Page 3 of Crown of Chaos

“That bitch out front has some balls on her.” Brander grunted, eyeing the witches with barely contained hatred.

The council had voted, and done so without my knowledge. I’d formed the council with leaders, and subjects of every class throughout their kingdoms. Unlike the last council, I’d wanted one where people got a say in their future. It allowed the rulers a seat, and those beneath them to speak freely and allow their voices to be heard. It allowed us to know when rulers overstepped, or crushed people unjustly. Lately, they’d gotten braver, excluding me from the votes and making choices without me. I didn’t like the thought, but I’d promised to hear them out and see it from their side. If they persisted, they’d end up headless like the last council had.

“Not balls,” I muttered while churning the council’s urging over in my mind. “Since they returned, they’ve been making deals to secure their seat on the council. Someone here whispered to the others and got them an audience tonight. It begs the question, did they use that ear to shield Aria before now, or is there someone else on it who intends to use her for their own agenda?” Disgust clung heavily to my words.

People moved aside as the witches made their way toward the stairs leading up to the palace. Tensely, I scanned the crowd for Aria. I hadn’t caught her scent in over a month, and everything within me needed to find her. It was a visceral drive that I couldn’t eradicate from my soul.

I’d spent weeks ignoring the desire to rip the realms apart to locate her. Lennox wanted her, and nothing I did or tried had eased his demand. Inhaling deeply, I fought the disappointment when I discovered her subtle rose scent was not within the courtyard.

“I hate to say it, but this will not end as the council thinks.” Killian snorted, and his grip on the railing tightened before he pushed up, gazing out over the crowd, all vying for a look at the untethered, unclaimed witches moving about freely.

“No, it won’t. The council has organized moves without including me. If I disagree with their decision, they’ll regard it as a slight against them. A king is only as good as the men who stand with him,” I mused, hating that they’d deadlocked us into a position I didn’t want to be in. “We need to at least pretend to fall in line if we hope to learn who has been helping the witches broker the deals they’ve been making. I want to know who the hell is trying to get them back into the fold. I don’t care if you have to fuck the answer out of someone. Just do it.”

“Daddy gets to play.” Lore chuckled, gradually turning to grin at me.

“You don’t need to fuck them to get the answers you seek.” Greer scoffed, but then a male below caught his attention and he smiled with a hooded expression. “I’ll ask my companion for the evening. He adores court intrigue and is skilled in obtaining information for me. I will see you all tonight in the library.”

Greer fixed his shirt before walking to the open balcony doors. Lore made a strangled sound as he caught sight of a woman watching him from the crowd.

“Daddy found his snack for the night. I will meet you later, brothers.” Then he vanished, only to reappear below a second later.

Unimpressed by the fact that he hadn’t waited for the council meeting to unfold, I turned to level the others with a look of unease.

“This will break her,” I stated, not sure why it hurt me so much to express the truth.

I hated that people were turning against Aria, but I’d warned her to trust no one and that not even those closest to her would remain by her side. That they’d do whatever it took to save themselves, which was exactly what they were doing.

“I’m not worried about her. Aria is smarter than most people we know, and she is ahead of her enemies. Unfortunately, that includes us,” Brander returned coolly.

He stepped back, joining me in the shadows as the witches moved beyond sight. Aria was brilliant, but that wasn’t what worried me. Betrayal was hard to swallow, even when you were prepared for it. She was kindhearted and soft in areas where this would cut her the deepest.

I preferred she never knew that pain, and that revelation caused a great need to rise within me. It demanded I find out where she was so I could keep her safe.

Aria wasn’t alone in her plans, either. The witches from my army had assisted her, setting things into motion to free her from my grasp. Siobhan, a powerful witch in her own right, had spelled another witch to attack Aria while we’d been in camp. The assault had led to Aria removing her rib, which held my mark and name. It eliminated my ability to merely think about her and be able to hunt her down through the invisible thread that I’d linked her to me with.

She and Soraya had known who Aria was and had implemented a plan to get her out without being tracked. The only thing that kept that plan from being discovered was that Aria hadn’t been aware of what was happening. They hadn’t expected her to sustain that much damage or for Bekkah to have cast her own spell on the men within the camp.

It had taken me weeks to put the pieces together and question the few witches who hadn’t escaped us. None of them felt bad for betraying Siobhan once she was away, and each pined for the chance to take her place in my army. Plus, none wanted to pass on Killian’s offer for a night with him in exchange for information.

I strode down the vacant hallway that led to the throne room. All council members were here tonight—each having been summoned to explain why their course of action had changed. They’d demanded I bring the Hecate bloodline back to the Nine Realms to be executed. Now they wanted to bring them back onto the council? I’d demand answers from them, but not in front of the witches. If the council didn’t want to end up like the last one, they needed to remember how to use their fucking heads before I removed them. My wall was looking bare lately, and my blade was thirsty for blood.

There was also their attempt to control me and force me to be their puppet king. I probably deserved it for doing that exact thing to Aria, but that didn’t mean I’d actually allow them to continue pulling my strings. I’d allowed them to believe they held my reins, and if they wanted the witches to sit on the council, I’d let them assume they had won. I could pretend to fall in line and be whatever they wished until they hung themselves with their own ropes.

“We remain a united front in that room,” I informed over my shoulder, knowing that Killian and Brander followed me. “We’ll let them think they’ve won and decline to vote on the witches rejoining the council. I need everyone to monitor the chamber and watch for someone to give away that they’re in league with the witches. Once we figure that out, we can start moving pieces and securing the council once more.” What Dimitri had said to Aria hadn’t been far from my mind. Unfortunately, he was still on ice, healing from what Aria had done to him, and I couldn’t demand he explain. My dick twitched at the memory, and the skin on my forehead smoothed with thoughts of the bloodthirsty vixen who’d ripped Dimitri’s heart out.

“Political shit gives me a headache,” Brander announced grouchily.

“So, what’s the plan if they demand Aria’s life?” Killian asked.

“She isn’t dying,” I snapped, unable to keep the anger from my words. “She is my wife, and that hasn’t changed. I doubt they’ll come in asking for blood. Especially knowing I claimed her and she bears my mark.”

They could ask for her life, but I wouldn’t allow that to happen. In no world was Aria dying or being taken by anyone other than me. I intended to discover where she was hiding and reclaim what was rightfully mine.

I wouldn’t make the same mistakes with Aria, and it mattered little what anyone said. Not a single one of them could face me in battle and win, and they knew it. The only creature within all the realms that could take me on was Hecate, and that spineless bitch was in hiding.

Pushing through the doors, I entered without being announced. I cared little for or about their social protocols. Politics and the sliminess that came with them drove me batshit crazy. There were serpents amongst them that had been directing and using me as their blade. Not that I had minded, but I was over their bullshit backstabbing antics.

I glanced around the circular room, noting that they packed it full tonight. The crimson chairs that sat higher up were crammed with lords hoping to gain footing in the hierarchy with the coming changes. They flooded the middle rows with lords and ladies seeking to please their king or queen by adding numbers to their votes. The bottom rows were filled with the royalty, who relaxed in plush, royal-blue winged-back chairs that made up the widest circle. My seat, however, was closest to the dais where those who wished to voice their opinion or call for a vote would stand to announce it. Smaller chairs composed the lines of seating behind my spot, a nod to the stature and reputation of the men I held in my circle. Two chairs sat beside mine, one that would eventually be for my queen and the other for Killian, my closest friend and advisor to the king. Currently, Brander used the one for the queen while Killian settled into his.

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