No nobleman answered him.
“This does not make sense,” Tony insisted, his eyebrows drawing together into a deep line.
Logan’s face turned red above his stiff collar.
He took two fast steps toward Tony.
“Are you suggesting that the Queen’s sister and the king are lying to this council?”
Tony immediately shook his head.
“No. I would never accuse the king of lying.”
He looked toward Victoria.
“And I would never accuse the Queen’s sister either.”
He paused for two seconds, letting his eyes sweep over the crowd.
“But I cannot ignore what my own ears have heard in this room,” Tony said.
He pointed his long finger toward Corvin.
“The king’s right-hand man said the Queen died in the fire.”
Then Tony turned his body and looked straight up at me on the throne.
“And the king himself said he was told that his pregnant wife was going to give birth.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Victoria.
“So how did she suddenly have a child without the entire palace knowing about it?”
My breath caught, a smart noble?
How do I get rid of this question now?
My heart skipped a bit luckily.
A murmur of whispering voices broke out among the lords near the pillars.
Several older wolves nodded their heads in agreement with Tony.
Logan stepped forward, his boots striking the floor hard.
“If you cannot accept what is happening in this hall, Lord Tony, then you may leave.”
Tony stared back at Logan without flinching.
Logan turned toward the guards standing near the doors.
“Take him away.”
Tony remained where he stood for a moment, keeping his head held high.
Then he slowly stepped back two paces toward the crowd to hide.
^phew^ I released my breath…
“Now that we know the Queen left an heir behind, the bloodline continues,” Logan declared, turning his back on Tony and addressing the hall.
I nodded my head slowly, playing my part.
“At least we know that.”
I looked down at Victoria.
“If the child is alive, then we simply need to find a suitable nanny from the city to raise him.”
I paused, keeping my face calm.
“What is the child? A boy or a girl?”
Before Victoria could answer my question, Logan raised his hand and spoke.
“Your Majesty, we cannot simply bring in a nanny from the outside town,” Logan said.
I tilted my head, looking at him.
“Why not?”
“The entire Kingmaker family has been wiped out,” Logan said, his voice growing serious.
“This child is the only surviving member of that bloodline on earth. A common nanny from the town could be bribed with silver by our enemies.”
He looked around the room at the gathered noblemen.
“We need someone we can trust to raise the boy in this palace.”
Lord Thomas nodded his head from the front row.
“Perhaps a stepmother from a noble house.” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Logan shook his head immediately.
“No. Victoria is the best option.”
The entire hall went silent again.
Tony yugo stepped forward from the crowd a second time.
“No!”
Logan’s expression darkened with anger.
“Silence, Tony!”
Tony continued speaking, his deep voice carrying over Logan’s tone.
“The ancient law specifies Kingmaker blood! It specifies the direct line, not marriage!”
Tony pointed his finger straight at Victoria.
“She does not carry the Kingmaker blood in her veins!”
Victoria’s face changed, her mouth opening in shock as she took a step backward.
“She is the daughter of another family,” Tony shouted, looking around at the lords.
“Her mother, Nella, fully legitimately married into the Orion Vale family fifteen years ago after Lord Orion’s first wife died! That does not make Victoria a Kingmaker by blood!”
Logan turned to the guards, his face dark red.
“Hold him!”
Two tall guards in iron chest plates moved fast, grabbing Tony by both of his arms.
Tony coughed hard and stepped backward, but he did not stop talking.
“I am only stating what is written in the legal records of La Fita!”
“Take him out of this hall!” Logan ordered.
The two guards pulled Tony backward down the central carpet.
“Since Nella married into the Vale family, perhaps the ancestors may accept her house!” another nobleman called out from the side wall, stepping forward.
“Exactly!” Lord Gerald agreed, looking at the surrounding men.
“Since Nella married into the Orion Vale family, the ancestors, the Moon Goddess, and whatever powers govern the crown may understand! At least it is better than giving the royal heir to a complete stranger from the lower town!”
Several lords nodded their heads in agreement.
Tony struggled against the strong grip of the guards, dragging his boots across the stone floor.
“This is wrong!”
Logan turned his back on him completely.
“Take him out now!”
As the guards dragged Tony toward the heavy double doors at the entrance, his voice grew even louder, ringing off the high stone walls.
“Listen to me, all of you!” Tony shouted.
The lords turned their heads to watch him.
“Faking this child’s claim could offend whatever power binds the crown’s legitimacy to the true Kingmaker blood!” Tony yelled, his face turning red as he fought the guards.
“You do not know what you are doing!”
Several younger lords near the pillars looked uneasy, shifting their feet on the floor.
“You could bring drought upon the wheat fields!” Tony shouted.
“You could destroy whatever remains of our ancient wolf powers!”
The guards kept pulling him backward through the doorway.
“Even if our werewolves abilities are no longer what they once were, we still carry what remains of our ancient blood in our veins!” Tony’s voice grew distant as he was forced out into the hallway.
“We do not know what happened all those years ago! Do not interfere with things you do not understand!”
The thick wooden doors slammed shut with a heavy thud, cutting off his voice entirely.
Silence filled the Hall.
I stared at the closed wooden doors for three seconds.
Then a small, cold smile touched my mouth.
He read too many old books, and he asked too many questions in front of the council.
Anyone who threatened my position on this throne was a problem that needed to be erased.
I would find out where he lived in the upper city.
And I would make sure he never spoke another word in this life again.
Logan turned his body back toward the rows of nobles, clearing his throat.
“Those who support Victoria raising the royal heir and taking charge of the household, raise your hands!” Logan called out.
Lord Thomas raised his right hand first.
Then Lord Gerald raised his.
Then another noble near the window raised his arm, followed by three tax collectors near the back.
Within ten seconds, almost every nobleman in the hall had his hand raised high in the air.
I looked down at Victoria.
She lowered her eyes to the floor and covered her face with both hands to appear modest.
“No,” Victoria said, her voice coming out soft and timid.
“I did not come into this hall to take my sister’s position.”
She shook her head side to side, looking around at the lords.
“How can I do this? The people in the city will hate me if they hear I took my sister’s seat so quickly.”
Logan smiled at her, lowering his voice to a gentle tone.
“They will not hate you, Lady Victoria.”
Victoria looked up at him through her dark hair.
“They will not?”
“They will see you as the devoted sister who stepped forward after the Queen’s death to care for a child,” Logan explained.
“They will see you as a woman who sacrificed her own comfort for the safety of the kingdom.”
Victoria lowered her head again.
“But…”
“You will have the full support of every noble house in La Fita,” Logan assured her.
Victoria slowly turned her head and looked up at me on the throne.
Our eyes met across the space between us.
Then her right eye closed and opened in another quick, clear wink.
I let a genuine smile spread across my face.
Finally.
The woman I had wanted for two years would soon be sitting beside me as queen.
Victoria had been my secret partner through every step of this journey.
She had met me in dark corridors, she had agreed with my plans, and she understood my desire to rule this kingdom.
Now she would be standing beside me on the highest seat in La Fita.
With Victoria at my side and the Kingmakers gone, no man in this realm could stand against us.
But as I looked down at her smiling face, a sudden cold thought crossed my mind.
The baby.
I looked at Victoria’s brown dress, and then I thought of her mother, Nella.
Something in my calculations did not add up.
Where had that child actually come from?
Corvin had reported every detail to me in the small corner room less than an hour ago.
The assassin he hired had driven an iron blade straight into Josephine’s stomach inside her bedroom before setting the fire.
There was no physical way the baby could have survived that attack.
Josephine and her unborn child were both dead in the east wing.
So whose baby were Victoria and Nella hiding in the palace?