Page 2 of Alpha's Magic

Chapter One

Asher—

Queen Rozamond was dead. She had died suddenly, and the shocking news had reached us last evening, just as we’d sat down to dinner. There had been a loud banging at the door, with the dogs running to hurl their bodies against it, going wild with barking and making an awful noise. It had caused me to spring from my chair and grab for my sword, while Wyatt pushed his omega, Darcy, behind him in alarm. We approached the door with our weapons in hand, ready for anything, but we found only King Harrison’s messenger, sent urgently to inform us of the disaster that had befallen our king’s consort.

Rozamond had also been set to inherit the throne of Sudfarma, following her father’s recent death, but to my knowledge, she hadn’t yet been coronated. Now she never would be.

From what the messenger told us, she had been riding with her entourage early that morning, on a trail she’d taken hundreds of times before. It was her custom to ride every morning, and this morning had been no exception. There had been a storm the night before, but the weather had cleared during the night, and it was sunny and beautiful when she rode out of the palace grounds. It was common knowledge that she always enjoyed a good hunt after breakfast.

Chasing foxes and watching her dogs first corner and then tear them apart was just the thing to put her in a good mood and start her day. But this time, as the dogs chased the hapless fox down the trail, a huge limb from a massive oak tree, which had been damaged during the storm the night before, had suddenly snapped with a loud crack and fallen right on top of Queen Rozamond and two of her courtiers, killing all three of them instantly.

The survivors of the hunting party had recovered her body, along with the others, and the queen had been taken back to the palace, where her body now lay in state in the Royal Chapel, awaiting the funeral that would take place in a few days. King Harrison had sent us a request to attend him right away.

“I’m sorry for Harrison, but I can’t say I’m sorry to see her gone,” Wyatt said. “She was an awful woman. Harrison hasn’t known any real happiness since he met her.”

“I feel the same way about her after what she did to Rory, but she was still Harrison’s queen. We need to support him if we can.”

“Was she really such a bad person?” Darcy asked, easing himself down on a chair by the fire as he joined us. He was almost six months pregnant with his and Wyatt’s first child.

“Imagine the most unpleasant person you know or ever heard of…then double that,” I said, and Wyatt laughed and nodded.

“True,” I said.

Darcy turned to me. “But why would Harrison ever marry such a terrible woman?”

“It’s hard to say. He must have had his reasons and thought it was a good idea at the time. He wanted trade routes to improve the economy here in Morovia, and they were desperately needed at the time. Her father made him an offer of an alliance that entailed Harrison marrying Rozamond in return for Morovia’s use of the Sudfarman ports. I think he came to regret it soon after the marriage, but he was too decent to ever say a word against her, and he tried hard to respect his marriage vows. Mostly he spent as much time as he could away from the palace.”

There was no question of whether or not we’d have to attend the funeral, even though Harrison’s entire family had despised the queen. So had his pack—namely us, or what was left of us now that Lex and Brandon had married their partners and moved away. I wondered if Lex would even show up, but in the end, I knew he would, if only for his brother’s sake. He’d hate every second of it, but he’d be there.

Our pack was scattered now, with Lex in Igella, acting as Regent for his omega, Rory, and Brandon having run off with the notorious pirate, Roxbury. They were probably living by now on Gilead, the pirate’s island in the north. Brandon kept insisting he would eventually come back to Morovia and live on his family estate, but I had my doubts. Roxbury could be very persuasive when he set his mind to it.

Wyatt and I talked it over, and we decided we should head out first thing in the morning to be with Harrison. Darcy would stay home, because Wyatt was a control freak, and Darcy was still experiencing quite a bit of sickness in the mornings. That was common for omega male pregnancies, but this baby was far too important to both of them to risk anything happening.

We set out early the next morning and made good time to Thalia, the capitol city of Morovia, riding hard and making it there by the afternoon. We went immediately to the palace and were shown to Harrison’s private quarters. We found him sitting by the fire, drinking blood red wine from an ornate goblet. An ancient looking lady, with her white wigs piled elegantly high on her head was sitting in the chair opposite him. He glanced up when we came in, his eyes glittering with tears and gave us a sad smile.

“Thank you for coming. I need my friends and brothers around me.” He gestured to the lady, who rose to her feet to curtsey to us.

“This is Lady Rochella, who was always a good friend to Rozamond.”

We bowed to her, and she smiled at us, and curtsied again. “I’ll take my leave now, Your Majesty. I just wanted to personally express my deepest condolences.”

“Thank you, Lady Rochella.”

She went toward the door with Wyatt accompanying her to open it and see her out.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Harrison sagged in his chair. “They’ve been coming all morning. Courtiers, ladies in waiting, old friends…one after another. It’s been exhausting.” He reached up and laid a hand on my arm. “Thank you again for coming so quickly.”

“Of course,” I said, sitting down next to him. “We’re sorry for your loss. Tell us how we can help.”

“I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done. The priests have all the arrangements in hand. Her younger brother, Prince Chandler, is on his way here from Sudfarma—I suppose I should call him King Chandler now, if indeed there is an investiture in a few days’ time. The council has to approve it first, along with his husband Kellman as a Regent. Chandler has assured me he’ll keep all the treaties with Morovia in place, but that really depends on his Regent.”

“The priest he married?”

“Yes. He’s not popular with the council or the Sudfarman people, so the council may surprise us and name a new heir. I believe there are several contenders. Alfrid was like the old king, his father, Hendrick. When he was young, Alfrid was known for spreading his seed all over the court, even with the ladies in waiting. Alfrid had many illegitimate children, so there should be plenty stepping forward.”

“Unless you think this might be a good time to stake your own claim to Sudfarma. We stand ready to back you on that.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. I have no real basis for that. It will be a couple of weeks before the council meets to decide anything, and I find it hard to think about all that now.”

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