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Chapter Sixteen
“Your Majesty, Janis, wake up.”
I groaned and buried my head under the pillow, hoping Candace would go away. But no such luck. She shook my shoulder.
“Janis, I think you’ll want to see this.”
I tossed the feather pillow to the foot of the bed and noticed she’d moved over by the window. “Candace, I thought queens could set their own hours, or I’d never have taken the job. I was in meetings until the wee small hours. If we can’t resolve the Bors situation we’ll not only be dealing with my murderous uncle and his henchmen but also the High Council who sent another friendly reminder that if we can’t handle the situation they would be glad to take over.”
“Far cry from the support they offered you at the beginning, isn’t it?”
“It is.” A huge yawn stretched my jaw. “Now, what is this thing I want to see so much I’m willing to do it on four hours of sleep?” I stood up and slipped my arms into my robe when Candace brought it over.
“Oh you will. Quick, come!” She scooted back to the window and waved me over. “Look.”
Skeptical, I followed and peered over her shoulder. “Are you kidding me? I told her not to come.”
“She didn’t listen.” Candace tipped her head so I could see her lips, her voice not at all regretful. “Thank all those above.”
“But there are so many of them, and who is that walking ahead?” A parade of shifters were filling the courtyard below my window. I recognized only my sister and her mates Dean, Shane, and Creek.
“I’m sure I don’t know, but would you like to dress and greet them?”
“I would.” Had it just been my sister and her mates, I’d probably have chosen jeans and a shirt, but since I was fairly certain the large male at the front was her alpha, Barrett, I instead wore my newest fashion preference, a pants suit and low heels with a silk blouse under the jacket. This suit was white, the blouse pearl gray. The shoes shiny black. Candace styled my hair in a chignon, applied light makeup, and I was ready to face my guests.
All three of my mates joined me in the hallway, and, together, we descended the main staircase just as Jillian arrived. She’d apparently left protocols behind in favor of family and ran right into my arms.
“I’m so glad to see you,” I told her, stunned when, after giving me a squeeze, she stepped back and spelled outI missed you!
I’d mentioned my lessons in sign language in one of our conversations, but I had no idea she’d started learning it, too. I wasn’t anything like an ace, but I spelled backMe, too.
Everyone else, save her mates, had waited outside. Oh, and of course her alpha. “I’ve heard so much about you,” I told the pack leader. “Welcome.”
His smile was warm, but his demeanor serious. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” I wanted to tell him to call me Janis, stopping myself before the words came out. “It’s an honor to be here.”
“Alpha, why don’t you come into the dining room for some breakfast. We cannot accommodate all of your people in there, but the kitchens will make alternate arrangements.”
He held out his arm, and I laid my hand on it, speaking softly with him while we walked. I wanted to be sure he really wanted his people there, risking their lives in a battle not their own.
“Your Majesty, it is our battle as well. If someone like Bors is allowed to take over the kingdom, it will spill over to all the neighbors near and far. The man spreads misery wherever he goes.”
I paused in the dining room doorway. “Has he bothered your pack?”
“No, but he has made threats against certain of my pack members, and I cannot have that.” He had to be talking about Jillian and maybe her mates. “So, I consider this my fight as well.”
We gathered around the table and shared food and drank coffee before we got down to business. “Alpha, I am certain I understand who was threatened, and I am sorry to drag you into our war.” Stirring sugar into my third cup of coffee, I studied the beverage before lifting my gaze to his. “But I cannot be sorry that you’re here. Only glad for the assistance. My people suffered under Bors’ regency in terrible ways. I don’t know how much Jillian has told you, but we’ve been working hard to restore them to what they deserve and to move the kingdom into modern times.”
“Yes, it’s been quite an anachronism up to now. I assumed it was the way your people chose to live, but having passed the solar and wind installations, I cannot imagine how they could be anything but delighted with your progress.”
“I hope so.” More than he could possibly know, or maybe he did. As an alpha, he held many of the same responsibilities I did, to see to the welfare of those who ran with him. Fewer than mine, but not that different. “Under other circumstances, I’d be pleased to give you a tour and tell you all about our projects.”
“Perhaps when Bors is defeated.” His smile was warm. “But I think we’ve given my wolves enough time to rest and eat.”
“Agreed.” I stood. “We have planning to do. But I’d like to address them and thank them for coming.”
“I know they’d appreciate that.
Later that day, I finally got some time alone with my sister. Jillian looked amazing. Happy and healthy, a little heavier, but she had been far too thin when we first reconnected, and it was a pleasure to see her so well. We snuck away to my suite for a couple of hours just to talk. And since she couldn’t actually speak aloud, she used her whiteboards and we both practiced our signs, making each other laugh with our mistakes. So many years we’d been denied each other, and I wished she lived here so I could see her more often. But she’d created her own life in Barrett’s Pack, and also hadn’t felt having an abdicated queen here would enhance my rule. So complicated being grown-ups
Not that our mates seemed to think we were when all six returned from horseback riding to find us cuddled up on the bed, a throw wrapped around us, communicating in our odd hybrid way.
But we just smiled up at them and then at each other. We didn’t need to speak aloud or to hear to understand what we were telling each other. We had scored in the mates department, both of us.
And the sister department.
If Bors was vanquished, maybe I could even take a turn visiting her one day. It was something to strive for.
