“Come and see.” This time, he pulled her toward the open space, pushing his way through the crowd. Those he shouldered past jumped with bewilderment, wondering what invisible forced had moved them.
There, in the middle of the crowd, Becks stood, chained to a wooden pole on a make-shift stage. “Roman,” Violet gasped and hurried forward. “What have you done?”
Ares stood guard at the steps of the stage, smirking at the king and queen. Roman must have lifted their glamour because the crowd gasped and murmured. “Took you long enough,” Ares drawled and held out a pair of shears to Roman, who in turn, handed them to Violet.
“She cut your hair shorter than you wanted on purpose.” Roman’s face darkened with every word. “You cried. I could not allow her to go unpunished.”
Violet gaped at him. “So you chained her to a pole?” She held up the shears. “I’m not cutting off her body parts.”
Roman snorted. “If I thought you would cut off her hands, I would have requested something sharper. Those are for her hair.”
Violet’s horror ebbed, and she looked down at the shears. Did it make her a monster if she wanted to humiliate Becks for what she’d done? Afterall, it wasn’t like the woman had chopped all of Violet’s hair off.
No. She couldn’t do that. It was too harsh.
However, everyone knew what Violet meant to Roman, who she would become once they married. Could she let the disrespect slide?
“It’s too cruel,” she whispered to her husband. “I can’t.”
Roman sighed and took the shears from her outstretched hand. He leaned down and kissed her lips. “I can.”
Violet moved to stop him, but Ares blocked her path. “Let him do this. The townspeople need to know they cannot disrespect their queen. This is a mercy compared to what he wanted to do to her.”
Violet stood next to the stage, and Roman addressed the crowd. “Violet Maekin is my true mate, making her your queen.” Murmurs rose around them, some with disbelief, others with quiet outrage. “Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks they can disrespect my wife.” The noise grew louder.
Roman approached Becks. The woman pleaded and yanked on her chains, but he ignored her, motioning for Ares to hold her head still. Roman grabbed a piece of Beck’s hair and cut it off at the scalp. Becks sobbed, begging him to stop, but he paid her no mind and lifted piece after piece.Snip. Snip. Snip.
Becks’ hair looked choppy and uneven, some places hanging to her ears, others close to the scalp. Roman stepped back to admire his handy work. Satisfied, he revealed her to those present. “Were it up to me, her hair would still be intact, and her head would not; but your queen has a kind heart.” Silence descended. Roman scanned the crowd, meeting everyone’s gaze. “I do not, and you would do well to remember that.”
Roman handed the shears to Ares, who passed them to Gunnar. The latter glanced at Violet with a satisfied smile and shot her a thumbs up. She couldn’t help herself, she laughed.
Roman took her hand, kissing it. “Where to next, wife?”
Violet stared at him a moment before launching herself into his arms. “You’re unethical and insane, but I love you.”
His chuckle rumbled against her cheek. “I love you too.”
41
Violet stood at the gate to the bunker with Dani, Kaylie, Khrista, and the rest of her staff. “Everyone remembers what to do?”
“You’re sure he won’t be mad, Your Grace?” one of the younger maids asked.
Violet waved her off. “Of course not. If he is, I’ll handle him.”
It’d been years since Violet had pulled off a prank, having left the childish antics in her youth, but the idea came to her as a passing thought that wouldn’t go away. Roman wouldn’t be upset; pulling pranks around the palace had been their thing, a secret only they knew.
She’d never pranked him before, but there was a first time for everything. With the threat of rebels and his new duties as king, Roman needed something fun.
War stood next to her, and she pointed at him. “Do not tell him.” The tigon nodded, and she turned to the others. “Okay, everyone; to your places.”
* * *
Roman nodded to Dani and Kaylie, who ignored him. His hand froze in his pocket. Never had either guard been rude to him before. “Is something wrong?”
The two women jumped, and Kaylie scanned the surrounding area. “Did you hear that?”
Dani nodded and peeked through the bars of the gate. “There’s no one in the bunker courtyard. Maybe someone’s conversation from the compound carried on the wind?”
