“Then you leave us no choice.” Elder Harkon’s voice is ice. “The Council will convene. You will be removed from the throne. Your assets will be seized. Your mate will be sent back to whatever human cesspool she crawled out of.”
Another knock. Louder this time.
The door opens and Viktor strides in, followed by Sebastian and our cousin Maxim. All three look like they haven’t slept. They must have traveled the moment the passes cleared, riding through the night to get here.
“We’re not interrupting, are we?” Sebastian asks cheerfully, surveying the scene…me in a robe, Claire in another robe, three furious Elders. “Looks like a party. Sorry we’re late.”
“This is a private Council matter,” Elder Petra snaps. “You have no business here.”
“Funny.” Viktor’s voice is cold enough to freeze the fire in the hearth. “I don’t recall the Council having authority to remove a king without the royal family and noble input. And as Nikolai’s brother and next in line for succession, I have quite a lot of input.”
“You support this madness?” Elder Voss demands.
“I support my brother’s right to choose his own mate.”
Maxim steps forward, his arms crossed, his presence intimidating even among Elders. “The Blood Calling is sacred. It is the will of the gods themselves. You would deny divine will?”
“The gods didn’t choose a human?—”
“Didn’t they?” Sebastian grins, all charm and sharp edges. “Seems like they did and who are we to argue with the gods? Sounds a bit blasphemous, if you ask me.”
The Elders sputter.
Viktor crosses the room to where Claire now stands beside me. To everyone’s shock — including mine — he bows his head to her.
“Welcome to the family, sister.”
Claire’s eyes fill with tears. “Thank you, Viktor.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Sebastian is insufferable and Maxim never smiles. You may regret this.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Another knock. Softer this time. Almost hesitant.
I blink with surprise and open the door to find Mrs. Vasek clutching a rolled scroll in her trembling hands. Behind her, the corridor is packed. Kitchen staff in their white uniforms. Groundskeepers with dirt still on their boots. Maids, guards,footmen. And beyond them so many faces I don’t immediately recognize them all. Generals in military dress, their medals gleaming. Security officers in formal black. Lawyers in their traditional robes. Merchants, blacksmiths, farmers from the villages below who must have traveled through the night.
Every type of Krovenian. Every walk of life. All of them here. For me.
“What is this?” Elder Harkon demands, his composure cracking.
Mrs. Vasek steps forward. Her voice trembles, but her spine is straight and her eyes are fierce. “Your Majesty. We’ve brought something for the Council to see.”
She hands me the scroll.
I unroll it and find a petition. Signatures covering page after page after page. Thousands of names I recognize and names I don’t, all of them written in careful script.
“What does it say?” Claire asks softly, moving to stand beside me.
My throat tightens. “It says they want me to remain as King. They accept you as Queen. They accept our children, whatever they may be.”
“The staff started it,” Mrs. Vasek proudly explains. “After I told them about your mating, they wanted to do something to make sure we didn’t lose you as King over this. Word spread to the town, then to the villages. Everyone wanted to sign. We ran out of paper twice.”
A voice from the crowd, one of the kitchen boys, “King Nikolai made sure all of us get free healthcare now.”
Another voice, a woman, “He gave my son a scholarship to study in the capital!”
A gruff male voice, “The king is fair and there’s never been a hint of corruption.”
