AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Six
Despite my attempts to not let Bors color every moment of every day, I guess it’s impossible to be imprisoned and mentally controlled by someone for one’s entire childhood and not be affected. When the High Council told me that he’d never trouble me again, I hoped I’d be able to close the door on that chapter of my life and use all my energy and resources to heal my people and the lands of the kingdom.
But as it turned out, even the queen is human…well, shifter, but a person nonetheless. And abuse of many years such as I experienced can and did leave its mark. I didn’t recognize it until I arrived in my tower room after a day of hard work and stress.
Candace made some excuse not to come up with me, and I didn’t even pay attention to what the excuse was. I didn’t care. Just wanted to get myself in my room and be alone. I’d have sent my maid away as soon as she got me settled anyway. “That’s fine,” I told her. “I can get ready for bed on my own tonight. Go take care of…whatever you need to.”
Normally she’d have argued, said she’d be along in a few minutes, protested being dismissed. But not this time. If I hadn’t been so lost in my own thoughts, I’d have recognized the difference.
As I set foot on the stone flooring of my room, I found my three men seated in a row on my bed, six eyes focused on me, not a single one of my mates smiling. Oh shit.
“What’s wrong? Is it Bors? Has he hurt someone?” My heartbeat sped up, thudding under my breastbone, and I was having trouble drawing a breath. “It’s not Jillian…” Dizziness overtook me and I flailed, hoping not to hit the very hard flooring. Best way I knew of to get a concussion.
Before I landed, all three of my mates caught me and, together, they helped me to the bed and made me sit down. They tried to get me to lie back, but I shrugged them away.
“Just tell me what’s happened. Otherwise, my imagination will make it worse.” Although with Uncle Bors, that might or might not be the case.
Leif sat on my left and tried to take my hand again, Gunnar on my right, and Arne leaned against the dresser nearby. My energy guru’s face was so serious, I had no idea what I was dealing with. But if they didn’t start talking, I’d leave here and find someone who would tell me.
“I’m giving you one minute to talk.” And not a second more.
Leif stopped trying to link our fingers and let his hands drop to his lap. “Nothing has happened. At least nothing you don’t know about.”
“Then why the devil are you all here looking like someone died or was murdered or something? And how did the guard even let you up here?” I never gave it much thought, but there was always a member or two of my guard outside the tower door. It was just standard operating procedure for the queen’s quarters to be protected from unwanted guests or others.
Gunnar’s grin was wry. “Well, you did assign me to oversee the Queen’s Guards, if you’ll remember.”
I hadn’t remembered right that moment, darn it.
“So you said step aside and they did?” I might have to reconsider Gunnar’s supervision if that meant it gave the three of them constant access to me. Not that I didn’t want them around, but I suddenly realized that having three of them to only one of me was going to make privacy scarce. “I really need to get some rest, and while every one of you is my favorite person to be around, we are going to have to figure out a way to make sure I get a little privacy every now and then. Some kind of signal or something.”
As soon as the words were out, I regretted them. Three of the hottest wolf shifters anywhere looked like they’d been kicked by a mean queen. But there was no going back now. Maybe if I tried to explain a little more.
But I couldn’t think of anything to say that would be clearer than I already had.Love you…need space once in a great while.
Then Arne, my hero on horseback who knew everything about solar and wind power, geothermal, and how to make it all work together to create a system for our kingdom alone, showed he knew me, too. “Janis, we would not intrude upon your privacy if it were not of the greatest import. Trust us on that.”
“Agreed.” This time when Leif reached for my hand, I let him take it. “With everything that’s going on, we would like to make a request of you, and it’s critically important.”
I drew a deep breath. “Then what is it?” And why were they being so dramatic? I was with one or the other of them nearly all day. Why didn’t any of them ask about whatever had them so concerned.?
Leif glanced at the others and stood, clearing his throat. “We would like to ask that you stay within the palace until Bors can be captured.”
My jaw dropped. “This is an intervention, then, seeking to stop my movements about the kingdom?”
Three heads bobbed.
“You are all aware my uncle held me a virtual prisoner in this place for most of my life to date?” Before they could respond, I went on. “And you blithely say, please be a prisoner again until we say it’s safe to outside?”
“Janis—” Arne’s voice held panic, but I didn’t care a whit. Nobody was ever going to imprison me in my own castle again. There was no reason good enough, no excuse possible, and I’d die before going back to being a queen in a cage.
I shifted, going to wolf form before Arne could get out another word. My clothes lay in shreds around me as I took a leap for the stairs. I bounded downward, emerging at the base of the tower, grateful I hadn’t closed the door tight when I came in. So I was able to nose it open and race outside, past my useless guards and through the hallways to a door always available to wolves who needed to get outside for whatever reason. And then I was gone, flying through the forest, the howls of my mates following me as I went.
But I didn’t stop. They wanted to imprison me, and my wolf and I were reacting on instinct. To escape.
It didn’t matter to me until I lay panting by a stream that I couldn’t leave forever. And I didn’t have to. I was queen over the entire kingdom and while I might have three strong mates, they had no power over me.
I was resting before going back to settle things when three magnificent wolves came up beside me. They all dipped their muzzles in the stream and drank.
