Lust and Chastity (Lust Series- Book 1)

Ch 19

When Elder Galamin returned to his mansion, he didn't realize that anything was off until he stepped inside and saw his hired men rousing and with various injuries. He felt a cold lump in his stomach as he rushed through the hallways to his personal study. The drawers and cabinets were opened and he realized that Armand Montcroix hadn't contacted him to surrender. He had contacted him to stall.

::::

The Montcroix called a large-scale meeting of all the heads of public service. They ushered in the authorities, healers, librarians, and all of the Elders themselves. In sight of them all, they showed their evidence against Elder Galamin and many other corrupted Elders. The authorities had been warned beforehand to keep an eye on any of the Elders that tried to flee, and many of them certainly tried. At least five Elders were tackled to the ground by enforcers and civilians alike before Alistair began to speak.

"As you can all see, we are still flawed," Alistair explained. "My family stepped aside for two generations under the impression that the Elders were doing a much better job at securing the peace and flow of Zirao Zion. We couldn't have been more wrong."

"Therefore," Quinton spoke up as he stood up by Alistair's side. "We held a meeting with all the heads of public service and came up with a solution. Two royals, two Unicorns, two unaffiliated Nightmares, and two humans can be elected to take over as representatives every five years..." he elaborated. "Everyone in every position must cast a vote. In the event that more than two regions are displeased with any representative, they can nominate new ones. Finances will be checked on a monthly basis..."

The gathering was meant to help Zirao Zion adopt a new system that would keep power in balance and would help serve their residents better than previous attempts. The Montcroix vowed that all of the corrupted Elders would be put to work to right their wrongs with community service. However, the Montcroix clan had something else in mind for Elder Galamin.

"Galamin," Armand Montcroix began in a cold tone of voice. In calling him by name without his title, it stripped him of his Elder status.

The aged Unicorn's pale blue eyes flashed as they glared at his Nightmare rival, the source of his obsession. Galamin's arms were tied behind his back and he was restrained by two human men. As furious as he was that his plans were falling apart at the seams, his gaze never left Armand's.

"I regret nothing," Galamin hissed. "If I didn't allow the other Elders their perks, they would have plotted against me. If I didn't make that human's Maiden status falter, your beloved grandson would have reclaimed his royal status," he continued to vent. He was stalling, doing whatever he could to steal a few more moments from the aged royal before him. "What I do regret is not having had you beneath me."

Armand's cobalt blue eyes narrowed. He was barely able to keep himself in check from beating the Unicorn with his own hands for the way he showed no remorse over what he did to an innocent young man. The Unicorn, however, smirked at having pulled any kind of reaction from him at all. Though Galamin was the one restrained, Armand felt as if he had lost.

"Pathetic, that's what you are," Laylah Montcroix, Armand's middle daughter, spoke up. She was tall with a short, modern hairstyle that was shaved at the back and longer at the front in various violet hues. Her eyes were pyrite, a hue between silver and gold, and she was Raj's proud mother. "To use such roundabout methods to try to get into my daddy's pants. Look around you," she insisted. "We are all the result of just how many times he got his mate pregnant and she didn't so much as beg him to come anywhere near her, he stood by her side willingly."

A scowl began to form on Galamin's face at the mention of Tessa, the Nightmare woman that had the audacity to cross Armand's path, luring him enough to become his mate. "If he's so willing to be by her side, then where is she now?"