Page 41 of Branches of the Willow

“Well,” I said as we all left the room and shut the door, “that was mostly a waste of time.” Everyone was staring at me then, “What?” I had zero problem kicking Annabelle through the portal to hell, but judging from the looks on everyone’s faces, I was the only one who felt that way.

“We’re just surprised you sentenced a woman to the locks.” Eileen stated bluntly.

“What would you have me do? Turn her loose?”

“No, love. What your mom was getting at is that she didn’t think she’d ever see you make that harsh a call.”

I spun to make sure I could see everyone who was now standing outside of Annabelle’s cell with me. “Is that what you all think of me? You all think I’m too soft?” No one answered. They all stood there in stony silence, probably unsure of how to approach their answers. “Does everyone think I can’t be a good ruler because I try to find better ways to do things?” I slammed my fist into the wall behind me, allowing my anger a little release. “That is not being soft. It’s smart. Brute force only gets you so far. I don’t want the fear of my people. Antoine ruled like that and you see where it got our kind. We were weakened by our separation from one another. I want to earn my people’s respect, and we will be stronger for it. As for her, she deserves no mercy. Whether that decision makes me weaker or stronger in anyone’s eyes doesn’t matter to me.”

“Jess! No one said you did anything wrong or that you’re weak. We were just shocked, that’s all.” Evan spoke up while everyone else was still staring at me bug-eyed.

“She took me.” I pointed to the wall. Somewhere behind that solid concrete and steel design was the woman I spoke of. “She could have gotten me killed, Mikael killed, the baby…” I sighed heavily. “Their plan was to kill my bond, to kill Mikael, to hollow me out and give what was left to Zach to use how he wanted.”

Mikael was the one who took his anger out on the wall beside him now, punching a fist sized hole into it to keep from exploding on the woman being held nearby. My mother sucked in a shocked breath and flinched away from him.

“Annabelle and Leanna both knew what that plan was. They laughed about it. Leanna was at least a little sorry that Mikael would have to die, but…”

“But what?” Evan asked.

“Let’s go sit down in the other room first.” When everyone was situated in the room across the hall, I took a deep breath and started in. I looked at Evan first. “Do you know how your mother was chosen to be Antoine’s second mate?”

“She looked a lot like my mother, from what I was told.” Mikael answered, and Evan confirmed with a nod of his head.

“They were sisters.” I hadn’t told anyone about hearing their family history yet, because it seemed like a cruel thing to do to tear their family down even further than it already had been. Sophia had babbled on incessantly, and some of what she’d mentioned, I’d actually almost forgotten, until recent events jogged my memories. “Antoine held the one sister captive, like those girls you found. Eleanna gave birth to two sons, not one.”

“What do you mean?” Mikael appeared worried then.

“Malachi is her son as well.”

“What?” Evan repeated.

“What did you say?” Mikael looked at me with wide eyes, disbelief clouding his vision, and apparently his hearing.

“You found a woman who is pregnant with Malachi’s child remember? The same thing happened with Leanna. Only, she looked enough like Antoine’s mate that she gave birth, and then went back to the harem, leaving people to think that her sister had a baby. The only baby Antoine’s first mate gave birth to,” I said addressing Mikael, “was you.”

Mikael sat himself down, solidly, in the chair and stared off blankly at the table that was before him. “This is crazy. I don’t understand. Are you sure?”

“You were the only one born of Antoine’s bond to his first mate. That makes you, as his first born with his mate, the legitimate heir to your father’s throne, with Evan being the only other eligible sibling if you were no longer alive or able to relinquish the title. Malachi was born out of a bond, and Evan to the second bonding. Most won’t acknowledge either of those occurrences, but Evan at least has legitimacy on his side.”

Evan looked sick. “My mother knew, didn’t she? About those girls that were locked away?”

Jess nodded. “I’m pretty sure she knew they still existed.”

“I texted Serena. She should be here soon. She filled in all the blanks in my memories the other day when we talked. I heard Sophia saying things, and I remembered some of the conversation I heard Leanna and Annabelle have when they first took me. They all liked to run their mouth as if I would never remember, but then again, that’s exactly what they thought would happen. When I had my little breakdown the other day, I remembered some of the things I had overheard, and I talked to Serena about what it could mean.

“She confirmed what she knew to be true. I would rather she explain how she knows though, because I won’t do it justice, and you need to believe it.” I let everything I’d just explained to them sink in for a bit before I brought it all together for them.

“We are not just sending Annabelle to the locks. We are de-legitimizing Malachi’s claim on everything. Maybe, in doing so, it will flush him out. If someone is helping him, keeping him safe from us, they might think twice if this knowledge goes public, because Mikael is the one who would sit on a throne in Antoine’s place if I were not here, not an illegitimate child born outside of a bond.”

Again, I sat there watching the faces around us, and my father had joined us at my mom’s behest. No one spoke until Serena showed up and began explaining things.

“Those damnable Kings’ Harems…” Serena started. “We can blame my mother for yet another bungle where they are concerned. She gave the order that the family in charge must continue to procreate or else their wolf powers would be lost to all. She lied, of course. She knew that her watch dogs would die off long before any of us would, so she would need them around a while longer. She knew, that like the animal she bound them to, the wolf people were prone to mate for life. She didn’t want strong lines ending because a female died before she could procreate with the strongest of males. So, she lied and told them a king’s harem was necessary. I did not realize that it was still a practice being adhered to. Even Sophia objected to the idea. If she’d known…” A look of longing and sorrow crossed Serena’s visage at the mention of her dead sister.

“She was in love with Antoine, Serena. Sophia knew about his mates and continued to love him anyway. She may have known and indulged his beliefs because of it.”

Serena looked sad and worn down. “If only love were an easy thing.”

Mikael had come to my side while we listened to Serena speaking, and now he draped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. We could both relate to her sentiment because our beginning had not been an easy one.

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