Isabel sighed, feeling saddened about the situation as Mr. Collin offered her his hand to help her stand.
After she left, Chester unhappily exclaimed, stress sweeping from his voice, "This is going to go against Victoria's votes! The Somerset Coven is voting against her. That means Isabel's Coven will too. Headmaster Matt has already declared war on us, and we know before too long, those Somersets will join them with the rest of everyone else we have yet to defeat."
"I can agree. Just this past summer, some of the Somerset members in Dylan's clan tried to force themselves on Victoria and Mia at the college," Evan mentioned before he stuffed his mouth full of popcorn while he was still sitting next to Quin on the desk.
Despite him not being present when the incident occurred, he remembered Kai telling him about it.
"Don't even bring that up!" Kai grumbled, the distaste evident in his expression at the memory of it.
Dylan and his advisors intervened before Kai and his friends could get the chance to shred them into pieces.
"They're constantly harassing our Coven's females and pose a threat to everyone's offspring," Quin retorted, irritation lacing his words as he reached into the popcorn bag he shared with Evan.
"I know, so how do we fix this?" Chester inquired, his gaze fixed on his father across from him on the couch.
For once, Mr. Collin found himself at a loss on how to navigate through this intricate situation.
"Arrange a meeting with both Covens. Let's explore the possibility of a diplomatic resolution for a bridge marriage," Kai proposed, eliciting visibly surprised reactions from everyone in the room.
Divorce was never an option for the royals. Depending on Coven rules, primarily set by the Headmaster, divorce isn't even granted to the members to separate from their spouses. Even if non-royal vampiresses had slightly more rights compared to the Royal females, divorce still wasn't a possibility in most cases.
Royal vampiresses have little to no rights when it comes to marriage. In Isabel's case, she was legally married to Troy, so she and her family had no right to demand a divorce with their war threats. With Kai acknowledging the oath of marriage alliances, this debate only brings two logical alternatives that could resolve their dilemma.
One, they go to war with both Covens.
Option two, Troy and Grant share Isabel, and they must oblige to the set terms that Chester and Dylan oath together in making an equal agreement, he concluded.
"Did I hear you correctly?" Quin inquired, tugging on his ear to verify it wasn't clogged.
The Somerset Coven was formidable in boasting a mighty army to support them. During the first war, they emerged victorious in the battles for claiming territories. On their home planet, the Somerset, along with the Covens who fought alongside them, refrained from claiming the land due to the planet's destruction by their invasion. However, they did claim lands elsewhere on various planets. In the second war, they sided with those who saw no issue with different species intermarrying.
"You did. Isabel is the best shot we have to negotiate terms with the Somerset Coven. They may hurt our females, but their members and their Royal family would never dare do any harm to Isabel because she's Grant's destined mate. Being Troy's wife, she's our family, which makes her a Collin because she bears our Coven's name," Kai explained while his family was still shocked to hear him suggest such a bizarre proposal.
For the most part, the royal Somerset family were all Shadow species, but many of their members were a mixture of species. In general, Shadows were compromisable and were known to be negotiable. On the other hand, concerning their members, they'd do whatever it took to ensure their members were happy, so forming an alliance with them through a bridge marriage would either work or lead to failure.
"Yeah, but she doesn't carry my offspring!" Troy snapped, standing near Kai.
"That will be part of the deal," Chester affirmed. "She'll have to bear you a son, and both Covens have to agree to vote for Victoria's survival, and the Somerset Coven can no longer harm anyone in our Coven, including our allies."
He knew they were already going to war with the Somerset Coven once the votes had been finalized. In their predicament, if they couldn't keep an alliance with Isabel's Coven or form one with their well-known enemies, then they'd be given no choice but to destroy Isabel's weaker Coven while they duel the real battle with the Somerset Coven. For Isabel's sake, they were reluctant to destroy their own friends and allies. If they won the battle against the Somerset, she would harbor resentment towards them and feel like an enslaved wife to Troy.
"I don't want to share my wife with Grant!" Troy boomed with a ferocious growl. In his mind, the mere thought of sharing his wife is inconceivable to him, especially with an enemy.
Chester erupted up from the couch, his voice thundering. "You don't have a choice! You've forced her to share you with other females! Now you can share her with her destined mate! Too much is at stake right now for a bridge marriage to fail!"
Troy huffed in frustration, storming to the door and slamming it shut as he left while the echoes of his anger reverberated in the office.
"That's it! I'll banish him if he refuses to listen!" Chester growled in frustration as the intensity in his voice vibrated throughout the room. "If his offspring is a girl, I'll banish her with her mother, Becky!"
Henry regarded him calmly, his gaze probing his cousin's tensing muscles, "Could you honestly do that, or is this the anger talking?"
Chester slumped down beside him, sighing at his own unnecessary outburst."The anger," he admitted, weariness lining his face. "Becky shares the blame for knowing he was married, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to her or her innocent offspring," he affirmed with a heavy heart.
"And what about Troy?" Mr. Collin asked.
Chester replied, "His fate depends on the success of the bridge marriage. If both Covens disagree, then he's banished. If they agree and the bridge marriage doesn't work out, then he'll be exiled."
"Banish him after the war if the agreement fails. We'll need all the help we can get," Kai demanded.
Mr. Collin agreed, "I was about to suggest that. With war on the way, I am summoning a return for everyone who has been exiled in our Coven. If the Headmaster doesn't approve of my decision, then he can cast them away."
"I think that's reasonable," Kai replied, surprising everyone with his calm demeanor. Even Chester, who is usually composed, seemed to be breaking down.
With Kai's final insistence, he vanished from the arm of the couch and rejoined Coraline's party while Orlando's riddle lingered in the back of his mind. He understood what it meant, and it made him distinguish heavy consternation. For now, he pushed the feeling aside and walked over to his wife from inside the indoor swimming pool while she socialized with the vampiresses on the lawn chairs.