Edwin Larabee was furious.
Early that morning, only one day after Cedric Blaxtone had returned to the Kingdom of Faria, he had simultaneously done two things that had shaken the Kingdom of Faria to its knees.
Firstly, Cedric had sent Cecil and his family packing and had taken over as Alpha King of Faria.
That in itself was enough of a shock to Faria's system, but Cedric had followed that up with a royal decree retracting the marriage decree between Edwin's daughter and himself that Cecil had sent out over a year ago.
"He is really asking for war." Edwin Larabee paced back and forth, fanning himself furiously with a silk bamboo fan. "If he wants war, he will get war!"
"Oh chill your ass." His wife threw a banana at him. "Cedric is not Cecil. He's not going to be that easy to manipulate."
"Bull." Edwin caught the banana.
With one vicious yank, he pulled the skin off the banana and chewed at it vigorously.
"Mark my words, Sonia. He and Cecil are both Cyrus' spawn. Nuts don't drop far from the tree."
"Don't talk with your mouth full. Your common blood is showing up again." She harrumphed, giving him a sidelong glance.
"You have to act like highborn royals or they will treat you like the plebeian that you once were."
"Hahaha. Let them. I'll just send an army of plebs and give the command to 'off with their heads!'."
"Fool. The plebeians don't follow orders from another plebeian. They will only follow orders from someone they perceive to be higher in rank and caste from them!"
She sniffed with disdain. "Even if you're common-born, you need to act royal or they will 'off with YOUR head'."
"Father!" A voice called out from the entranceway.
"Evelyn! My precious! Come in, come in. We were just talking about you!"
Evelyn's green eyes were full of tears. She ran in and threw herself into her father's waiting arms, ignoring her mother who was seated nearby.
Sonia rolled her eyes.
She could see right through her daughter's act. It was so fake, it was revolting. Furthermore, she could smell the overpowering stench of a man on her daughter.
The man smelled royal, but not Cedric royal. It could only mean that Evelyn had been out flinging her wares at Cecil.
Evelyn was now making a scene with her father.
"I went to see Cedric in the other realm but he was so mean to me!"
Edwin's face was furious. How dare Cedric treat Evelyn so shabbily???
"What did he do?"
"His little bitch that he was sleeping with in the other realm picked a fight with me and broke my nose, and Cedric didn't do anything about it!"
Edwin snarled. "How dare she hurt my little girl!!! Why would she pick a fight with you? You're so kind and sweet to everyone!"
Evelyn wiped her eyes of tears.
"She was jealous that Cedric had a fiancée and tried to smear my reputation with Cedric. And he believed her so he didn't even want to have anything to do with me!"
"Humph!!!" Edwin patted his daughter's head. "We will find you a much better husband than that bastard Cedric!"
"Father! We can't! I—I'm pregnant!" Evelyn began sobbing bucketsful of tears.
"Unbelievable!" Edwin slammed his fist into his palm. "We have to fix that situation. Cedric has to meet with you to clear this up."
He turned to Evelyn. "Go take a rest. We don't want you hurting the child with too much stress. I will arrange for you and Cedric to meet up again."
His eyes narrowed. "This time, it will be on our terms. You will get the chance to convince him that you are the only mate for him."
"Thank you Father!" Evelyn cried as she buried her face into his chest. "You're the best Father in the world!"
===============
"Your Majesty, Count Larabee is insisting that you meet with him to discuss the retraction of the decree that you sent out to them yesterday." The court advisor spoke in a low voice.
Cedric's eyes never left the mountain of work that was on his desk.
"Tell him there is nothing to talk about. I am going to announce my upcoming marriage to my mate within the next few weeks."
"Sir, he is insisting you speak with him."
"And if I don't?"
"He's got a small army out in front of the castle wall. They are going around saying you have taken advantage of the Countess Evelyn and now you have abandoned her."
Cedric laughed.
"I never even said two words to her, let alone sleep with her!"
"Sir. If you don't speak up, everyone will think you're guilty and merely avoiding your responsibilities!"
Cedric's eyes narrowed.
"Understood. I will think about the best way to deal with this."
He waved a hand, dismissing the advisor and sighed with exhaustion.
Cecil was such a terrible monarch that he had left piles and piles of work untouched. Some of these documents dated almost a year to the day.
What in hell had he been doing all this time?
Cedric was about to grab another document to read when his father approached his desk.
Cyrus stood there, staring down at his son, mentally picking and choosing his words. It was important he got the message across in a way that would be impactful enough for this second son of his to take seriously.
"Father, I don't have time for whatever it is you're going to say to me." Cedric muttered with very little patience.
"Make time!" Cyrus snapped, slamming his palm on top of the document that Cedric was reading.
"Father. Do you see this?" Cedric pushed a tall stack of documents at him.
"It's just a small portion of several years' worth of work that Cecil didn't even bother to touch." He threw up his hands.
"My first day on the job and the advisors began piling into my office, box after box of documents that need to be looked at, decisions that need to be made, signatures that need to be signed."
He stood up and slammed his hands on another set of documents to his right that were two feet tall.
Some of these documents date back as far as the year you retired! What the hell has Cecil been doing with all his time?"
Cyrus grimaced.
He had known that Cecil was not up to the task of running the kingdom, but there was very little choice in the matter of Alphas. Sometimes, one has to work with what's available.
Although he had known that his second son was far superior to his first-born in all areas, when he had suggested having Cedric take over his position, his mate Ingrid had been adamantly against it.
She had put up such a fuss, stating vehemently that the first-born son must be the next Alpha King of Faria that Cyrus had finally capitulated.
What a mess that had turned out to be.
============
—The Chartreuse Prophecy—
To those with willing ears to hear
And those whose eyes are crystal clear
Beware the ticking of the clock
When time collides and doors unlock
~
On moonlit nights when hearts grow wild
Betwixt the maiden coven child
And wolf, and bat, and dragon spawn
Their dance commences dusk till dawn
Their need to slake the bloody thirst
to conquer all, to be the first
The fangs of love, the claws of lust
Will render all, from dust to dust
~
When toil and strife and pain abound
The thorny blighted sacred ground
The Golden Child, with golden eyes
Will sacrifice the coven bride
To rise above, and reunite
The bat, the beast, the dragonkind
~
So take this cautionary tale
And find the truth across the veil
What once was lost has now been found
The Golden Child with throne and crown.
Will take the coven maiden's hand
And rule with might across the land.