Chapter 155: Culture Shock

Adolph followed Eden’s lead through the city, trying not to flinch at every fearful whisper. He wondered if the werewolves of the kingdom feared him this much or if their fear was lessened by the fact that they were under his rule.
Maybe they did fear him in their way. His blood aura had that effect on all werewolves except for Laurel. He supposed it was because she was the white wolf to his black. The thought of her made the gloom seem a little lighter in his heart and he sighed.
He was only going to be here long enough to get things mostly settled before he would return to her. How long could that take? A few weeks? A month?
He didn’t want to be away from her for a month. The thought of it made him nervous and his wolf angry in a way he hadn’t expected. He figured it was just because a month from now could be after his unborn child came into the world.
He’d been on the battlefield when Basil had been born. He’d felt Olivia’s passing like an afterthought, but he’d felt it and every day after that he hadn’t been able to hold his son. The precious few times he’d been able to see Basil during the war had kept him fighting.
It only made Gavin’s betrayal of his trust and the kingdom’s interests worse. He still wasn’t sure what to do about Gavin. He would have liked to just kill him outright, but murdering him without due cause or proof would have rocked the kingdom and had most of the nobles turned against him.
“What is that?” Chasel asked, pulling Adolph from his thoughts.
Ahead, there was a pile of rubble, overgrown with black poisonous-looking thorns. He dismounted and approached the rubble curiously. It was in what he assumed was the center of the citadel’s town space. Ash Castle loomed in the distance, but what this building could be he didn’t know.
Then, a little glint of moonlight caught his eye, familiar and drawing him in. He reached for it, shoving a piece of rock aside to reveal the small budding lunar flower. It was smaller than any bud he’d ever seen, like the smallest bit of hope at the bleakest times.
What was it doing here? This pile of rubble couldn’t be a temple.
His heart clenched as Chasel came up to him and gasped, “Is that what I think it is?”
He nodded, but it didn’t make sense. Temples fell into disrepair, but never like this. Even with the curse, these poisonous-looking thorns shouldn’t have been able to grow in the same place as a lunar flower.
“It was once a temple,” Taliesin’s voice drifted towards them. “A long time ago.”
Adolph wanted to refuse it. The thought they shared anything in common with vampires was a hard one to swallow, but the columns were the same. The stone, though old and covered in dark thorns and dead vines, was the same. There was no way he could deny that this building had once been a temple to the moon goddess.
How could one woman’s evil do so much damage?
“What happened to it?”
“Morrigan,” Eden said. Adolph looked over at him as he kneeled in front of an old woman. “When she killed her sister, the temple collapsed and it only went downhill from there.”
Plagues, famine, and the growing darkness had followed. Vampires lost their gifts and degenerated into creatures of lust and power. They abused the human constituents and turned against the Wiccan Alliance. Chaos had been reigning in Morrigan’s borders for centuries.
He had no idea that it had only just started to leak into the werewolf lands.
“You are… very knowledgeable, young man,” the old woman said looking at Eden. “How do you know that?”
“My name is Eden Ash Emrys,” he said. “Morrigan is the woman who birthed me.”
She gasped and a ripple of shock went through the crowd.
“You… You said Ash *Emrys*?”
“Yes. You knew my father, I take it.”
She nodded, reaching for him, lifting his head so she could look into his face, “Caedan Emrys… was a very kind man… W-What of the queen?”
“She’s dead,” Eden said, “As I said before, we’re here to lift the curse and get rid of the darkness Morrigan brought over the land.”
The old woman sniffled, “Well… goddess bless you and your purpose.”
Adolph looked across the crowd, listening to the way the news traveled quickly. Morrigan was dead, but the idea of her heir came with trepidation and hope. Eden turned to him.
“Let’s continue to the castle.”
Adolph nodded and followed him towards the castle. The people’s fear had faded to a hot burning curiosity and hope.
He could only hope that it stayed that way.
*Laurel?* He asked across their bond. *How are you?*
Laurel smiled at the sound of Adolph’s voice at the back of her mind.
*I’m just fine.* *And you?* *Have you been behaving?*
Adolph chuckled, *Behaving enough… I just wanted to hear your voice.*
Her face burned. How sweet he could be! Here she was plotting against his in-law. She supposed her plan to clean up the kingdom while he was gone had a romantic tint to it, but it wasn’t the same as just wanting to hear his voice.
*Your scent is fading from your side of the bed, Laurel told him.* *Come home soon.*
He growled in appreciation and she felt the rush of heat that her words had caused.
Good, it would keep him in a good mood and none the wiser. Though she pouted thinking about it. It wasn’t a lie. His scent was fading faster than she hoped. Alice was getting restless because of it. She was thinking about taking residence in his office just to ease it.
She shook her head. She didn’t have time for that right now. She had to attend to her plan.
Gavin was planning to kill her, Laurel was certain of it. How he thought her parents were the way to go, she had no idea, but that hardly mattered. She needed to catch him in his schemes.
Adolph was away dealing with the vampire lands. She couldn’t call him back and if she told him, he’d race back with no regard for the work that needed to be done for the sake of peace. And wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of what she was doing?
There was no easy answer or solution, but it was clear that as long as he was alive and free to do whatever he wanted he is a danger to her and her life with Adolph as well as the kingdom.
She placed a hand on her stomach. He was a danger to the life she was carrying inside her too.
“Sarah, could you send someone to get Lily? And arrange a meeting with Raven and the others in my parlor?”
Sarah nodded and hurried off to do her bidding. Laurel stood and headed to her parlor as quickly as she could manage.
The women trickled in slowly afterward. Lily and Sarah brought food and refreshments. When everyone was seated she addressed the room.
“Gavin is plotting to kill me…” Raven lifted her teacup and Irene’s eyes widened. “How do I catch him?”
Raven’s lips twitched, “Just you?”
Laurel swallowed, “You think he’s trying to kill Adolph as well?”
“He’s not going to chance Adolph running an investigation and his ultimate goal is to destabilize Basil from pursuing his new freedom and independence. He wants Basil on the throne, distraught, and vulnerable.”
Killing Adolph was a surefire way to destabilize Basil. With his father dead, he’d shrink back into old habits. He might even start drinking again and Gavin would use it to his advantage. Maybe he would reach out to Raven and the others, but there was no guarantee about that.
Laurel wasn’t sure how she felt about having to save Basil from his grandfather’s plans, but she pushed it aside. She had to focus on saving Adolph. If Basil happened to benefit from the plan, she would just have to make her peace with it.
“So what do I do?”
Raven laughed, “You lure him into giving himself away. He’s not a very patient man.”
Laurel nodded and considered it, “Well… here’s what I’m thinking.”
She watched Raven’s face as she explained the vague shape of her plan. Irene seemed impressed, but everyone in the room was looking at Raven for a sense of approval. She didn’t know if that was because of the family’s connection to the temple or her connection to Adolph.
Even the priestess was looking at Raven.
Raven looked at the priestess when she was done and the woman smiled.
“Well, she certainly belongs to the family,” the priestess said. “Mom… would have loved her.”
Raven nodded and sat back, “It’s a good start. Here are some tips to improve it…”