Chapter 98: Farewell

Delia looked outright devastated at the news. Adolph would say that he didn’t enjoy the look on her face, but it would be a lie. He still hadn’t forgotten about her tearing the gown he’d had made for Laurel or attempting to throw Laurel out of the castle.
Delia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her? Work with Laurel on charity projects? While it would get her out of her long sessions with Helena, it was not complete freedom. She didn't want to run around the city with Laurel, but she held her tongue. Basil's drunken confession echoed in her ears.
She had to do something and imitating Laurel for a little while was as good as anything else she'd tried.
Could she maybe get him drunk enough to sleep with her? Did alcohol work on his wolf as well as it worked on his human form?
They left the castle after Delia's morning session with Helena. She still hadn't managed to walk around the room with the stupid book on her head and she hadn't read many of the books she'd been given. She had no interest in poetry or art. It was just a matter of time before Helena gave up on her, she was banking on it.
Laurel led the way to the hospital and Delia shot glares at anyone they passed who looked at them too closely.
When they arrived, Laurel introduced her to the staff and put her under a woman's command.
"Glad you're here," she said. "We could always use some more people to help clean up. We'll start with the messiest ward. It's easier that way."
She glared at Laurel as she was led away from her. Laurel was speaking to the head of the hospital who looked at her strangely.
"Is that Lady Delia?" she asked Laurel. "Please... don't tell me that she's..."
"Oh, no. She's here to get some practical knowledge of how the hospital works and how vital it is. Another set of hands... How are things coming along?"
The woman sighed with relief and led her towards the worse ward to talk about the damage done to a rather severe case. A wolf lost her mate while traveling and she had been on the edge of madness for a while. Before they'd managed to sedate her, she'd injured several nurses and broke a few gurneys.
"That is the worst case we've had lately," she said. "I'm hoping that by the time of your wedding, more people will be well enough to go to the festivities and hopefully meet their second chance mates."
Laurel nodded. It was a good goal.
"Laurel?"
She turned to see Eden carrying a box. His hood was still drawn over his head and he seemed shocked to see her.
"Hello, Eden," she said, forcing a grin on her face and her doubts to the back of her mind. "How are you?"
Eden smiled at her, "I'm good. I'm glad I got to see you before I left."
The head of the hospital wandered away to tend to a patient as Eden set the box he was carrying down on the table. Laurel followed him outside to help bring in the other boxes. They seemed to be filled with cloth bandages rather than anything fragile.

Delia sneered down at the mop she'd been given to clean up the splashes of blood and the bucket. She was a princess, not a scullery maid! Laurel's laughter drifted into her ears and she turned to see her standing with a hooded man. She drew closer.
"I'm sure it will be a grand adventure," Laurel said. "You'll be careful, won't you?"
"Does the king know about your relationship?" Delia asked, just loud enough to be heard as she glared at Laurel around the man's shoulders. "Still just as shameless as ever…"
She gasped as Eden turned around, showing his face. His grey eyes went cold and meaningful as their gazes met. She cursed herself as a rush of fear went through her.
"I-I-"
"How rude," Eden said, narrowing his eyes at her. "How dare you insinuate such a thing."
Delia turned red and turned her head away.
"Apologize to Laurel," Eden said, "Aren't you that same rude girl who tried to throw her out?"
Delia clenched her jaw, "My apologies."
Laurel frowned looking at Delia's expression. She looked petulant as she turned and went back to pushing the mop around sloppily. Laurel shook her head.
"Thank you, but that wasn't necessary."
Eden smiled as he turned to her, "Of course, it's necessary. You will be a married woman soon! I can't have your husband wanting to kill me... again."
Laurel winced and cleared her throat, "Safe journeys, Eden. You'll be back for my wedding, won't you?"
"I'm not sure." He winced, "It's... quite a far way away, you see. Perhaps. I will try my best."
"When are you leaving?"
"Within the hour," he said gesturing to his cloak. "I was just emptying my caravan before leaving. If I don't make it back in time, congratulations on your marriage."
Laurel nodded, "Thank you, Eden."
She walked with him to the receiving area and waved him goodbye. She let out a little sigh of relief that she hadn't been obvious about her suspicions, but her heart was troubled. Was he telling the truth about leaving to pick up an order or was he going to go meet with vampire forces? How much of what she'd seen of Eden was the truth?
How had he gotten Delia to apologize? Sure, she knew him as a merchant that interacted with Gavin, but was there more to it?
She gasped, her eyes widening. Was Delia somehow connected to all of this? Was that possible? She was Basil's mate... She never heard of anyone being able to mean harm to their mate. She turned away from that thought. Delia had an investment in keeping Basil happy and staying on Gavin's good side as his granddaughter-in-law. She was probably thinking too much into it.

They returned to the castle for dinner. Delia retired soon after and Laurel met with Adolph in the meeting hall to discuss the tax reports and their next steps. From the records that Chasel had procured, every minister was guilty of at least tax evasion and embezzlement at the least, but she was still banking on Gavin being the mastermind of the entire operation.
She closed her notes and the reports as the ministers, Basil, Raven, Irene, and the others came into the hall to report about the wedding preparations. Basil looked haunted, staring at the table with dark circles under his eyes and unkempt. There was still a bit of dirt smeared on his face.
Gavin looked appalled, staring at him, but Basil didn't look at anyone as the ministers began to explain the troubles they were having, getting the invitations together and sent out as well as procuring a priestess for the union.
Raven scoffed, "The royal calligrapher will handle the invitations just as he did before."
"But is it really necessary to use such expensive ink? And the changes to His Majesty's wardrobe..."
"Do you expect them to wear the same clothes they did in the last ceremony?" Irene asked, "It seems you are more concerned with a few coins than the happiness of the couple."
Raven laughed, "Besides, the gown and his suit were burned due to the poison on them."
Gavin grit his teeth, listening to Raven and Irene go on about how they would not budge on their requirements and the budget set aside would be enough to cover it all. The minister of peace began to mention the cost of having Lady Helena educate them and Raven scoffed.
"I am not an idiot, the funds to educate the new luna and the prince's wife have been set aside long ago and are from a completely different set of accounts."
Gavin swallowed, seeing them scramble to try and come up with something plausible that would get them out of trying to spend money in the imperial coffers that weren’t there.
"Of course," Gavin cut in as a glimmer of an idea began to surface in his mind. "With the temple's cooperation, it should be more than possible to acquiesce to your demands."
Adolph glanced at Raven whose gaze turned on Gavin. He watched her expression for a moment before turning his gaze on Gavin.
"The ink is made by the temple, isn't it? From lunar flowers? Perhaps we could make some ink for the lesser invitations." Gavin said.
Raven glared at him, "The budget set forth is more than enough."
"But so soon after the last attempt to wed them?" Gavin asked. "The imperial coffers simply cannot withstand so many extra costs. Not that I would expect a luna of a noble pack to understand the intricacies of the imperial budget."
Raven narrowed her eyes before glancing at Adolph and smirking, "I suppose I could not expect a ceremonial minister to understand them either."
Gavin flushed.
"The treasury paperwork has already cleared this budget, thus the money allocated for His Majesty's wedding should be secure unless the minister of treasury and the minister of commerce have neglected their duties."
Adolph smiled at his sister as Gavin flushed and the anger filled his face.
"Right... how could I have forgotten Lady Raven's familiarity with the imperial treasury processes?"
"How could you?" Raven asked blithely. "The Black Mountain Pack receives monies from the treasury for the perimeter guard. I'm well versed."
Gavin's nose wrinkled and something malicious glinted in his eyes. Adolph made a note to keep an eye on Gavin and looked at Chasel.
He nodded with barely a tilt of his head and Adolph called the meeting to an end, scheduling the meeting for the next week.
Gavin was being backed into a corner as were all of the ministers. A cornered animal tended to lash out or play dead.
He wondered which Gavin would choose in the end.