Chapter 149
I left the dungeons with Rowan dumbfounded. Still wondering about what he said.
“Did you really mean what you told Lucian?”
I asked him when we were out of earshot. He looked at me briefly then nodded his head slowly.
“Yes. I did.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"You can't do this," I whispered, my voice barely holding back my desperation. "Rowan, please, think about what you're saying. This is bad.”
Rowan's expression was unreadable, his gaze fixed on the fire crackling in the hearth. The golden light flickered across his face, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
"I have thought about it," he said at last. "I will not let Lucian control me with threats. I won’t let him or anyone continue to hold this over us.”
He sighed, then he continued, “The truth will come out, but it will come from me."
I reached for him, my fingers curling around his wrist. "If you tell them, they will turn on me. They will never accept me. Don’t think this will be so easy, especially with everything that is going on.”
He turned then, his gaze locking onto mine. "They will have no choice but to accept you. The kingdom is at a vulnerable moment now, we are still fighting off soldiers from Braam, it’s the best time to let them know.”
My throat tightened. "They will turn against me. You know that. And their choice will be to hate me."
Rowan exhaled sharply and pulled away. "Ariadne, this is the only way. If I don't do this, Lucian will. And if it comes from him, it will be twisted into something worse, it’s best I reveal it myself.”
“Aren’t you tired? Of having to hide who you are?? Of having to use so many different identities? Of the world never knowing your true name?”
He was right. But it was still dangerous I believed.
"Worse?" My voice wavered. "Rowan, I am an otsayak. I worked with Braam as a spy. That's all they will hear."
His jaw clenched. "And I will make them listen to more than just that. You are also my wife.”
I shook my head, stepping back. "I think you’re making a huge mistake.”
He didn't answer.
That night, I didn't sleep. I curled up in our bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the weight of inevitability pressing down on me. No matter what I said, no matter how much I begged, Rowan had made up his mind.
The next morning, he left before dawn.
I knew where he was going.
************
Rowan stood at the head of the war table, his presence commanding as the chiefs of the wolf clans and the highest members of his council gathered before him. Their voices overlapped in hushed murmurs, their eyes watchful.
They didn't know what was coming.
I stood in the shadows behind a stone pillar, hidden from sight. I didn't want to be here, but I needed to hear their reaction with my own ears.
Rowan raised a hand, silencing the room. His voice was steady when he spoke.
"There is something you all must know," he said. "Something that should have been known from the beginning. Something that has been hidden from you all.”
The room stilled.
He continued, his voice unwavering. "I don’t know if most of you can remember, but when I was a cripple I was given a wife to take care of me. It was supposed to be Lady Isabelle Carstairs but she faked her own death and her handmaiden Ariadne Sand was forced to take her place. At that time, the truth was only known to me and Ariadne. Until the Royal Concubine discovered the truth. I tried to protect her but the real Isabelle Carstairs came back herself. When she saw that I was healed and reinstated as Prince. The Royal Concubine and my late father ordered her execution when they discovered what Ariadne truly was. Ariadne survived and she somehow made her way back to me. The woman you know as my wife, as your Queen, Arin is not who she seems."
Murmurs erupted instantly.
Rowan didn't pause. "She was rescued by Braamins and she was taken under their wing. In exchange for saving her life she was to spy for them. So she came to Zaire as a diplomat, as the Emperor’s niece.”
A heavy silence fell.
Then, at last, one of the elders spoke. "Are you trying to tell us that she is a Braam spy?" His voice was thick with accusation.
"She was," Rowan admitted. "But she is not anymore. She confessed everything to me before we got married again. And she did everything in her power to right her wrongs.”
“And, the exact reason why she has hid her identity for so long, lived as so many different people is because she is an otsayak.”
The uproar was instant.
I flinched at the sound of chairs scraping against the stone floor, voices rising in anger.
"You brought an otsayak into our castle?"
"You made her our queen?"
"You lied to us, Alpha!"
Rowan didn't flinch. He stood firm, letting them spit their outrage until their voices turned hoarse.
When they finally quieted, he spoke again.
"She is the reason I am healed. The reason why I can stand before you. As some of you might be aware, Otsayaks are blessed with tremendous healing energy. She saved my life and if any harm comes to her, I will not hesitate to protect and defend her." His voice was cold, controlled. "I suggest you all choose your next words very carefully. She is my Queen and my Luna and she is carrying the heir of this kingdom. "
Shock rippled through the room.
One of the chiefs slammed his fist onto the table. "You would risk everything for her? For an outsider?!”
"I already have," Rowan said.
“Do you know we can have you deposed as king for what you just did? You committed treason Alpha Rowan! You harbored an otsayak spy knowingly!!”
One of the chief said. The others groaned in agreement.
“Then do it.”
“Depose me as Alpha King.”
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