Chapter 35: The King Is Busy!
"Mother, what is wrong?" Samantha asked, a wave of deep worry washing over her features. Her mother looked as though she had just seen a ghost, not the King.
There was no immediate answer and the heavy silence terrified her; she had never in her life seen her mother looking so utterly broken. Spinning around, Samantha barked at the servants working nearby, "Leave the kitchen immediately... all of you."
The servants quickly bowed and scrambled out, leaving the two women entirely alone.
Her mother sank heavily onto a stone seat close to the fireplace, her eyes welling with hot tears as she stared blankly into the flames.
"Talk to me, Mother. You are scaring me," Samantha urged, dropping to her knees beside her. Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed her mind, and her heart gripped with panic. "Is it Ragnar? Did something happen to my brother?"
"No, Samantha," Aunt Freya whispered, shaking her head quickly. No, nothing bad had happened to her sweet son. This had absolutely nothing to do with Ragnar.
"Then what is it?"
"I just met with Kane and he spoke to me in a way he has never, ever done before," Aunt Freya said. Raw confusion clouded her face as she spoke, as if she were still entirely in disbelief that the interaction had actually occurred. "I am still completely shaken by it."
"W-what?" Samantha’s lips remained parted in sheer shock. For a fleeting second, she hoped her mother would say it was all some twisted joke.
Kane respected her mother immensely—Freya essentially acted as the Queen Mother of the tribe. What could have possibly changed?
"Yes... he practically shouted at me and he refused to even hear my side of the story," Aunt Freya sobbed, finally unable to stop the tears from spilling over. They came rushing down her pale cheeks.
Samantha felt a sharp sting of defensive fury in her chest. She had never seen her proud mother reduced to tears like this. "Let me guess... this is all because of that princess?"
"Of course it is. He acted as if he were being entirely controlled... that man didn’t sound like the Kane I have known for thirty years."
"What if she is a witch and has bewitched my cousin?" Samantha hissed, the dark theory tasting bitter on her tongue. "He only married her two days ago, and everything is already falling apart. Can’t you all see what that princess is doing to him? She was sent here to destroy this tribe!"
"Kane doesn’t want to see it," Freya wept softly. "He is completely blinded by her beauty..."
"She is not nearly beautiful enough to captivate anyone, let alone the Alpha King," Samantha hissed, snapping to her feet. Her eyes flashed with dangerous resolve. "If we don’t do something to stop her right now, she is going to make the King turn his back on his own blood forever."
"I won’t let that happen," Aunt Freya vowed, wiping the wetness from her face with the back of her hand as she stood up. "You are going to be the Luna of this pack, whether that princess likes it or not."
"So... are we going to kill her?" Samantha asked, her voice dropping to a dark whisper.
"No, Samantha. There is no need for that," her mother replied firmly. "With the failed assassination attempt last night, Kane won’t let her out of his sight. We have to find another way."
"I was actually thinking about that, Mother," Samantha said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "If you didn’t send someone to kill her, then who did?"
"I have no idea. The King is still aggressively investigating."
"What if I tell you that no one did? What if the princess hired someone herself to fake an assassination attempt just to win Kane’s pity?"
Aunt Freya looked caught off guard by the suggestion. She seriously doubted the girl would be that reckless. "I highly doubt she would do something so foolish. I saw the raw terror in her eyes after the attack... it genuinely terrified her. It couldn’t have been her doing."
Samantha nodded slowly, though she still secretly trusted her own dark instincts.
"So what do we do now, Mother? Are we just going to sit back and watch her rub her status in our faces? Will I ever get to be Queen?"
"Yes, my child," Aunt Freya promised, reaching out to grasp her daughter’s hands tightly to instill hope. "I promise you, you will wear that crown."
"But what about Kane’s curse?" Samantha asked, a sudden shadow of doubt crossing her face. "Am I really destined to be his true mate?"
"We will find a way to break that curse so that you can bear him his firstborn son," Freya assured her confidently. "Ragnar will return in two days’ time and bring me good news about Arianna’s past. I have absolute faith in your brother."
A cruel, satisfied smile slowly spread across Samantha’s face. She knew all too well that the Alpha King would be absolutely furious if Ragnar returned with proof that Ethan and the princess already knew each other intimately.
"Call the girls... we will take the food to the King’s tent ourselves," Aunt Freya said, letting go of her daughter’s hands as she walked over to where the heavy serving trays were laid out.
"Are you seriously still going through with this, Mother?" Samantha asked, completely taken aback. Her mother had just been publicly humiliated and yet here she was, still trying to please that spoiled princess.
"Yes. I will apologize to Arianna and start entirely fresh. It is for Kane’s sake," Freya explained, her voice hardening with quiet resolve. "I cannot afford to have him viewing me as his enemy."
"I can’t believe we are lowering ourselves to this," Samantha muttered, rubbing her temple as a wave of second-hand humiliation washed over her. "Fine. I will go and get the servants."
Samantha quickly summoned the maids, ordering them to lift the heavy trays of warm food and fresh fruits intended for the King and his lazy princess.
Her chest burned with envy; she should have been the one inside that grand pavilion, lying beside the Alpha King. Instead, this foreign princess had appeared out of nowhere and stolen her rightful place.
But she was going to take it back. No matter what it took.
When the small procession arrived at the entrance of the royal tent, the guards immediately stepped forward, blocking their path.
Aunt Freya’s brows snapped together in surprise. "I have brought breakfast for the King."
"We are only obeying strict instructions, Aunt," one of the guards replied respectfully. Even though his expression conveyed silent apology, he didn’t budge an inch.
"Have you forgotten who she is?" Samantha demanded, a sudden surge of defensive fury tightening her throat. She was utterly disgusted by the lack of respect they were being shown.
"No, your highness, we know exactly who stands before us," the guard answered, keeping his head lowered but his stance firm. "However, we cannot disobey a direct command from the King himself. No one enters."
"What is going on here?"
The sharp voice broke through the tension. Uncle Cassius had been passing by on his rounds when he noticed the sudden commotion building in front of the King’s tent.
"Mother brought morning meals for the King, but these guards are refusing to let us in," Samantha quickly explained, her voice dripping with annoyance as she gestured sharply toward the sentries.
"I am afraid the sun is already rising. The King prefers his breakfast early, and I prepared all of this with my own hands," Aunt Freya told him politely, her voice carrying a delicate, humble tremor.
Samantha watched her mother, privately stunned by the performance. Her mother had just boldly lied, claiming she had prepared the food herself when it was actually the kitchen servants who had cooked every single dish from scratch.
"I will check on the King and get right back to you," Cassius said, stepping toward the heavy canvas entrance.
He called out to the King three times, but no answer came from within the main pavilion. Realizing the King must be occupied elsewhere, he stepped inside the tent to investigate.
It quickly became obvious that the King was tucked away in his private inner room.
Cassius turned back to step outside and give the women his feedback, but the moment he breached the exit, he caught Samantha viciously threatening one of the sentries.
He let out a heavy sigh, wondering how long she was going to continue with this unchecked madness.
"The guards are merely acting on the King’s direct instructions, your highness," Cassius told her, his tone sharpening.
"I do not care, Cassius. It is glaringly obvious that he simply enjoys humiliating us now," Samantha spat, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Can we go inside or not?"
The sheer disrespect of her tone grated on his nerves, but rather than lose his temper, Cassius decided to deliver a calculated counterstrike.
"I am afraid you cannot go in," he replied smoothly, a cold politeness dripping from his words. "The King is currently... deeply occupied with his Queen. No one is permitted inside until he gives the explicit order to be disturbed."
The look of absolute horror that washed over Samantha’s face satisfied him more than any victory on the training grounds.
Her skin turned deathly pale as she desperately tried to comprehend the intimate reality of what was happening behind those closed flaps.
Cassius let a small, knowing smirk pull at the corner of his lips as he turned his attention to Aunt Freya. "I am truly sorry, Aunt, but you will have to come back later. I am afraid breakfast is the absolute least of the King’s concerns at the moment."
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