Chapter 87 - You’ll never get close enough

EMMA

Dex takes the bow from the wall that I thought was decoration. The bow is long and made of dark wood. The grain is prominent and it curves around the length.

Dex takes an arrow from a leather case. The metal tip gleams in the light coming from the windows. He hardly takes time to get in position as he lifts the bow and arrow in his hands. He releases the tightly wired string and shoots the arrow to the far end of the room.

The arrow swishes through the air. I turn around to follow the destination and it lands in the dead center of a circular target made of straw. Also, something I thought was just decoration.

I turn back to Dex with a frown. He’s watching me with a victorious smirk. This guy is crazy if he thinks that killing the Alpha King will be that easy.

“You’ll never get close enough.” Getting into the kingdom is one thing. Getting into Sanguinem is another thing altogether, but getting into the palace and let alone the throne room woul be impossible.

Lucas chuckles and it’s the first laughter I’ve heard from him since yesterday. “I’ve been telling him the same.”

My brother shrugs his shoulders. “The city is a fortress, not to speak of the palace.”

My brother repeats the words that I have been thinking. I’d almost forgotten that Lucas visited me for the choosing ceremony.

He has seen Sanguinem, he has been in the palace. He has even met Hadrian. At that time I feared for his life in the proximity of the Crown Prince. That seems so long ago.

“You also said that they focus around the borders, not within the walls.” Dex counters and I can see irritation in both of them. There’s definitely some tension between them.

He might be right, but I agree with my brother on this one. “How are you getting into the kingdom? They have a whole army division guarding the borders.”

Hadrian explained to me once what his responsibilities as a General are. They have four border points that all protect a part of the border. I’ve always been relieved that he didn’t directly partake in the war. I don’t know how things would have gone between us if he killed the ones I tried to protect.

“We already figured that one out.” There is a mischievous luster to him, but Dex doesn’t elaborate. *He has it all figured out?* His comment feels like an insult.

I cross my arms and sit back on the sofa. “And what then? Are you just going to walk around until you run into the Alpha King?”

Eyes bounce from me to Dex and back to me. Dex raises an eyebrow at my annoyance. “I was hoping that you could help us with that.”

“I can’t.” I hold his gaze. He needs to realize that his plan is a suicide mission. He will not succeed. “The palace is massive, I couldn’t even tell you where his rooms are.”

I’ve no idea how many times I got lost in the palace. If it wasn’t for Miles and Callum, I would still be wandering the halls. Probably until Hadrian picked me up from a dark corner somewhere in the palace.

“What have you been doing then in those months?” Carter asks from the other side of the sofa. His black eyes have their scrutinizing gaze on me.

*Making friends with werewolves. Falling in love with the Crown Prince.*

More interested eyes follow his lead. They all turn to me and wait for my response. Most of all are the ones of my brother, they burn into my profile.

Their scrutiny is not something I was prepared for. I didn’t expect to feel out of place in my own world. This is my home, this is where I belong. My body is where it should be, but my heart is far away in the possession of Hadrian.

I shrug my shoulders. “I just know that the Alpha King spends most of his time, if not all in the throne room.”

“The security around the throne room is unparalleled to the rest of the palace.” My brother says in response.

Lucas must have spent every minute that he was in the palace soaking up information. He figured things out in twenty-four hours which took me weeks to realize.

“Nobody gets in or out the throne room without facing a dozen of the Royal Guard,” I add to his comment. The royal guards are the toughest of all. Getting through the guards around the city is peanuts in comparison to them.

“How about outside the palace?” Alex asks. There is no scrutiny in her eyes, just curiosity. She leans forward with her elbows on her knees.

“The guy has to get out to get some vitamin D, right?” Kelsey adds with her optimistic approach.

I shake my head. “This is the Alpha King, he doesn’t have to walk a step. Everyone and everything comes to him.”

I don’t know if it really is power or paranoia. Maybe the Alpha King fears losing his throne more than anything.

“I’ve only seen him in the palace once and twice outside in the months I was there.”

“What made him go outside?” Dex asks with newfound curiosity.

“Public appearances. The first time was for a public punishment.” I think back to the clash of silver whips connecting with the back of the man who attacked Hadrian. The Alpha King was there and his dark presence made everything so much worse.

“A public punishment?” Alex asks with a raised brow. She crosses her arms and it shows the definition of her muscle.

“There was an assassination attempt on the Crown Prince. It was deemed treason and the man received a punishment for it.”

“Did he at least succeed?” Carter asks with a sudden interest. I shake my head.

“Too bad,” Dex mutters with venom and paces around the space.

The thought of Hadrian dying gives a painful stab to my chest. The world would be worse off if Hadrian died.

“Maybe we should take the Crown Prince hostage and draw the Alpha King out?” Carter suggests.

“That won’t work.”

Carter narrows his eyes at me when I cut him off. I can see suspicion building.

“The Alpha King doesn’t care about Hadrian,” I explain when their eyes start to turn to me again.

Carter scoffs. “Hadrian? Sorry Princess, didn’t know you were that close.”

“He wouldn’t come out to save his own son?” Alex asks with a raised eyebrow.

“No.” They can think what they want, this is the truth. The Alpha King wants Hadrian to die, this would just be doing him a service. They don’t see what I see. Hadrian could end this war if he became the Alpha King. Killing Alpha King Magnus is the start to ending the war but Hadrian could be the solution. The kingdom needs a healer.

Ben starts to sign with his hands, but I don’t understand what he's trying to say. His hands move swiftly between different signs.

“How about the other time?” Carter translates, his eyes are focused on Ben.

My heartbeat starts to pick up and any werewolves would catch it. Cecile would already have me under gunshot right now. Metaphorically of course. She wouldn’t need a gun.

“It was during the Blood Moon festival.”

Memories of that day resurface, the good and the bad. The need to cry prickles in my eyes and lodges in my throat. It’s not even the bad memories that hurt the most.

“They have a festival to celebrate the Blood Moon?” Kelsey asks and I notice a hint of excitement in her voice.

“The Blood Moon makes the ones with a certain bloodline stronger than ever,” I explain.

I refrain from telling them that it also severely increases their sexual drive. I don’t think I could explain without turning beet red and raising a dozen more questions. I can already feel a flush starting to itch at my chest.

“T-the effect of the blood moon generally starts at sundown, but there are festivities all day and a tournament.” I quickly explain further. I stumble over my words as I try to get to my point. “The Alpha King was present during the tournament.”

I remember seeing him in a private part of the arena. High above the rest of his citizens, but exposed to the red sky.

Dex hangs his bow over his shoulder. “Do you think I could get an angle on him?”

I take a moment to really think about the possibility. “Maybe from the roof of the palace.” I bite my lip as I visualize the possibilities. “The palace was basically empty that day.”

“That still brings us back to the issue of getting into the city and into the palace,” Lucas says with a grimace.

Getting into the city and then the palace would be the biggest challenge. Unless they take the same way in as I took out. *Through the tunnels.*

“I might have an idea,” I whisper with a sigh. Everyone seems to have heard me.

They look at me as they wait for me to give them the nail to the Alpha King's coffin.

Giving them the map could be the start of ending the war.