
“Pardon me, your majesty but it is hard to know what you take seriously when your mate isn’t even here for the meeting. You are always busy with one thing or the other and you never treat this council room with the respect that it deserves,” his voice rose and Aurora whined from her spot in my arms.
“Lower your tone elder,” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You will not wake my daughter.”
“A council room is no place for a child,” he all but yelled. “You were not raised in the plaace and you do not know the ways of the palace. You are a ong step away from being the Queen that your mother was and you will not get there if you keep treating this room with contempt.”
While he was speaking, the door to the council room opened and Ryker walked in. he was in fresh clothes but I could tell that he was not well rested. I was relieved that he was there because I was certain that conversation was destined for a downward spiral.
“Get up,” Ryker ordered and for a second, I thought he was talking to me but his eyes were fixated on the elder who had spoken.
He tried to look brave but I could see the undercurrent of fear in his eyes. It was general knowledge that Ryker did not shy away from confrontation, that was my job. Where I was gentle, he was fierce and he never tolerated disrespect from anyone, especially when it was directed at me. The elder rose to his feet. and Ryker slowly made his way over to him.
“Repeat those words,” his voice was deceptively calm but everyone could smell the storm brewing. When the elder didn’t speak, Ryker grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Is there a problem elder?”
The elder shook his head. “Not at all, we were just talking.”
Ryker smiled darkly.
“If you ever speak to my mate like that again, you will lose your tongue. If you cannot respect her as your Queen then respect her as my mate.” He pushed him away harshly then turned to the others. “That warning goes for all of you. If you disrespect her again then I will personally make sure that immensely. Is that clear?”
you suffer
They were quick to nod. Ryker ignored them and quietly took Aurora from my arms. Thankfully, she hadn’t woken up. He helped me up to my feet and we walked out of the council room together.
He waited until we were out of the council room before he spoke. “You need to defend yourself, Camilla. I can’t always protect you from them and they need to respect you for you and not because they are scared
of me.”
“I know that,” I mumbled under my breath. “I just don’t know how to.”
“You’re going to have to learn, Camilla. This is your kingdom and until you start acting like you own it then no one is going to treat you like Queen. Those men in there respect power and authority. You need to show them that you have it and you are here to stay. Do you understand me?”
I knew he was right but that didn’t mean that I had to like it. I decided to change the subject instead of answering. “Where were you yesterday? I searched for you everywhere.”
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I was in the library but I lost track of time and I fell asleep. By the time I woke up, it was almost noon. I rushed over as quickly as I could.”
I narrowed my brows in confusion. “I checked the library last night. It was one of the first places I checked when I realized that you were missing.”
He looked around to make sure no one was listening before whispering. “Come with me.”
We put Aurora to rest in her room first before Ryker led me towards the stairs. I had no idea where we floor were going but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me so I decided to trust him. He led me towards the top which was mostly unused. The only room that had been occupied in the last century was my father’s room. I had never been in there and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to.
Ryker led me past what used to be his room to a large and elaborate tapestry. He looked around to make sure that we were alone before pulling at one of the edges and to my shock, it opened to reveal a narrow hallway. I turned to Ryker in confusion.
“How many secret passages does this palace have? Were you exploring the tunnels?”
“This isn’t a tunnel. You have to go in.”
I hesitated at the mouth of the hallway. “How did you even find it?”
“Christine showed it to me,” I was shocked. I had asked Christine where Ryker was and she just shrugged in response. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off. “I made her promise not to tell you so you didn’t
demanding to help me. Just come in and see.”
end up
I huffed and made my way into the narrow hallway. I kept both hands on the wall to guide myself but it was more of Ryker’s hand on my back that led me. The hallway wasn’t as long as I expected it to be. Within minutes, we were standing in front of what had to be the largest library I had ever seen. My mouth fell open in shock and I turned to Ryker.
“What is this place?”
“Welcome to the secret palace library. It has everything on anything including forbidden texts.”
