Ingrid turned to Athena, her face pale with shock.
The pale blonde consort with the smooth chignon upstyle walked into the room.
It was obvious where Cedric got his devastating good looks. She truly looked like the mother of the King of Faria.
Athena was a tall elegant woman with eyes the color of amber, frail features, and soft pink lips. Her creamy silk gown was sleek and luxuriously simple, falling to the floor in cascading folds.
Cedric had seen her coming and had announced it in his response to Ingrid, but she had been too distressed to understand.
"Athena! Your son has banished mine. Tell him that he cannot abandon my grandchild as well!"
"I will do no such thing!" Athena strode up to Cedric's desk, looking like a regal empress.
Cedric stood up and went to greet his mother, even as Ingrid sputtered at Athena's hard stance.
"But Athena! You and I are cousins! The child is also related to you and needs a father! He or she is also of royal blood!"
Athena sniffed at Ingrid. "The child has a father. Cecil just needs to man up and accept his responsibilities instead of trying to dump his kid on my son."
She turned back to her son.
"Cedric. You have your own life to live and your own wife to take care of. In time, you will also have your own flesh-and-blood child to hold and love."
"Yes, Mother." Cedric bowed his hed.
Athena fixed a loving gaze at her only son.
"Where is your mate? Why have you not presented her to the rest of the family?"
Cedric a tender smile. "It's only been the second day since we got back. Talia is at my palace, taking care of Devin at the moment."
"Oh that boy Devin is such a darling! He looks just like you! I was with him yesterday."
"He's an unusually intelligent child." Cedric murmured with fondness.
Athena wiped tears from her eyes. "My very first grandson. I miss Viviene so much. We really need to find her!"
Cedric nodded. "I am still trying, Mother. I met up with Vivien's husband's brother who is also trying to find Devin's father and I've joined forces with him. Between the two of us, we will find both of them."
"Good. Good." Athena reached out and took hold of Cedric's hand. "Please keep me updated, even if there is nothing to report."
"I will, Mother." Cedric leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss onto his mother's cheek.
"Athena." Cyrus chided. "Now is not the time to be chatting and visiting Cedric. We have a bit of an emergency here."
Athena whipped her head and stared at Cyrus with hardened eyes.
"I am discussing with my son the fact that my daughter is still missing. There is nothing more important than that."
She turned away from him. "She is your daughter too. Why are you not worried about her?"
Cyrus pursed his lips. "I am worried about her, but she's been missing for over two years now. Meanwhile, there is a small army that's stationed outside our very castle walls."
He continued berating her with a cold voice. "If you don't want them storming in and carrying you off to be hung by the neck, I suggest you take a step back and let me and Cedric handle this."
Athena was about to respond when an advisor came into the room.
"Your Majesty." He bowed to Cedric.
"Your Royal Highnesses." He bowed to the other royal members standing in front of Cedric.
"Speak!" Cedric commanded.
"Sir, the Grand Duke Cecil Blaxtone is now outside the city gates, demanding that his brother, King Cedric do the right thing for his unborn son with Evelyn."
"What?" Cedric raised his eyebrows in amazement.
"Sir, he says he caught King Cedric in bed with the Countess Evelyn Larabee and must now marry her."
Cedric barked out a laugh. "I think he got the details wrong. I was the one who caught him sleeping with her."
"You have no choice at this point, Son." Cyrus sighed. "Marry her and let the child be born as your son."
"I will not marry her." He turned back to his father with hard frosty golden eyes. "To my son will go the Crown Prince position."
"And so he shall. You, as King have the right to make the determination which son gets the Crown Prince title. It does not have to be Evelyn's child."
"My mate—"
"Is still your mate. That will never change."
"MY MATE," Cedric emphasized, after having been interrupted by his father, "shall be Queen of Faria."
He turned back to Ingrid.
"For my Beloved Mate to take a lesser position than Cecil's whore is more than I can take. If I have to go out there myself and fight Larabee's army, then so be it."
"No need to go it alone, my friend." A voice drawled outside the doorway.
Everyone turned towards the tall man with dark wavy hair and grey eyes. He was still dressed in black traveling clothes, his cape fluttering behind him as he made his way into the room.
"Andre?" Cedric gave a bright welcoming smile. "I haven't had the chance to thank you in person for saving my life."
"No need. I only saved you because I didn't want to see Talia cry."
"So it's like that, eh?" Cedric laughed with genuine amusement.
"It is. You treat her well or I will come for your head."
"Oh my head will be firmly on my neck, I promise you."
Andre Kossova laughed and turned to Cyrus Blaxtone.
"So what is this I hear about you forcing King Cedric to marry Cecil's lover?"
"The child's father is someone still to be determined." Cyrus sniffed.
"Oh, there is no need to do any sort of 'determining' bullshit." Andre smiled, baring his fangs. "Not only have all my men seen Cecil and that woman spend every waking hour together, they've also heard all the noise."
He winked at Cyrus. "Walls are very thin at the Primrose Inn, not to mention the railcars."
"This is not any of your business, Duke Kossova. Step aside." Cyrus warned.
"Oh but it is very much my business." Andre laughed. "If Larabee decides he is going to go to war with the kingdom of Faria, that affects my people too."
He turned a sharp eye at Cyrus.
"I will not stand by and allow him to destroy my people's livelihoods by stirring up bloodshed for no damn good reason."
"We can avert all this war and bloodshed with a simple wedding which would tie the Count's family to the throne. It will avert the crisis." Cyrus proposed with a calm demeanor.
In truth, political liaisons such as these were carried out all the time. It would not be the first time that this would have to be done, but it was normally done at the behest of the crown.
This was downright extortion.
"I refuse to be bullied by that man." Cedric snapped. "If we go along with what he says because we fear him, then he can simply pull this same stunt again next time he wants something else. This type of blackmail will never end."
Andre grinned and raised his eyebrows at Cyrus. "He's right you know. I will champion his cause because I also happen to hate extortionists."
Cedric had heard enough. He snapped a finger.
An advisor ran up to the table.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Tell Larabee if he wants to fight, he will have to go up against the entire kingdom's armed militia as well as Duke Kossova's forces."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Also tell him that if he does not want his men to be sent home in body bags, he needs to clear out his forces from the palace walls within the hour."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The advisor nodded with a joyful gleam in his eyes.
This King was no joke.