Page 120 of Courting the Dragon King

Or at Wraith and Konrad bound. They just walked towards the front of the crypt.

The grand monk came to a stop. So too did the rest of the monks. Finally, the grand monk looked at Wraith, then at Konrad, then at the dead king’s bones.

He steepled his thin fingers. “Excellent. I see that everything is progressing as planned.”

Chapter

Fifty-Nine

“What is going on?” Nothing made sense to Konrad.

Why were the monks here? And why did they know what was going on? They should be outraged and trying to help Konrad and Wraith. Not walking in calmly.

“Clara! What is happening?” But she refused to look at Konrad.

Then the hard truth slammed into him. She’d lied. She’d tricked Konrad into believing Wraith betrayed him. Because whilst it appeared that the necromancers had been plotting against Konrad, it wasn’t Wraith who’d been working alongside them; it was Clara and the monks.

And that’s why the warrior monks attacked me.

“I don’t understand.” Konrad stared at Grand Monk Ferdinand. “Why?”

The grand monk held his hands out, palms up. “I apologise, King Konrad and King Consort Wraith. I can see that this has come as a bit of a surprise to you both.” He opened his mouth to speak, but the shadow queen stepped forward.

“You see, King Konrad, the Monks of the Way of the Dove have been working for us for quite some time now, from even before the peace assembly started,” she said. “They have been very helpful. In fact, we only agreed to the peace treaty because they pledged to assist us.”

The shadow king chuckled. “Not that there ever was going to be a completed peace treaty. We had no interest in that. No, the monks would assist us in achieving our own goals.”

“They have been great helps,” said the shadow queen.

“What?” Konrad still couldn’t understand it.

The grand monk opened his mouth, but once again the shadow queen spoke first, “Let me fill you in on some recent ways in which the monks have assisted us, King Konrad. You see, we’d planned to turn you and Wraith against each other by setting Wraith up for the grand healer’s murder.”

Her gaze then settled on Wraith. “Then King Konrad would turn on you, and the Monks of the Way of the Dove would imprison you for being a murderous necromancer. We’d hoped you would then do as we commanded.”

The shadow queen sighed. “We went to quite a bit of trouble. We’d even taken Wraith’s dagger from his chest to commit the murder. I’d sent a letter asking Wraith to come to our quarters. He was meant to be with me at the time of the murder so he’d have no alibi.”

“So who killed the grand healer?” Konrad asked. “And why?” Had they really just killed her to drive a wedge between Konrad and Wraith?

But the shadow queen ignored his question. “But instead the two of you had been having a spontaneous little picnic together. It ruined our plan, as Konrad would know that Wraith could not have committed the murder.”

She pulled out Wraith’s skull locket from her pocket. “In the end, we had to come up with a new plan. I took this from my son at the ball last night without him even noticing.”

Wraith’s shackled hands lifted and touched his neck.

“I then gave it to Monk Clara, and she gave it to you, King Konrad, with a mouthful of lies. We’d planned to then rescue you, from your imprisonment, Wraith. I was so surprised when you managed to escape all by yourself.” She looked at her son then.

“I’ll admit, our second plan was weaker than the first. But still, your husband turned on you so quickly, didn’t he, Wraith? And even after all that, you would still not do our bidding,” she said. “You chose him over your own family. It’s very disappointing.”

Wraith swallowed.

Konrad’s stomach turned. He’d been so easily manipulated. And he’d promised to protect and care for Wraith. It would have served Konrad right for Wraith to turn against him. It was what Konrad deserved.

“Moving forward, the monks will assist us as we take over the other kingdoms and create a new world order.” Shadow King Lament turned to the chanting necromancers. “And they will help us raise and control the dead dragon king.”

“You can’t do that!” Konrad put one foot under himself and tried to rise, but the dread knights gripped his shoulders and shoved him back onto his knees.

The shadow king chuckled. “Don’t feel too left out, King Konrad. You will also be a bone dragon by nightfall. You and your father, who caused us so much trouble in life, will serve us loyally in death.”