AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not bad.
As for Ayla, Darla, and Felicity, they were dressed as standard kitchen runners. It wouldn't be uncommon at all to see a gaggle of them walking together between meals to wherever their break was, or even going to grab their own meal after an incredibly lengthy day. Even with how long I'd been missing from the palace, I could tell that was a common place occurrence enough that no one would bat an eye at seeing them quietly gossiping amongst each other while they walked.
It was a calm infiltration considering the tension mounting within me. Our plan was to confront my father in the royal quarters, the same place he’d made me bow to submission to him, and where I’d spoken to my mother so many times. According to Aodin, there was a servants’ exit that would deposit us right into one of the back rooms wedged between my mother's closet and their massive bathroom. That was how servants were able to run those delicious snacks so quickly to her.
I was embarrassed I’d never paid attention to that before, but when I was king, I definitely was going to have to do something to address all these security threats. I wanted to think we were going to usher the kingdom into an era of prosperity, yet I had no doubt I would have certain detractors who were still loyal to my father.
Even if he was dead.
Even if I was alpha.
Politics were stupid that way.
For a brief moment, I was struck by just how endless that process would be. Even if we won, that wouldn't be the end of it. There would be dissent, there’d be people eager to take the throne for their own. Suddenly, I was just so damn exhausted, and nothing had even started yet. Fighting for my people, I could do, but being trapped by the bindings of diplomacy and political intrigue seemed like hell.
Was the whole thing just a lose-lose situation? Was I fighting tooth and nail, risking death, just to end up in a position that would make me miserable? More importantly, did I want to subject Ayla to that? My beloved mate who’d just gotten a new license to enjoy so many different experiences previously forbidden to her.
While I did think she’d make an amazing queen, especially with how she cared for everyone around her and didn't pay much attention to empty materialism, I was certain the court would make her miserable. As much as I’d try to change it to be a better experience for her, there was only so much we would be able to do in our extended lifetimes.
It was far too daunting of a thought, and not what I needed to be as confident and as ready as possible, so I dismissed that, too. I was going to have a whole lot to contend with if we succeeded, but I would deal with that if we lived long enough.
Just in time, too, because ahead of us was a set of darkly-colored double doors. For the first time since we'd entered the halls, I saw actual guards. There were two posted on either side of the door in full armor, telling me they were part of the royal guard.
Aodin sent the quickest of looks over his shoulder, and that was Darla’s cue. Our scattered group didn't change our pace, yet I could sense the psychic’s energy shifting behind me in a way I never had before. More enhancement from being mated and completing my bond with Ayla? Perhaps. But even if it was, I had no idea what the psychic was doing until she began marching straight forward.
I nearly took her shoulder on instinct, as did Oren, but we caught ourselves just in time. We needed to trust each member of our group to do their jobs if we wanted to get to my father undetected.
I supposed we were going to find out, one way or another, quite quickly. Thankfully, however, neither of the guards reacted to her presence when she opened the door. It was as if she wasn't even there. Whatever warding had been placed to protect the many minds in the palace from her wasn't as extensive as it needed to be. Often inhibitor bracelets at Fort Canid took three or four separate calibrations in order to appropriately work, and that was with willing participants. As far as I knew, those who made the wards protecting the palace only had one impression of Darla’s psychic signature from ages ago when we had first arrived. Not exactly the best foundation to build an entire protective system on.
We all broke our casual formation and steady pace to hastily jog forward. If Aodin's report was correct, there would be a stairwell that went up several stories on the other side of that door. We would need to climb it quickly and quietly, hoping we didn't run into any other servants along the way.
We knew my father would be in the royal quarters. Lately, it seemed like unless he had a specific diplomatic obligation, he always spent his time locked away from the rest of the palace. It hadn’t always been that way, but I did remember as a teenager being grateful that it became increasingly rare to run into my father outside of designated mealtimes or visits with my mother.
Could he really have been possessed as far back as then? It was arrogant of me, but I did like to think that my father, before he was corrupted, was such a strong man that it’d taken the Shrouded Shriek years of concentrated effort to make him crumble. But I was just up my own ass when he’d been taken over in the blink of an eye.
I focused on my breathing as we quietly ascended the stairs. I was a fairly athletic person, considering all my time in the military, but by the third flight I was a little daunted. How were servants running food, blankets, and whatever else my mother requested up and down these stairs so quickly?
When I saw Aodin halt at a door a few feet ahead, I knew there was no more delaying. Despite the impossibility of it all, we were about to enter the royal chambers and confront my father directly. Then, if everything went right, the second group would be in the other entrance on the opposite side; the one the royal tailor and seamstress used whenever there was an important fitting. This really was it.
If we didn't already have scent neutralizing spray on us, I’d worry our presence would be picked up even through the door and all element of surprise would be lost. But we’d been pretty heavily doused with it when we’d changed, and the detergent used on our particular uniforms was also scent neutralizing. So, despite the ramshackle nature of our plans, we had finally succeeded with all the preliminaries.
Aodin looked back at me, his face stony serious while we waited for everyone to catch up. Unsurprisingly, it was Felicity who lagged, used to her cushier position in high society as opposed to the several soldiers and one servant she was surrounded by. But she still did well, and of course, Mad Dog stayed within a couple of steps of her.
Once everyone was on the landing, I wanted to say some words of encouragement, or even thank them for putting their trust in me, but I couldn’t. Even if I whispered, it was far too likely someone would overhear us, and all of our subterfuge would have been for naught.
Instead, I sent them the most resolute stare I could, then a salute. They returned it, even Aodin and Lady Felicity, and then there was no more reason to stall. I gripped the knob and turned it, pushing my way in.
Now, while it was clear that some of the security measures of the palace were quite lax, we weren’t completely stupid, and both Aodin and Halle had informed us there would be four guards waiting for us within the small room. In fact, there were four posted at each entrance into the royal chambers, whether it was for the servants or not.
With that in mind, it was just me who entered at first, walking forward like I was meant to be there. While it wasn't often that custodial staff went into the royal chambers while the royal couple was inside, Halle had told us it’d happened more and more lately. The king rarely left the chambers unless he had an obligation, which worked out perfectly.
I had been told once, when I was quite young, that it was amazing the places one could get into if one strode in simply like they belonged there, and that was the thought that I channeled, keeping my eyes straight ahead and only giving a slight nod to acknowledge the presence of the guards at all.
If they thought it was unusual of me to enter with just a bucket and scant cleaning supplies, they didn’t say so, but that was another advantage of appearing as staff. Unfortunately, I knew from direct experience that the working class within the palace were often completely overlooked or outright ignored, like they didn’t exist. I couldn’t even say I was blameless in that. Far too often, the hard workers of the palace had been more like background noise to me. It took masquerading as them to get a better impression of what their lives were like, but I was glad for the experience. Always growing and improving, every day.
I waited until I was even with both of the farthest guards before I struck, punching one right in the side of the head, then tackling the other one to get him into a chokehold. That move wouldn’t have worked in a direct confrontation, as wolves were incredibly reticent to give anyone their back in a fight, but the element of surprise most certainly worked in my favor.
I tried to be as quiet as I could with my attack, while still being audible enough for Oren to hear the signal. There were two other guards I couldn’t handle without generating a whole lot of noise. Sure enough, he heard it.
