Within their dreams (Reverse Harem)

Chapter 44

Leo's POV

Ivy looks up at me, her eyes filled with worry. I can feel her stress through the bond, flaring the protective side of me.

"With Simon now powerless, he'll hold less sway over the council. Some of them were already leaning towards the union and with Simon out of the picture, he has no sway over them anymore."

Owen nods, though Ivy still seems unsure.

"We should tell them about the mate ceremony," Owen adds. "With Ivy's strength and her favour amongst the realm, they can hardly remove us from the palace. There'd be an uproar."

I agree, though there's still a small chance this won't go our way. But knowing what Ivy went through, I wouldn't care about losing the crown. If it meant keeping her safe, I'd give up anything I could.

"I'll gather the council tomorrow," I say. A groan echoes in the room and all our heads turn to the man on the floor.

"What do we do with him until then?" Ivy whispers. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about what would happen after."

"Don't apologise. We can hide him in the palace tonight. Owen and I will talk to him before the meeting to be sure he'll do what we ask."

"Nah uh," Ivy crosses her arms. "No more keeping each other out of things. I want to be there too."

"I wasn't planning on asking him nicely," I say, wincing.

"I just sucked the magic from him; it's not exactly a painless process." She rolls her eyes, and I grin.

"Fine," I conceded. "We'll do it together."

"Let's move him before he fully wakes up," Owen says, walking over to grab one of his arms. I take his other side, the two of us hauling him up to his feet. We half carry, half drag him across the room, Ivy walking in front. The guards don't bat an eye as they watch us leave, dragging an unconscious Lord out with us.

Ivy takes a few steps but falters, glancing back at us, unsure where to go.

"Dungeons," I grit out, trying to keep Simon upright. As we make our way down, he begins mumbling incoherently under his breath, in and out of consciousness.

By the time we get him into one of the cells, he's awake and trying to make sense of his surroundings. The metal door clangs shut, separating us from him. As he looks around, he spots Ivy through the window of the door, his eyes narrowing.

"You've made a mistake," he spits.

"I made no mistake," she replies. He roars, standing up and striding to the door until he's pressed up against it.

He glares for two beats before his expression drops and he stumbles back, glancing at his hands in horror.

"What did you do to me?" He looks up, face red in anger. "You stole my magic!"

"You didn't deserve it," Ivy says, a blank expression on her face. His face turns purple and he begins tugging on the cell door, threats tumbling from his lips. I grin watching him struggle, satisfaction blooming in my chest. After what he did to Ivy, he's lucky that's all she wanted to do to him. If I had it my way, there wouldn't be much of him left.

"Let's leave him in here tonight so we can decide what to do with him tomorrow," I say, spinning on my heel. "Perhaps he'll be more grateful for our mercy come morning."

"Mercy?" He screams, veins protruding in his neck. "I've done nothing but try to give the realm the leader they need." He panics as we all make our way back down the hall, giving stern orders to the guards to ignore his outbursts.