Chapter 470 The Queen Wants To Go To The Festival
When Nicholas shared his concern with Noel, the former royal lycan hunter captain agreed with him. There had been no significant progress with Armeria and they had slowly lowered their guard from the possibility of open war.
Nicholas assumed this was due to the lack of leadership in that kingdom. He heard that the previous human king had died in his captivity during Alpha Elias' reign of terror and he didn't leave any surviving children to avenge his death and take over power from their invaders.
The line of the Armerian royal family who had been ruling the kingdom for almost twenty generations was wiped out. Now, it truly belonged to the Obsidian Sand Pack. After Alpha Elias died in a duel between the two Alphas, Leland was supposed to be the next Alpha of the pack and king of Armeria.
He seemed to take that role for a few months and then left with Eloise, his new Luna, in what the witches called their pilgrimage journey to their place of origin.
Ugh.... thinking of Leland and that new woman made Nicholas feel very annoyed.
He clenched his fist to the side and turned to Noel, who was standing before him and ready to hear his order. Nicholas said, "I have surveillance missions for you and your men. You need to get me everything you can get about Karenina and Catherine. Catherine is Luciel's and Jan's former teacher. She is a witch and she was based in Hastings. I got some warning from a mysterious person about the two women."
"Very well, Your Majesty," said Noel. He didn't ask the reason whenever Nicholas asked him to do things. He only obeyed and did everything asked of him. He knew the king must have strong reasons for his decisions.
"One more thing," said Nicholas again. "I also want you to send several spies to infiltrate Armeria dan find any information you can get about Leland. And if the man is not there, find out who is the current leader of the pack and every single thing about him. I want to know what he has for breakfast or what he does when no one is watching."
Nicholas thought he had been complacent for months because he was so focused on Sophie and her children. Now, he realized he must stay vigilant regarding their common enemy, the Obsidian Sand Pack if he wanted to make sure Sophie and her children always stay safe.
"I have sent two spies, Your Majesty," said Noel apologetically. "However, they didn't get anything useful."
Nicholas scoffed. "Send more people."
"Will do, Your Majesty."
Once Noel took his leave, Nicholas sat back on his chair and thought about everything. He decided to go to his personal library and checked books about witches and wizards. Since Eloise was a witch, he wanted to know more about her and where she could possibly take Leland if they really went to her place of origin.
Nicholas opened the door and walked to the bookcases to find books about history and about the witches. The king spent hours and hours reading, trying to find anything interesting about them. However, since he didn't know exactly what to look for, he couldn't find the information that might be useful.
After three days of reading and trying to connect the dots of things, Nicholas gave up.
"This all sounds more like a fairy tale or stupid fantasy story," he muttered to himself. There was so much folklore from the witches and wizards community that sounded like children's bedtime stories.
He read stories about wicked wizards who turned themselves into people who had died and took after their identities to trick their families into giving them all their wealth, magical stones that could keep records of events as they happened which were used by a princess to free herself from being accused of adultery by her husband, and many more.
So many interesting stories about magic but none of them made sense. Maybe to some degree, Nicholas could see them being true. But it was hard to believe.
"I need a drink," he said after he closed the book for the day. He stretched his arms and got up from his reading chair and went to the door. He had been avoiding Sophie and only met her once a day, during dinner, because he was feeling sad and frustrated about his mounting feelings for her.
He was worried that his feelings would be more and more obvious and he didn't want to make things awkward again between them.
"Hello," Nicholas greeted everyone when he entered the dining room. Sophie and her older children were seated at the dining table, together with the queen. They all wondered why Nicholas looked haggard these days. The king combed his hair with his fingers and put on a smile. "Let's have dinner."
He talked less and less these days that his mother thought he was sick. To ease his mother's worry, Nicholas told her that he just had too much work to do. It was summer and, usually, the kingdom of Riga would hold a festival throughout the whole kingdom.
It was a moment of celebration for all the citizens where the kingdom would give tax relief for the rich, gifts and free food for the poor. All towns and cities would be decorated lavishly. It was a way to be grateful to the gods for a good harvest and hope the gods would continue to bless them with more prosperity in the future.
It was such a big deal and Nicholas, as the king, wanted to make sure that this year's festivities would be even bigger and better than last year's because he personally felt so blessed by the gods.
Of course, this was just an excuse he made up on the spot for his mother, but it worked to make the queen feel relieved.
She gushed. "Ah, I agree with you. I feel so blessed and happy this year too. So many grandchildren, more than I could ever hope for. We should double the donation for the poor. They deserve to have a happy celebration this year too."
Sophie coughed unconsciously when she heard Queen Marianne refer to Sophie's children as her many grandchildren. Truly, the queen's acceptance and love for her had touched Sophie so deeply.
She looked at the queen with teary eyes and remembered her own mother who died when she was young. Her mother, Anne, would have loved Queen Marianne. They could be good friends if only Anne was still alive.
Sophie could see how the two women had similarities. They both doted on their children, they loved and fought for their family fiercely, and overall were filled with so much love.
"I remember several festivities I attended when I was younger," Sophie said. "The harvest festival is the best time of the year for so many people."
She remembered her first 'date' with Leland was to attend this festival when they were in Hastings. She and her maid went to the nearby town to see the festival and Leland said he wanted to come because he had business in that area.
He ended up finishing his business quickly and joining Sophie for a picnic. It was a really wonderful experience. Years later, Sophie found out that Leland lied about having a business meeting there and only made up an excuse to accompany her to see the festival.
Since it was a really nice experience, Sophie would sometimes go to the festivals around Hastings over the next years. The children were probably too young to remember it.
After they moved to Lievstad, they stopped attending the festival. Now, Sophie wanted to take her children to see the festivities so they could experience it too.
"We can go this year," Sophie said to Luciel and Jan. "And I will also participate by giving free drinks in my tavern during the festival day."
"Aww.. that sounds wonderful," the queen gushed. She rubbed her chin and then looked at Nicholas. "By the way, I have never attended the festival celebration outside with the common folks. Can I go this year? I want to accompany the boys to see the festival."
Nicholas laughed when he heard his mother's request. "Of course, you can, mother. You don't have to ask my permission. I just want you to be careful and always listen to your personal guards. They are just doing their job to keep you safe."
"Ah, you are the king. I have to ask your opinion. Your father was very rigid. He never allowed me to attend those festivals..." Queen Marianne pouted. "I even begged him several times, but he kept saying no."
Nicholas looked at his mother tenderly and said, "Mother... I am not my father."
The queen looked at her son back. A smile curved up slowly on her lips and she muttered, "No, you're not. You're my son. You are a better man."
She wiped her eyes and then took her wine up, downed it, and then said happily, "I will be going to the festival with my grandchildren. I am so blessed!"
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