Chapter 171: Her Forgiveness
The ceremony had melted into celebration, and the great hall was alive with it.
Derek and Kira moved through the crowd together, greeting guest after guest, accepting bows and congratulations.
Waiters drifted between the clusters of finery with golden trays of drinks held high. People chatted and laughed, raising their glasses to toast the new King and Queen.
Maya had not let go of Kira’s hand once.
The girl stayed glued to her side through every introduction, tagging along wherever Kira went, her small fingers wrapped tight around the new queen’s.
Kira did not mind in the slightest. If anything, the warmth of that hand in hers was the only thing keeping her own nerves from rattling clean out of her skin.
"Right, that is quite enough of that." Nana appeared at her elbow, and promptly began prising Kira away from Derek’s side.
"You’ve had her to yourself long enough, Drek. The women want to meet their queen now."
Derek let Kira’s hand slip from his without protest, though his eyes followed her for a moment longer than strictly necessary.
Nana steered Kira off through the crowd. They had not gone far when Flora came hurrying up, her face bright.
"Your Highness!" She laughed. "Congratulations. Truly. You looked like something out of a dream up there."
Kira’s whole face softened. Flora opened her arms, and Kira stepped straight into them, and the two women hugged warmly.
"I’m so glad you’re both here," Kira said, pulling back.
"So is Maya." Flora’s eyes dropped fondly to the girl still attached to Kira’s hand.
"I have to tell you, she’s been so much brighter since we came. She smiles more. I haven’t seen her like this in the longest time. Whatever it is you do, Your Highness, it’s good for her."
Kira squeezed Maya’s hand gently, and the girl looked at her with those quiet, knowing eyes.
Nana reached over and patted Maya’s shoulder.
"She’s a lovely girl, this one. A real treasure." She gave the child an encouraging little nudge.
"Now then, sweetheart, why don’t you go along with your grandma for a bit? Your queen has some very dull grown-up greetings to get through, and I promise you it is nowhere near as fun as it looks."
Maya hesitated, glancing up at Kira.
"Go on," Kira said softly, smiling down at her. "I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere."
Maya gave a small nod and finally, reluctantly, released her hand and went to Flora, who took the girl’s fingers and led her away into the crowd.
Nana led Kira onward, toward a cluster of the elite women of Dravengard gathered near the side of the hall. As they approached, the women turned and bowed as one.
"Your Highness."
Kira inclined her head with a warm smile, greeting them one by one. And then her gaze caught a familiar face near the back of the group.
Cherry. The beta’s wife from Snow Crest.
The woman who had once looked down her nose at the wolfless girl. She would not meet Kira’s gaze now, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor, her cheeks coloured with something that looked a great deal like shame.
Kira smiled to herself.
"Cherry," she said pleasantly, as though nothing at all had ever passed between them. "It’s lovely to see you again."
Cherry’s head came up in surprise. "Your... Your Highness." She dipped into another quick bow.
Luna Cassie came forward then and pulled Kira into a warm hug.
"Look at you," Luna Cassie beamed, holding Kira at arm’s length to admire her. "A crown suits you far better than it has any right to. How are you holding up? Is your head spinning yet?"
"Completely," Kira admitted with a laugh, and the two of them fell easily into conversation.
She was just beginning to relax when three men approached.
Three Alphas, broad-shouldered and well-dressed, wearing the kind of careful smiles that men wear when they want something. Kira recognised them at once.
These three. The very ones who had kicked up such an almighty fuss at the fundraiser, the night Derek had failed to show and left her standing alone to face their outrage.
"Your Highness." The first one bowed deeply. "Congratulations. The kingdom is fortunate to have you."
Kira accepted the praise graciously, exchanged a few polite words, and was just about to excuse herself when one of them stepped smoothly into her path, politely.
"Forgive us, Your Highness. We were hoping for just a moment of your time."
Kira raised an eyebrow.
"A moment?" she said lightly. "Whatever for? Surely you don’t want another public apology out of me. I rather thought we settled all that."
The three of them shook their heads quickly, and then, to her bewilderment, they began to shower her with praise.
Her mercy, they said. Her kindness. Word of it had spread through the whole of the West, they told her.
They would be forever grateful. Forever loyal. If only she would extend that same famous mercy to them.
Kira’s brows pulled together in confusion.
"I’m sorry," she said slowly. "What exactly are the three of you on about?"
The Alphas exchanged glances. Then the loudest one, the very man who had been so insufferable that night at the fundraiser, cleared his throat.
"We came, in truth, to apologise, Your Highness," he said. "For how disgracefully we behaved that night. We were uncouth and disrespectful. To you, and to your position. We are deeply sorry for it."
Kira’s surprise melted into an easy smile. "I don’t bear grudges," she told them honestly. "Truly. I’d forgotten all about that night until you walked over just now."
The three of them shared another loaded look.
The second Alpha stepped forward. "If that’s so, Your Highness," he said carefully, "then perhaps you might be willing to speak to the King on our behalf."
Kira blinked. "Speak to the King? Why on earth would I need to speak to the King for you?"
Another exchange of glances. The third Alpha drew a breath.
"After the fundraiser," he said quietly, "all supplies to our packs were cut. Trade. Basic amenities. The King shortened everything. Our people have been feeling it badly."
Kira stared at him. "Then why are you bringing this to me?" she asked, baffled. "Why not take it up with the King directly?"
"We have tried, Your Highness," the first Alpha said, a note of weary frustration creeping into his voice.
"We’ve written to him. Letter after letter. We’ve requested an audience more times than I can count. He won’t answer a single one. He won’t so much as look at our faces."
"And now," the second one added, "when we finally managed to get an audience with him today, do you know what he told us?"
He spread his hands helplessly. "He told us to take it up with the Queen. That she was the one we offended. That it was her forgiveness we should be seeking, not his."
Kira’s heart skipped.
Slowly, almost against her will, she turned her head and looked across the hall.
Derek stood far off in a corner, tall and dark and composed, deep in conversation with a knot of elder wolves and high-ranking Lycans.
He had punished them quietly. Without a single word to her. He had taken three powerful Alphas who had humiliated her in public, and he had squeezed their packs until they came crawling to her on their knees, begging for the mercy only she could grant.
And he had never told her.
You’re not my type of woman, he had said, only last night, in that cold voice that had cut deeper than she let on.
She did not understand him at all. Why did he keep doing these things?
Choosing her favourite colour for her gown, steadying her shaking hands, dismantling the standing of Alphas on her behalf in the quietest, most ruthless way imaginable, over an insult she had already forgiven and forgotten?
Why, she wondered, the ache rising sharp behind her ribs, do you keep doing this, if I mean so little to you?
As if he had heard the thought, Derek turned his head, slowly.
Across the entire crowded hall, his amber eyes found hers and held them.
And for one long moment, everything else in the room simply faded away. The voices dimmed. The crowd blurred.
There was only the two of them, the King and the Queen, staring at one another across a sea of their own people, saying nothing and somehow everything.
"...Your Highness? Your Highness?"
One of the Alphas’ voices finally cut through the spell.
Kira blinked hard and tore her gaze away, turning back to the three men. Her fingers had drifted, without her noticing, to the wedding band on her left hand, twisting it absently round and round.
It had been getting tighter lately. Snug against her finger in a way it never used to be. She made a mental note, somewhere in the back of her mind, to have it looked at.
"I’ll speak to the King," she said, gathering herself, putting the warmth back into her voice. "Don’t worry yourselves. Whatever ban he’s placed on your packs, I’ll see that it’s lifted."
The relief that swept across their faces was almost funny. The three Alphas bowed deeply, falling over themselves to thank her, praising her graciousness all over again, calling her the kindest queen the West had seen in a generation.
But Kira was no longer listening.
Her eyes had already drifted past their shoulders, drawn to a flash of movement near the great doors at the far end of the hall.
A figure was slipping out. Dressed in crimson jacket with unhurried stride.
Brian.
And he was looking directly back at her, that loathsome smirk curling his mouth, holding her gaze for one second.
Then he gave her a slow nod, turned and walked out through the doors.
That bastard, Kira thought, her blood running hot.
She excused herself from the Alphas and started after him, determined to confront whatever game he was playing.
