Isme shrugged. “I think he was attracted, yes. Helena was beautiful and had many vying for her hand. But Edemas was a different kind of man. Strong and powerful, unmatched by any man I’d ever seen or heard of, but he was not very fond of humans. Mostly because of the way they tended to look down on shifters. His line had, for many years, taken human wives to increase their power and stake in the lands. The rumor was, Edemas had vowed never to do such a thing because he did not want to dilute the bloodline more than it already had been. Already in those days, the children of his line were becoming less and less powerful, with some being born without the ability to become werewolves at all.”
“Well, how did they end up together?” I asked. I found myself wrapped up in the ancient tale, desperate to find out how it differed from what we knew.
Isme chuckled and shook her head. She took a sip of tea, then continued. “Well, try as I might, Helena was still a royal child. She was not used to hearing the word ‘no’. After the way he brushed her off at the dinner, she decided to pursue him. She sent lavish gifts to him and his pack. Letters upon letters were sent as well, with not a single reply. During those months, I tried to explain to her that she needed to be careful. While her father and mother were very open-minded, many of her other relations were not as willing to treaty with shifters. The idea of their princess being betrothed to one would bring about trouble she wasn’t ready for. But…” Isme waggled her fingers in the air.“A bird must fly. There was only so much I could do to try and prevent her from attempting to be with him.
“Fast forward about three months, and Helena and I were on the way back from a wedding of one of her distant cousins. Our carriage and guard detail were attacked by roadside bandits. There were at least a dozen of them, and the guards were all killed by arrows in seconds. I cast several protective and attack spells, but one of the attackers got behind me and knocked me out before I could do more. When I awoke…” She shook her head in wonder. “All the assailants lay about the carriage in various stages of death or dying. I could hear the groans and screams. One man, possibly the one who hit me, was beside me. He was doing his best to hold his guts inside his body as they slid out between his fingers. He was crying for his mother. I’ll remember that until the day I die. Beside the carriage was Edemas, spattered in blood and holding Helena in his arms as though she were a newborn babe. He’d been on a run through the forest in his werewolf form when he heard the attack. He recognized Helena and me from the dinner many months before and intervened. He saved us both, but he only had eyes for Helena.”
“Holy shit,” Nico muttered. “Twelve armed men? He was by himself?”
“He was indeed. If you have never seen a werewolf in battle, it is… well, I’ll say it is terrifying. Edemas escorted us the rest of the way home, and when the king and queen heard our telling of the tale, they were deeply grateful to Edemas. They offered him a position with the royal staff as Helena’s personal head of security. He laughed in their faces. He was an alpha, he said—a leader of shifters and basically a king in his own right. He would not bend the knee and grovel as an employee of the royal family.” Isme gave a little shake of her head. “I could have told them this would be his reaction. The king was understanding butstill put out. After that, there was little contact between Helena and Edemas. The old king died a year later from a blood fever. I couldn’t help him no matter what I did. The queen herself died two years later from what I believe to be influenza. Though the royal doctors tried everything, she was gone within a fortnight.”
It sounded like this Helena had a rough life. She lost her parents at a fairly young age. I couldn’t imagine going through that. “Then what happened? She became queen, I suppose?”
Isme leaned forward. “She did indeed. She was the only child of the royal couple and had yet to be married off, so the coronation was held the next month. Many came to give their fealty and respect to the new queen. None garnered more than a passing nod of thanks from Helena until the massive form of Edemas came striding into the throne room. Helena’s crush on the man had waned in the years since her rescue. Her eyes weren’t the same when he walked in. Nothing like the first time she’d seen him. Yes, there was the lust and desire as before, but now there was a more calculated look to her. She’d had a thought, and it made me a little worried.
“After the celebratory dinner, Edemas was invited to the new queen’s chambers, along with me and a few of her most trusted guards. There, she offered him something it would be nearly impossible to turn down. She offered her hand in marriage. In doing so, he would be combining the strength of his pack with the strength of her kingdom. He initially scoffed at the idea, but she reminded him that many pack leaders in his family tree had taken royalty as mates in the past. None had ever been as high-ranking as she was. If he became king consort, then he would be the first shifter to ever sit on a throne. She even offered the title of King of Shifters. So, for her human subjects, she would be the main ruling hand, and he would be the same for all shifters within their lands. It was no longer about romance or lust, but about consolidating power.”
I rubbed my face with my hands. “I’m guessing he couldn’t say no. How could he?”
Isme bobbled her hand back and forth. “It was a close thing. I sat in that chamber for over an hour as they hashed out details, duties, and questions. In the end, Edemas couldn’t get past the idea of bringing his line even more power—to have a station high enough that he could finally look down upon the humans who’d always looked down upon his kind. Yes, he did eventually agree. In return, all Helena wanted was a husband who would care for her, strengthen her, and perhaps, in time, grow to love her.”
Nico finished his tea and set the empty cup on its matching China saucer. He cleared his throat and said, “I suppose this wasn’t… an overly accepted pairing?”
Isme barked a laugh. “Young man, you have a way with understatement. It was a scandal. They announced the betrothal that very night in front of Helena’s entire extended family, the feudal lords that had fealty to her, as well as many honored guests. It was like a bomb went off when the pairing was announced. I even cast a spell of protection around Helena and her new fiancé in case someone thought to rush the dais or throw something. Pairing with a shifter in those days was not forbidden, but it was beyond taboo.
“As Helena had said, shifter alphas had taken brides from the royal family in the distant past, but those had been women later in years or so far removed from the throne that they were barely recognized as royalty. Those pairings were usually allowed, with little ceremony or acknowledgment, to pay off a debt the royal family had to whatever alpha was in charge at the time. This? The ruling queen taking a shifter to be her consort? Unheard of, I believe,” she tapped the armrest of her chair for emphasis, “that it was that moment when theroyalsas we know them were formed. The queen’s cousins, uncles, aunts, and distant relations were aghast and appalled at the situation.”
“You’re saying it was that night that their secret society was formed? They began to plan the queen’s downfall immediately?” I asked.
“Not immediately,” Isme said. “They waited in the wings, hoping things would fall apart. It wasn’t an easy romance between the queen and her consort. Edemas was stubborn and didn’t like having one woman in his bed. Shifter customs many years ago ran much closer to the animals with which you are bound. He’d had many women share his bed when he was simply alpha. That part of marriage was a difficult thing for him at first. But over the next few years, he grew more affectionate toward Helena. By the time she was pregnant with their first child, he’d grown to not only care for her but truly love her. The night I helped bring his firstborn son into the world was one of great joy for Edemas especially.”
“But his daughter was the crown princess, so I thought she’d been the firstborn? Isn’t that how things typically go?” I asked, feeling my wolf stirring as the story unfolded.
Isme tapped the side of her nose and smiled. “Usually, yes, but the boy was not born an alpha. Edemas and Helena loved him nonetheless, but Edemas knew that whoever took the crown next would need to be an alpha to ensure his pack followed his child. The queen had a very hard time conceiving, taking over a year for their first child to be conceived. She knew what was in Edemas’s mind, and she wanted him to be happy and content. This caused her to tell him to take a mistress. Edemas refused outright, stating his love for her had grown so great that no other woman would ever sully his bedsheets.”
“What?” Nico said, nearly falling out of his chair. He shook his head in confusion. “No, no, that’s not right. All the stories,every legend, talks about him having a full harem. A dozen or more women to pleasure him at his whim. He had dozensof children with those women to strengthen his line. Everyone knows that. Hedidtake other women to bed.”
Isme stared at Nico for a very long time, the twinkle in her eye never dissipating. Finally, she leaned forward, putting her ancient hands on equally ancient knees. “And, my dear boy, who do you think spread those lies? Those rumors? They say history is written by the victor. In this particular instance, who won?”
Nico’s eyes slowly widened, and his mouth opened as if he was going to retort, but instead, he slumped back in his chair, looking confused. It was like everything we’d known had been turned upside down and inside out. How much more was a lie?
“Now,” Isme continued. “There issomebasis for those stories. You see, the queen continued to have difficulty becoming pregnant, and in those days, a royal family was never safe with only one or two heirs. They desperately needed more children to strengthen their hold on the kingdom. Instead of taking a mistress to bed, they consulted with several doctors and myself on other options that would not require Edemas to take a woman he didn’t love to bed. Today, we have artificial insemination, but back then, there was no such thing… But there are other ways.” Isme looked at me and grinned mischievously.
Suddenly crude jokes we’d told in high school erupted into my mind. Girls joking about using turkey basters to get pregnant. My jaw fell open. “Are you serious?” I asked.
She nodded. “We developed a very basic syringe-type device and used that to insert Edemas’s semen into his chosen surrogate. She was a high-ranking shifter in his pack, and it was believed she would have the best chance of bringing forth an alpha, but miracles do happen. While this was being tested, Helena did indeed get pregnant again. This time the child was born a female. Female, but alpha. Almost unheard of. Edemas was shocked but ecstatic. He loved his wife and his son, but thebaby, Lillian, was the apple of his eye. She was announced as the crown princess. The firstborn alpha to Edemas.”
My wolf stirred and whined at the mention of the name. Isme looked at me with a soft smile. Could she sense my wolf? Even after all these years, was there still a connection to this woman who’d been the one to pull her forth from her mother’s womb? I put a hand on my chest to calm the beast within me.
“The surrogate ended up giving him four children in total, and Helena two more after the prince and princess. A pair of twins, boy and girl, both born as alphas. The royal line was fully secured, which was good because during the birth of the twins, Helena nearly died, and her womb was rendered dead and unable to bear more children. Not long after the surrogate started bearing children, the royal family rumblings began. They didn’t know the process by which she’d become impregnated. It was none of their business. Still, they thought that Edemas was betraying the true queen. Along with the half-breed children roaming the castle and kingdom, the offense was too great. Their plans began to roll into motion.”
“I… I think I know what happens next,” I murmured. Nico leaned over and put a hand on my back. Tears filled my eyes, and the memory of my nightmare weeks ago came back—Lillian stumbling upon the conspirators, the chase, the strong hands shoving her in the back. Tumbling, falling, dying there inside the cold walls of the castle.
. “It was,” Isme paused, a sad look shadowing her features, “a very dark day. I cried for nearly a week after Lillian’s body was found. The queen was inconsolable. Edemas? He was the only one who truly believed it hadn’t been an accident. He knew,knew, his baby girl had been murdered. He became lost in his grief. Helena also began to grow ill. None of the doctors could figure out what was wrong. None of my spells or potions worked to heal her. Edemas became paranoid, thinking perhaps thequeen had been forced to participate in the death of his beloved daughter, but those thoughts didn’t last. His love for the queen was too strong to be eradicated by paranoia.
“Edemas called for every doctor, shaman, and healer their fortune could afford, even calling as far away as distant Cathay—modern-day China—for their healers. Nothing worked. Our beloved Helena died one evening in the summer. I had the windows open for the breeze to cool her face, and her twins, barely a year old, were laid in her arms.” Tears stood out, bright and wet, in Isme’s eyes as she described the death. She shook her head bitterly. “Her body wasn’t even cold yet when her family began pointing fingers at Edemas, claiming that he had poisoned his lady wife to usurp the throne for himself and place his bastard children’s mother at his side. Preposterous, of course. Edemas, even in his heart-rending sorrow, knew that the queen’s family was already plotting his downfall.”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “He came to me late one evening and laid out a plan he’d made. A plan that, for want of a better word, was slightly mad. It was obvious to him that he was backed into a corner and would die. He wanted to protect his children and family. He wanted me to take a vial of his blood, enchant it, and cast a reincarnation spell on it. He even laid out his convoluted plans to hide it and make it impossible for the royals to ever be able to get it and that only one of his bloodline could receive it. He created the false vault and had his bravest men trek across Europe to find the best hiding place for the note. All these things came from the mind of a man blinded by grief, rage, and hatred. I did his bidding, my own grief making my participation equally focused. Our plans and spells were put into place right in time.”
