Wicked king, p.1
Wicked King, page 1
Wicked King
Book Five in the Territorial Mates Series
Mary E. Twomey
Contents
Wicked King
1. The Value of a Shifter
2. First Pain
3. Medical Unprofessionals
4. Babysitting Heidi
5. Unconscious
6. Heidi’s Mammy
7. Secret Safe Room
8. Scared Ducky
9. Awake
10. Hide-and-Seek
11. Too Many Secrets
12. Dirty and Dangerous
13. Suspect
14. Kaven
15. Old Wounds
16. Captured
17. Forest Fire
18. Guarding the Royals
19. A Shred of Light
20. Ronin’s Daughter
21. Ronin’s Lamb
22. Protective
23. Healer Fiora
24. Vulnerable
25. Confessions in the Tub
26. Naming the Enemy
27. Alone Time
28. Respectful and Silent
29. Mated
Malicious King
1. Corsets
About the Author
Copyright © 2020 Mary E. Twomey
Cover Art by Emcat Designs
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All rights reserved.
First Edition: January 2020
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
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This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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For information:
www.maryetwomey.com
Created with Vellum
For Uncle Tony,
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Who always has the right answer,
but is humble enough
to make you think you came up with it.
Wicked King
Coming together wasn’t supposed to be this difficult.
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Tensions run high when prejudices are brought to light in Drexdenberg. A harsh penalty for attacking the migrant shifters is instated, but that doesn't mean Adeline and her family are safe from the bigoted assaults of the vampires. When she finds she can't be quiet any longer over the exploitation of her people, all targets aim themselves at her, whether she's ready for the abuse or not.
Ronin knows that keeping his relationship with Adeline a secret is the best move, but when the hatred of his people threatens to take her out, he realizes he cannot stand by quietly any longer. Fighting for her cause will only earn him more enemies, but when Adeline makes it clear that there's no turning back, his fate is certain: Ronin's love for Adeline might just cost him his country... or even his life.
1
The Value of a Shifter
Adeline
I can’t imagine how the queen hasn’t dropped from exhaustion yet. She’s been on her feet all day, and her address to the nation isn’t exactly going as planned.
Actually, tha’s not true. Benny and all of us guards planned for exactly this—the majority of the Drexdenberg territory throwing a fit because they don’t like what she’s got to say.
“I’ve been educated at length on the greatness of the Drexdenberg nation, of the vampires who mine the purest ivorum the world has ever seen. I’ve learned of ivorum’s many properties, one of which is that it’s a purifier. When ground into dust, it can cleanse quicker and more thoroughly than just about anything. Did you know your ancestors used to grind the ivorum into powder to take when they had stomachaches or food poisoning?”
Judging by the murmurs, that’s not something a lot of them were aware of.
Lilya’s head is held high. “It cured them. Purified their insides. We’ve moved onto other medicinals now, because of the high premium the fae put on ivorum to build their towers.” She pauses to admire them all. “You turned an old stomach remedy into a palace. You do that. You make the world beautiful. That’s part of your legacy.”
Queen Lilya pauses for the gruntled shouts of affirmation, which come begrudged but are there all the same. Her lavender hair and pale white skin mark her as fae, but when she married the vampire prince Destino, and then he inherited his family’s throne, the unthinkable happened—a fae woman was given rule with her husband over the vampire people.
They took it about as well as anyone could imagine.
Her dainty chin is raised in calm defiance of everything she was never supposed to become. It’s a beauty of a sight, tha’s certain.
Though I’m a shifter and far from anyone with authority, she is my queen. Such is my respect for this fearless woman tha I feel united with her, and tha surpasses any differences we might have been born with.
Queen Lilya grips the railing on the balcony as the wind picks up and whistles through her curls. “So it’s no surprise to me that you would want to protect your heritage and your future from corruption.”
This is the part where the racist arses feel safe enough to come into the light, nodding with fervency because they think she’s talking about the first (and only) wave of one hundred shifters who migrated into vampire territory once the borders were torn down.
I fight back a smile of pride, thinking of how masterful she is. She’s practiced this speech on me a dozen times already, but I never tired of hearing it.
“The corruption we must all band together to fight off is the habit of hatred. That engrained need to be small and safe. That was never supposed to be Drexdenberg’s destiny. The vampire people are made of daring and beautiful stuff, and they don’t shy away from progress just because it looks a little different or requires some work.” Her voice rises to an impassioned shout. “The citizens of Drexdenberg are fearless!”
A healthy portion of them are confused enough to agree with her, their fists in the air with a triumphant, “Yeah!”
Benny’s guarding Ronin, so I shouldn’t worry about him. Ronin’s not my charge; the queen is. It’s the most important job a guard can have, and, thanks to the wretched political climate of the day, it’s also the most dangerous.
And I friggin’ love it.
Queen Lilya keeps her head high. “So we will not tolerate any belief that dictates we keep our future small.”
She grips the stone balcony as if she means to tear it off and hurl it at the people below just to knock some sense into them.
“We lowered our borders and invited one hundred shifters into our land to show them what an amazing place Drexdenberg is. I was so excited to let them move from famine into our land of plenty. I trusted in the stories I was told about you, that you were wise.”
Her tone turns bitter as King Destino, her vampire husband, steps forward to stand at her side on the castle’s stone balcony, and Ronin, the retired King of Drexdenberg, stands at her other, enforcing her speech and her rule.
“I was wrong about you. You took one hundred starving and hopeful shifters and killed off thirty of them in the first six months. Their biggest crime was that they were foolish enough to trust you had it all together, and that you cared about life more than about winning a game only you are playing. Four vampires have gone missing in the past month near what used to be the Faveda border. Four. There have been memorials and search parties to look for them, which is good. You should care. You should also care about the thirty shifters who died on our soil.”
She shakes her head at them, her upper lip curled in disgust. “Children care about winning. Heroes care about life.”
Her voice rises to a pained shout, her words scraping against the injustice as my own soul rises to right alongside hers. “Where are my heroes? Where were you when our shifters were accused of violent crimes they couldn’t possibly have committed? Tell me why no flowers were strewn on the graves of the shifters you murdered! They are citizens of Drexdenberg now, too, and they deserved better from you.”
Queen Lilya quiets, collecting herself for the final blow. “They came in search of heroes, but you chose the habit of hatred, because it was easy. Every time you are silent when injustice happens, I will be loud in my shame of you. In fact…”
The queen turns and motions for the scribe to bring forward a chart large enough for the nation to see, even those far back on the greens. He keeps it under the direct light of the lantern, because vampire speeches have to be done by moonlight, since they all burn in sunlight.
Queen Lilya jabs her finger at the chart, which is a clear illustration of the national budget. “We are going to own our crimes. For every shifter Jacoba entrusted to us that we did not care for, I am sending fifty bags of gold from the treasury in that person’s name back to the city from which they were born. The party you were all hoping to come to on the castle grounds today has been cancelled. The funds for the celebration will be going to Jacoba to make reparations for our shifters in the first wave who’ve already lost their lives.”
King Destino takes the second half of the speech, his voice carrying the respect earned from endless generations of his kin standing on this very balcony, giving speeches to the vampire masses. “The fifty bags will be taken from programs like Annual Celebration Day, and the Society for Social Betterment. If you want to implode all you love about your nation, keep up your habits of hatred.”
Is it obvious I salivate for this man? Can anyone tell it’s me who messed up his hair when we made out in his bedroom just this morning?
No, he combed it. Ronin’s never out of sorts.
We’ve been sneaking around for three months now. It would be quite the scandal if we were found out—the retired vampire King of Drexdenberg and the bastard shifter woman who was accused of murdering a slew of vampires by putting poison in their vodka.
Of course, I was cleared of all charges, but tha would hardly matter if we were found out.
Actually, my genetics alone would be enough to cause a riot. Sure, the queen married outside of her race, but I am no queen.
I’m Queen Lilya’s shifter guard when she’s in Drexdenberg, so I tear my eyes from Ronin’s tight backside and scan the crowd for anyone with something other than a grudge to throw at my charge.
Benny steps forward, since tha’s the last of her speech. I listened to her go over it three times this evening alone, so I know this is the moment to escort the royals back into the castle.
But instead of turning back, Lilya leans forward, her waist pressed to the railing. “I’ve got one last message to those who call themselves the Territorialists out there.”
My spine straightens but I try to keep my face composed.
Nothing should surprise a guard. If it does, I’m not doing my job. I should’ve guessed the queen would go off-book.
Lilya’s voice is strengthened with rage. “When we selected the first wave of shifters to come into our land, we chose the best, with the cleanest records. Thanks to a leak in your organization, we know exactly who you are, and we’re watching. You will be found out if you try to pin any more crimes on the shifters in our care. You think they are the monsters? It’s you who are despicable, murdering your own kin to frame the innocent. Territorialists are the worst thing about Drexdenberg, and I will see you thrown into my dungeons so the true spirit of Drexdenberg can be free.”
The Territorialists framed me a few months ago, in hopes I would be thrown in the dungeon so the vampires would never have to look on my shifter complexion again.
The queen doesn’t pause for a reaction or wait to see if anyone agrees with her.
Like the stunning ruler she is, Lilya turns on her heel and exits the balcony, moving into the safety of the castle.
Though I want to make sure Destino and Ronin get in safely, Queen Lilya is my charge, so I’m never more than a few feet from her the moment she’s out of the castle and in the open.
The second we’re hidden from view of the territory, she presses her palm to her chest, her eyes wide. “Well, we’re in it now.” She lets out a nervous chuckle tha reminds me she’s around my age, and capable of nerves. One would never guess it by the way she takes charge and doesn’t shy away from insisting the truth is told.
“Was it your plan to call out the Territorialists like tha? I don’t seem to remember tha being part of your speech.”
Her chuckle grows even as she tries to muffle it with her hand. “No, it just slipped out. Oh, Ronin’s going to be mad.”
Uh, yeah. One of the many things I adore about my secret boyfriend is tha he needs to know all the details of what goes on in his country. He cares deeply about the vampires, and wants to know which curveballs are coming for his head before they’re launched.
True to form, Ronin marches in with Benny on his heels. “Is it your goal in life to give me a heart attack?” he asks Lilya. There’s underlying frustration in his tone, but not rage. “I’ve already handed down the throne to you and Destino, there’s no need to speed along my death. And well done bringing up the four missing vampires our soldiers still haven’t managed to find.”
Lilya leans against the wall, her hands between her back and the stone surface. “I don’t regret a single sentence. Shifter lives matter, Ronin. They needed to hear everything, so they did. I’m not about to let them think they’re being all sneaky.” Her upper lip curls. “The fact that I mentioned they have a leak in their organization is going to create distrust.”
“But it’s not true. We have Dovid, who isn’t part of their madness. They’re going to wreak even more havoc,” Ronin warns. “This is why we rehearse the speeches before we give them, Lilya. Honestly.”
The queen flips her hair over her shoulder, making her truly look young and unaffected. “I did rehearse that part, just not in front of you. You never would’ve let me say it.”
“Of course I wouldn’t!” Ronin balks, but King Destino comes in from the balcony to distract from the tirade.
“Blue eyes,” he greets his wife with his hand on her hip, “I trust Ronin’s giving you the hard time I’m too chicken to?”
The queen huffs, her hand on her hip. “He’s trying to. You two are impossible. You don’t see what I’m trying to do here. They’re going to be so busy turning on themselves and trying to suss out which one of them is the leak, that it’ll buy us some time to get ahead of the problem.”
I love my job. Benny meets my eyes with concealed laughter because, as much as we might want to weigh in with an opinion, it’s to the royal family to duke it out. They’re just cute, is all.
Kaven catches my eye and shares in the smirk.
I’m still getting used to the new guard. Truly, they’re all new to me, except for Benny. Kaven isn’t nearly as tall as Benny or Ronin, but he’s just as solid as Benny, which is saying something. Benny’s to guard Ronin, I’m to guard Queen Lilya when she’s in Drexdenberg, and Kaven travels with King Destino as his guard.
The three of us are on duty together a fair amount, being tha our charges are often together. When our charges were discussing politics about the border tha was taken down, the three of us started up a poker game.
It’s strange to have money again. I was barely scraping by, supporting my sister and our daughter in a land where no one would give me a job for far too long.
I need to go check on Maisie and Heidi.
I fend off the overprotective urge as soon as it rises in my sternum. Maiseline’s capable of looking after herself now, and Heidi’s with her tutor. They’re safe, so I can do my job of protecting the throne.
The din outside grows to a fever pitch while Ronin, Destino and Lilya go back and forth.
I move to the door tha leads to the balcony while Benny instinctively knows to position himself at the door to the hallway, just in case.
I take only two steps onto the balcony before a rock is lobbed in my direction.
Instead of backing up, I close the doors behind me and step to the edge, locating the idiot who’s so proud of himself for his stellar pitch.
I catch the eye of one of the perimeter guards and give him a nod, which thankfully, he obeys. He plows through the throngs of people, some leaving for their homes, now tha no party is going to happen, but most stick around to grumble and shout about their anger.
It takes the guard a minute to get to the roundabout area of the offender, and when he does, he looks up at me to direct him to the right vamp. I guide him with subtle nonverbal cues I learned to communicate with when Benny gave me the grand initiation onto the team.
