Chapter 279: Sienna stole from the king.
After dinner, and thirty minutes of stretching, Sienna joined Elias in bed. The compound was quiet, the echoes of the day’s storm had long passed. Sienna lay beside her husband, the moonlight spilling across the lantern near the window, creating moving shadows on the wall. Elias was awake, his ears twitched faintly, betraying his restlessness.
For a long while, he said nothing, and Sienna assumed there would be no night time conversation. Then, in a voice low and rough, he broke the silence.
"I should have investigated the academy on a deeper scale before sending the children there. I feel like I failed them. If something worse had happened to your brother, it would have been my fault."
She turned her head, studying the sharp line of his jaw. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, but his hand clenched the blanket tightly. Sienna reached out, resting her palm against his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath the layers of muscle.
"It wasn’t your duty," she said softly. "It was mine. My brother, my cousins, my relatives. They were the ones attending the academy. I should have paid more attention and looked beneath the shiny walls. We trusted reviews from other parents, information online and the beautiful history and academic success.
But, we are both not to be blamed. Danny Risser was too well hidden. If he had not targeted Soren, maybe we would not have known about the rot within. Perhaps this was the doing of a god. They made Soren a target so that others could be saved and justice could be served."
His gaze shifted to her finally, eyes gleaming with a mixture of regret and admiration. "You did more than see. You tore open the academy’s unknown dark side. I run this city, and I never knew about this. One hundred and eighty nine unreported incidents...if you could, you would have read all the names of those children until your voice broke." He smiled a little, "I think your desire to do your duty is the most admirable thing about you. It gives you courage. Back then, when you admitted to being a different Sienna and said you would do your duty, I felt slighted. I guess my mind was not broad enough to understand that your duties go beyond just this family--just me."
Sienna smiled faintly, though her throat tightened at the memory. "I don’t know if I have courage or a simple case of stubbornness. All I know is that I was not about to let the Risser’s continue their era of tyranny. Even if Danny had been expelled and the king did not show up, I would have haunted that kid to his next school and done all I could to pull down his grandfather from power."
Elias laughed: deeply and genuinely. "Do you know how many have tried to bring down the Prime Envoy over the years? The man has thousands of enemies that schemed and plotted daily to have him removed from his position. None succeeded. And yet it took one human woman. You." He shook his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Nobody could have foreseen that."
She chuckled, rolling her eyes. "It serves him right for looking down on humans. But don’t make me sound like some legend. I am just a woman who refused to be ignored."
"Exactly," he said, his voice suddenly warm.
She chuckled again. "If the king had spared the Prime Envoy and his family, I was planning to have their crimes printed on paper and spread through every city by having bees air drop them. And then, I was going to follow it up by framing them for different crimes."
Sienna had more to say, but Elias leaned forward and kissed her suddenly. It was not a tentative kiss, nor one born of hesitation. It was fierce, claiming, as though he had decided in that instant that silence and regret had no place between them.
She stiffened for a heartbeat, startled, and melted into the heat of it, her fingers curling against his chest. He had been aloof emotionally since he found out about her transmigration. Since he had taken the leap to cross the line first, she found herself unwilling to push him away.
When he pulled away, his breath lingered against her lips. "You taste like amber fruit. It is eaten by only royals and they don’t give it out as gifts, even to beast lords. Where did you get it?"
Sienna’s heart thudded, but she forced a simple smile. "What amber fruit? I have no idea what you are talking about."
He made a small growl. "Sienna?"
She exhaled. "Fine. Fine. You don’t have to beat it out of me, I will tell you what I did. The king stole half of my inventory so while he was here listening to the ’you are so fat’ nonsense, I sent Geo to his royal ship to borrow a few things."
He moved to the side, groaning as if he was in pain. "You will be the death of me someday, woman. How could you steal amber fruit? That stuff is very precious and very rare. If I didn’t know any better I would think that Geo was setting you up." Elias pushed his body up. "We have to return it. If you had taken something ordinary, I would be on your side. But amber fruit is different. It is beneficial for lion beast men.
When they discover that it is missing, the king will not be the only displeased royal. While he can write it off and laugh, it is not the same with the rest of them. Not all royals are willing to be friends with us or look away when you commit mischief."
She huffed. "My sea weed was precious to me. It is precious to humans. Why can he steal it but I can’t steal his amber fruit?"
Elias raised his brows. "Sea weed can be found anywhere. Amber fruit grows once every three years and a single tree produces only one fruit. There are only eighty trees in existence. I am sure you can tell which is more precious." He bent over, kissed her on the forehead and covered her with a blanket. "Sleep, I will sneak your stolen gains back to where they should be."
She didn’t get to argue her case, because he stormed out of the room, bellowing Liman’s name.
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