Vermillion & Silver

Chapter Eight || Deal-Maker

The king's private audience room was one of the few places in the castle that Selene had no childhood memories of. It was cold and sterile, designed to be uncomfortable and uninviting to the point that no meeting lasted more than a few minutes. Selene sat on a ancient stone chair and waited for the next suitor to come in. That morning, Hadrianen had informed her that she would be meeting with all the men that had made an offer for her hand. The news had infuriated her to the point of threateing to disobey, but the guards that Gabriel summoned made it clear that he wasn't taking no for an answer.

While she waited, Selene inspected the pile of gifts that had accumulated during the course of the morning. Most suitors had brought jewellery, bracelets, rings and even the occasional tiara; others had been a little more creative, bringing things like kaleidoscopes, paintings and even a horse. So far, her favourite was a poetry book, it was a present from the Baron of Larton, a shy young man about her age who had read a little speech before handing her the book and hurrying out of the room.

It was difficult to judge a man after just a few minutes of conversation but Selene could truthfully say that none of the suitors had been to her liking. They were all slightly different versions of the same wolf, the entitled and cocksure royal whose only concerns were power and wealth. It didn't matter what she thought anyway, Selene was pretty sure that she would have no choice in the matter and she could already tell who the frontrunners were, Etienne Valois and Percival Hawthorne, the supposed nephew of Lord Hawthorne, a distant relation with wolf blood.

The door cracked open and Selene took a deep breath preparing for the next claimant. The woman who entered the room was not who she'd been expecting, it was the redhead from the night before, Alpha Fenrirsen's sister.

"Your royal highness," she said as she lowered her head in greeting, her wild hair falling to her face with the gesture.

"Miss Fenrirsen, I'm surprised to see you here," Selene said. Matches between two women weren't unheard of, but they didn't happen often among royals, the need for legitimate heirs was too great, and Selene highly doubted Hadrianen would ever allow such a bond.

"I'm here on behalf of my brother and Alpha, ma'am," she said, stepping closer to Selene.

The way she moved was captivating, even though she didn't have the grace and beauty of noble ladies she embodied a contradiction that caught Selene's attention, the princess had never seen a woman so plain exude so much danger and boldness. It was a sort of natural poise that was not easily encountered, Selene had seen enough fake displays of strength in her life to know the difference, and the beta woman's was not an act, Selene even doubted she knew the effect she had on those around her. It was terribly intimidating.

"Why did he not come himself?" Selene asked, slipping back into the role she'd been playing all morning, the princess testing the men who thought themselves worthy of her hand.

"May I speak frankly, ma'am?"

"You may." Selene couldn't deny that her interest was picked, few people dared to go against protocol and the pack wolves had been an interesting distraction so far.

"We have all been invited here not to celebrate the Blue Moon but to participate in a bidding war for your hand." Selene already knew that but she appreciated the lack of pretence, it was the most honest sentence she'd heard all day. "My brother is not the kind of man who enjoys this sort of games, but he has offered Duke Hadrianen control of his army in exchange for your claim."

"A generous bargain."

"But one not likely to tempt him."

The other woman was right, Gabriel was after land and riches, he already had an army. Not to mention, he needed a future king that he could control and Alpha Fenrirsen did not appear to be the kind that would be willing to take orders from a traitorous snake like Hadrianen.