AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Duke Liam continued to protest. As Luca left the room, two members of the King’s Guard arrived to help Niletean. When he returned to Remy after carrying out the sentence, Luca was smiling. He liked knowing his family supported his decisions. With that disgusting piece of shit taken care of, they had other matters to attend to.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Therian Palace, Thursday, December 13, 2012
Ivanna excelled in guiding the former slaves into their new lives. She often spoke with them, reassuring them and providing the support they needed to make the transition. Luca had given her his complete support, and she’d used it to great effect, sorting the housing situation in a matter of hours and working with architects to draw up plans to turn the old palace into a small city that would offer housing and mobility to all former Therian slaves.
Luca was thrilled. He’d chosen the perfect person for the task. He’d always believed that slavery was an abomination and didn’t understand how Nikoli could fail to see that people worked harder and were more loyal when they felt like a valued and important part of the kingdom.
As he walked through the palace the day after his announcement, he saw them all over the palace, walking with their heads high and wide smiles on their faces. They worked with pride, and he didn’t think the palace had ever looked so clean. He took the shortcut across the second-floor balcony in the throne room and stopped to look down with hopeful joy. Below, workers had set up tables and were matching people with homes in the location of their choice and providing them with what they needed to live as free citizens.
Representatives from all the clans were working toward that goal. It brought him peace to know that the incredible tragedy of his rise to the throne wouldn’t define his reign.
This is exactly what we’re fighting for.
He glanced at the empty space beside him and fought a wave of longing for Ash that would stagger him if he let it. No matter what else he did, his work wouldn’t be complete until she stood at his side. He sighed. They had a lot of work to do before that could happen.
He leaned against the wall and listened to the sounds of his people working together as he mused about the morning’s events.
For several hours each day since the coronation, Luca welcomed visiting Therians who declared their loyalty and asked how they could serve the empire. Having telepathy, Therians were generally honest, so he asked each what they were facing or if they had problems he was not aware of. Some things were far beyond his scope, but he promised to do what he could. In that way, he became aware of situations that required immediate rectification and charged Viktorija with overseeing the efforts.
After scanning the shockingly long list he’d shown her at breakfast, Viktorija nodded. “Will take about a week. Let me have my three best and a witch for portals. It won’t be a problem.”
Luca looked skeptical. “Vik, I’ve listed at least forty complex situations in seventeen countries.”
She nodded again. “Like I said, it should take about a week. What’s the problem?”
“You can’t do all that in a week.”
She offered him a mischievous grin. “Maybe you couldn’t,” she teased. “How about we make a bet?”
Luca laughed. “What do you want if you win?”
She didn’t hesitate. “A plot of land where I can build a school for young girls.”
He couldn’t hide his shock. “Really? Vik, I will just give you one. I’m curious, though. What are you planning to teach them?”
She smiled defiantly. “That having a penis doesn’t make someone superior. You don’t know what it was like to be female in Nikoli’s court or the things I had to do to maintain my position. I want to give them opportunities and tell them they can become what they want if they’re willing to work for it.”
Luca chuckled. “Done, but you still need to pick something for the bet. The school sounds like a good idea. Our young women need opportunities. Their futures shouldn’t depend on your time management abilities.”
She laughed. “First, fuck you. I am the goddess of multitasking. Second, thank you. That means a lot to me. I’ve got a lot of mistakes to make up for, and our people need action more than pretty words. Third, if I win our bet, I get to establish a special forces team under my sole control. You won’t ask questions, and I promise not to use them for evil.”
He nodded. “And if I win?”
Viktorija grimaced. “I’ll invite Ash and Dani on a bonding weekend.”
Luca laughed at her pained expression. “You’re so on.”
He was thrilled with the positive changes he’d seen in Viktorija, and he had high hopes that their relationship would continue to grow without Nikoli coming between them. Luca let his mind wander to all the ways his people had come together since he’d taken the throne. Although he had the final say in decisions like Liam’s sentencing, he’d taken the matter to his new advisory council before he’d ended the man’s life.
He offered his people an unprecedented voice in the high court with the formation of his large and small councils. The large council had a representative from each shifter species, around a hundred members. The small council included his personal advisors and representatives from the larger shifter classifications. For example, the feline clans chose a single representative to share their concerns with the king.
Luca had appointed Mikhail to chair both councils since he had centuries of experience and could be trusted without question. His mother wanted to step back from public life, so she suggested that Niletean serve in her stead. He’d allowed each clan’s monarch to nominate a representative, and Vanya voiced the servants’ concerns.
The decision to execute Liam for his crimes had been unanimous. There was no room in the empire for unrepentant evil.
Carrying out the execution had fallen to Luca by title and duty. He didn’t relish the task, but he believed that the person who pronounced the sentence should be willing to carry it out. Therians could heal many wounds, but decapitation was a swift and permanent death for all of them.
