I'm Not Your Bitch

Day of Liam's Coronation

Liam’s POV

What the hell? How could they keep this from me?  I exhale, Leo is right, I need to think this through. And to be honest, they aren’t the only one’s keeping secrets. They don’t know about my suspicions. They don’t know what I have uncovered. One thing at a time, Liam. 

I inhale and exhale slowly. “Well, let’s figure out what to do. I will not lose her. And I will not let father interfere with my life, my future, our future.” I take another cleansing breath. Time to let them in on the secret.

“Well, the last few meetings, father had been pushing to pick Madeleine to be my Queen. There are several problems with that, the first being she is still in love with Leo. Secondly, I love Riley, I refuse to rule without her. I will abdicate if my hand is forced.” My resolve is firm.

“Little brother, you and I both know, you are the last one who can redeem Rhys name. We just have to come up with a way you can do both.” Leo puts his around my shoulder like he did when we were little and I was afraid of thunderstorms, after mother died.

“Leo, I cannot lose my family. I just can’t” my voice quivers with fear.

“Li, your not…” Leo catches on. “Shit,  how far along is she?’

“You and Brooks? Really? Shit… how far along?” Drake asks, he tries to hide his sadness in his eyes. 

I know he has feelings for Riley, but Riley and I will be married, and Riley has made it known that she will not share me, and I will not have to share her. I don’t blame him, she is a force of nature, but his feeling is unrequited. 

“Six weeks...which means Tariq could have assaulted her, and the stress could have caused her to lose our child.” now that I have said this out loud, I can feel my blood boil. I also get a little clarity of why she did tell me. She is still being very careful as we had been told that the first trimester is very precarious and some first pregnancies can end with a miscarriage.  We are both so in love with our little one.

We swore that we were going to wait to tell everyone after tonight, but the situation has drastically changed. We needed to make a plan. I have to lay everything out for them. I am afraid, but I can protect them both better with her by my side and our friends in on the secrets.

“The last three nights, I have been wondering the palace. I found my mother’s room, and she had a hidden study in it. I have been spending my nights there going through everything. My mother knew she was going to die. She knew she had enemies. The goblet that she was poisoned with was also in there. They poisoned the goblet itself, not the wine.” I can see their startled looks. 

“Li, damn, I'm so sorry. Did she say who?” Drake asked.

“She knew Barthelemy thought that he should be king, even though he acted like he was supportive of father. I asked Amalas to look into some things for me.”

“Wait! You went to the ‘Black Widow’?” Leo’s tone was almost comical.

“Alamas is one of the best intelligence gatherings, and Monterisso is one of our oldest allies even if father doesn’t treat them as such. We have been friends for some time. She is the finder and keeper of secrets. We have enemies in the court, someone has infiltrated our court.  They want to influence how Cordonia is ruled. Leo, you were too much of a wild card. They didn’t think that they could control you, even with Madeleine’s influence.” they both are starring at me.

“And they thought that they could control you.” Leo muses.

“Yeah, but that was before Brooks.” I look at Drake, “Man you know I am right. You didn’t want to have a social season, and yet we did. So it would make sense that they get rid of her.”

“They wanted to get rid of the entire Rhys bloodline.” I corrected him. “That is the reason for father’s action, but everyone thought it was paranoia. He may not have known who they were, but I have some ideas, and we need to get ahead of them. She is getting me the list of players and we will have to weed them out. I will protect my family and my people.”

“Ok, Kenna jr. what do we need to do?” Drake jokes, but he knows that I am serious.

 “Leo, I need you to get Madeleine to meet you somewhere and take her to the stone. Drake, I need you to do the same with Riley and Hana. No one can suspect anything. They need to be there in one hour.  I have a meeting with Alamas. I will bring her up to speed.”

“Li, be careful.” Drake nods.

I enter my study after arriving back at the Palace,  I have about three hours until coronation.  I need to bring her up to speed quickly.”

“Thank you, Angelique, for meeting with me.” I smile and motion for her to sit.

She hands me two folders, one with SOE on it and the other with VI. Skimming the first, as expected she found what I needed and so much more. I opened the VI file; what it contained floored me. I knew the treachery went deep, but this is more than I ever expected. I needed to cut this shit off at the root. I am going to have to take a page out of my father’s book, but make sure my friend can pull me back in.

“What the hell? Why are they going through all this for my little country?”

“Your little country has all the wealth and influence they need, but no real way to defend it. I have your back, and you know this. You will need Auvernal’s armies, and they need your financial resources. Make a trade, but make sure that they are completely under your control.  I gave you some insurance just so that you can make sure they won’t try to double-cross you.” she flips to the last page.
“Well, that is something they definitely would not want to get out.” I smile. 

I let her in on the happening of the day, and she tells me that the land that the stone is on is sovereign ground. Outside Cordonia’s jurisdiction, but it was bequeathed to Leo’s mother. Leo is the heir; has sole authority there. That just what I needed to hear.  She handed me another document, she said as long as he signs it; it becomes binding.

“I am so glad you are my friend, or I would think you are a little scary.” I kiss her hand.

“Yes, I am happy, I can trust you too.”