Royal War: Sequel to Royal Secret

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

I stood outside of the cells looking at the captured Royals.  The men were crammed in the cages too many to count.  One thing was evident their undisguised hatred for me. Korin and Trevor were on each side of me with Jules and Niko bringing up the rear.  I wanted to see for myself if they would be worth saving.  I didn’t trust any of them; I was not like my mother.  I will not be a Queen of peace, I am a Warrior Queen and don’t have any time for mercy. I can’t afford any type of betrayal at this point.  Taking back the kingdom was only the first step, right now my reign was not on solid ground. It is going to take a long time to rebuild trust among the people and traitors will not be tolerated.

“Show your King and Queen some respect!” Trevor yelled at the Royals.

“We don’t show respect to impostors! Our true King was killed.”

“So you deny the royal mark that we all have? You deny what is right in front of your eyes? Do you deny all the things you have witnessed today?” Korin demanded.

“We know for a fact that the Royal Family was all killed.”

I stirred in anger at the Royal’s word, my blade appearing in my hand and held it at his throat.  “How do you know that for a fact?  Were you there when my mother and father were killed?” Some of the Royals standing around him stepped away from him.  “ANSWER ME!” I pressed the blade into his throat drawing blood.

“King Kristoff told us.”

“And you would trust the murdering tongue of a traitor. You betrayed my family and sided with a monster. Is this how you all feel? Do you deny that I’m your rightful Queen?”

The room was quiet answering my question.  They held allegiance to King Kristoff and not me. I dropped my blade stepping back into the center of the room and glance around slowly at the Royals as each one of the turned their backs to us. 

“So be it.” I left the room without another glance at the prisoners.  We all emerged from the basement where they were being kept.  Silence surrounded us as we made our way through the halls heading to the office that we will be using as a base of our communication.

Celina you have no choice.

I know Korin, I just wished that my first act as Queen was not to put people to death.

We can’t have people undermining our rule.  If they were going to be loyal to us, they would have sided with us when I told them to submit.  Not one of them submitted voluntarily.

We entered into the office, and Jules was the first to speak after closing the door.

Jules punched a hole in the wall next to the doorframe. “We should’ve gutted them for their show of disrespect.”

“No, we need to come to a consensus first of what we are going to do with them.”  Niko stated.

“There is no need for consensus, we all know what has to be done.” Korin said leaning against the desk folding his arms over his chest staring at us.

Trevor nodded, “It needs to be done publically. We don’t want to do things behind closed doors.  We have to show the people that disloyalty will not have a place under your reign.”

“Trevor is right.  My mother was a peacemaker and you see where that got her.   Can’t they see that we want everyone to live in peace? Kristoff ruled with fear and death.”

“Celina, those Royals don’t understand peace.  They understand power over lesser wolves.  They never had to live under a constant fear that their pack may be put to death by bloody thirsty rogues or assassins. You can understand it only because you were forced to grow up outside these walls.  Otherwise if you were raised in this castle all of your life, you couldn’t begin to understand the struggles that is going on out there.  Your experiences will make you a better queen.”  Korin had stopped in front of me, my heart swell with pride at his confidence in me.

“Thank you, Korin.”

“I still think we should’ve gutted them on the spot, but a public execution will satisfy me also.  So what’s the plan? Hanging? Firing Squad?” Jules asked twirling his baton between his fingers.

“Let’s have the memorial first and then we hold a public execution.” Trevor piped in.  “Firing Squad?  Hanging is definitely out.”

“No, they are warriors.  I want everyone to know that I’m not some heartless bitch that will kill when people don’t along with what I say.  So, I want it known that we gave them a chance to join us, but they refuse.  So it is their choice that that will be executed and they will die by their own hand.”

“Celina what the hell does that mean?”

“We will give each of them a silver sword, and they will kneel if front of everyone and kill themselves.  They lived by the sword, and then they will die by the sword.  Jules, you know this place, you know where the armory is?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, take a few men with you and gather enough swords for each of the prisoner.”

Niko bobbed his head up and down.  “I like it.”

“I don’t! That means I don’t get to kill any of those arrogant assholes!”

“Not this time, Jules.” I patted his shoulder. “Trevor send word to Jace, Raven, and Sage our plans.”

 “Come on let’s join the others and get the memorial service ready.”

((A/N))

Sorry it took so long to update, I scraped this chapter a couple of times before I got it.  I didn't want Celina to be a blood thristy ruler when dealing with the Royals, but I couldn't let them live.  So what do you think of their punishment?  Next update coming soon!

Don't forget to vote/comment!

Nicci