The Fearless Royal: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy (Annabelle's Harem Book 3) Page 9

  “This is not a testimony to the wickedness of all humans. Most of you are good, kind people who have suffered along with the rest of us. The evil comes from the human elite who have thought nothing of creating suffering, and they are the ones who will be cast out of society. But for the rest of you, there will be no discrimination. I will never allow what happened to shifters to happen in Elderan again. Everyone deserves fair, equal treatment. Everyone deserves to live a life that is not marred by the struggle to survive. I want to give that to you all.

  “I’m excited to talk to you all about all the plans I have for Elderan. I will be holding a news conference soon, where you will all be free to ask me anything you want to know. I know that this is going to come as a shock, and I know that the country needs time to process…

  “But I want to be your new leader, if Elderan will have me. I want a chance to show you all how incredible life can be in this country. And I promise, the human elite will never again get a foothold in this government. Every single one of Robert’s lackeys will be charged for treason against Elderan. We will scope out everyone associated with him, and they will suffer for their crimes. That I promise you.

  “I will speak to all of you soon. Until then, know that the country is in safe hands and that these wrongs will be righted.”

  With that, I ended the projection. I didn’t want to get too into my plans yet. Like I'd said, people needed time to process. This was a crazy thing that happened, and I didn’t want to overwhelm the people.

  “What do we do now?” Lio asked.

  I felt an innate leadership instinct take over me.

  “Go help the others gather everyone in this building,” I instructed. “I’m sure you can find some handcuffs around here… I know Robert kept them handy.”

  The boys did as I instructed, leaving immediately. There was chaos in the halls, with men running up and down them as the other shifters began to calmly enter the building…

  Good, let them feel the fear that they did not hesitate to inflict on me.

  No, not just me… on all of Elderan.

  I walked around Robert’s desk and took a seat in his chair, ignoring what was now his charred remains on the floor.

  From this position, I tried to imagine what it was like to be him. To have an entire country wrapped around my finger… to know that I was the most powerful man in the world and that nobody could touch me.

  In a way, I could imagine it. I could feel it.

  I was now that person. I was now the most powerful woman on the planet. Soon, I’d name myself Queen, hopefully with the adoration of the people of this country. I’d be the one untouchable… Only truly untouchable, unlike Robert. Because there wouldn’t be anybody else out there gunning for me the way I was gunning for him.

  What I couldn’t imagine, though, was Robert’s incredible greed. I couldn’t imagine sitting in this room knowing my people were starving. Yes, witches and wizards lived in castles, but that was when the whole country was flourishing. And we didn’t have whole castles to ourselves, entire families lived in those things, shifters joined us… our castles were open homes. And the rest of the people of Elderan had their own homes.

  I would never fail my people the way he did. I would always provide for them an incredible amount of support. My government would be designed to help the people and not my own self-interests.

  I didn’t even have many self-interests. I grew up a poor girl in the slums of the city; I didn’t have much to wish for now. I had everything I ever needed in the three men that I loved. They provided me with enough happiness and wealth for a lifetime.

  It didn’t take long for Lio to come back and let me know that they had rounded up everyone in the compound.

  “So… what do we do now?” he asked me again, and this time his question had a hollow ring.

  But I knew why… because I felt the same sentiment.

  We’d finally done it. We set out to take back Elderan, and we had. Our lives for the last year (or, for the three of them, much longer than a year) were centered around this one goal. Worrying about being able to achieve it, dreaming of the moment we did…

  So what now? Now that it had been accomplished, what did we do now? It felt weird to lose this obsession so quickly. I’d thought of overcoming Robert for so long… Who was I without this mission?

  I already knew the answer, though. It may have been hard to reconcile right now, but now… I had to be Queen. I had to lead the country.

  I let out a careful sigh. “Now… we go home.”

  “Back to the island?” Lio asked.

  “No… to my home. To the home of my ancestors. To the home I was always meant to be in… To our castle.”

  9

  I felt the wind whip against my hair. It was the cool breeze coming in from the ocean. It was a familiar feeling to me… And now, it was a feeling that would be home.

  I looked up at the extravagant castle before me. It was well maintained, likely by Robert, which was weird because I couldn’t imagine he spent much time here. It seemed much more likely that most of his days were spent at the compound. Maybe he vacationed here or something, I couldn’t be sure.

  But the grass outside was perfectly manicured, and the hedges were mowed into the shape of large crowns. I actually didn’t much care for that part… that must have been something Robert chose to do. I’d let the bushes grow out naturally. The more natural things felt, the more in touch with my powers I was.

  Then again, it wasn’t going to be hard to feel in touch with my powers here. Not only did the castle overlook the ocean on one side, but the other side began to lead into a forested area. Whatever piece of nature I was in the mood for on any given day, I could find here.

  I felt a weird calm, staring up at this castle. My new home. It was surreal.

  Angelo walked up behind me. “Are you okay?”

  I turned around to see him, Lio, Rhyion, all of the shifters, and subsequently all of the men we had taken from the compound. They’d have to go into the castle dungeon for now, until the people could help me decide on a punishment.

  That was another part of my ancestors’ government I planned to bring back: The Witches Courts. They used to be run by other witches besides the King or Queen, but since there were no other witches or wizards, they’d be appointees of the people like my other cabinet positions.

  “Yeah… I’m fine. More than fine. I’m… very good.”

  I stepped up toward the castle, up the steps that led to the large French doors. I took a deep breath as I waved them open with my hand.

  Slowly they opened as I finished the last of the steps. Warmth hit me as I stepped through the doors and into the lobby.

  There were two half-circle staircases on each side of the lobby, as well as two halls on my right and left. There were gorgeous white columns and a large chandelier at the center of the gigantic library.

  I didn’t even know where to start with this thing.

  Rhyion walked up behind me, a book in his hand. He had picked it up when we went back to the island to pick up the remaining shifters. He had flipped to a page that had a map of the castle.

  I looked at it, but frankly, looking at the map was just as confusing as looking at the place itself.

  “Can you see how to get to the dungeons?” I asked him.

  “Yes,” he said in his usual matter-of-fact way.

  “Okay… Tell Angelo and have him take some of the other shifters to lock them up. Give them water, too.”

  He nodded and walked back outside to Angelo. I continued on, walking up one of the large, half-circle staircases which met on the upper floor.

  My shoes clicked against the tile floor with every step.

  Once on the second floor, I could see there were three hallways. One to the right, one to the left, and one that went straight down the center.

  I walked down the center one, going down to the middle of the castle.

  There were rooms to both my right and left, but I passe
d them all. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being pulled further down the hall. To where, I wasn’t sure.

  I knew when I got there, though. At the end of the hall was a room with two more French doors. I waved these open too, and I knew instantly that this was my bedroom.

  I couldn’t explain how, I just knew. This was the room that the kings and queens stayed in.

  And it was gorgeous. It had a huge, king-sized bed on one side of the room with wooden bedside tables and lamps sitting on top of them. On the other side of the room, there was a sitting area with two small couches and a large chair. There was another door which I assumed led to a bathroom, though I didn’t bother to look yet. I went in and sat on the bed and took a moment of reflection.

  I wished my parents could have been here with me. That was the only thing that kept rolling through my mind… I was so grateful to be able to talk to my mom still, but I really wished I could have had them both in this castle with me.

  My mother and father lived their entire lives in poverty just to try and blend in with other humans. They never got to stay in a room like this, never got to step foot inside a castle…

  It almost felt wrong that I got to.

  I saw a figure in the doorway and looked up to find Lio smiling at me.

  “Everything alright?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Just feeling… overwhelmed with all of this. With this entire place. It feels vaguely like… I don't deserve this.”

  He walked over sand sat on the bed next to me. “Are you kidding me? Of course you deserve this. You’re Queen. You were always meant to be Queen. This is your room, your castle…”

  “But it’s… it’s so much. I’ve never known a life like this.”

  He put his arm around my shoulders. “You're going to come to know it, though. I know it’s a shock. But this castle will be your home. You’ll love this life.”

  I looked at him seriously. “I won’t love it until my people are safe. Until people have the food and shelter that they need. I will never be comfortable in this place until that happens.”

  He smiled. “Of course not. Because you’re a good leader. And I’d expect nothing less of you.”

  “So we need to make that happen as soon as possible, Lio.”

  “And we will. Rhyion has already reached out to the news conglomerates to organize your press conference for later this week. You’ll introduce yourself, your ideas for the elections, your plan for government, emergency relief funds taken out of Robert’s extravagant amount of wealth… It’ll all be taken care of soon. Just be patient.”

  It was hard to be patient. I had so much I wanted to do, so many things that needed to be taken care of, and I wanted to do it as soon as possible.

  “All the shifters from the island are in the lobby waiting for you.”

  “Right, of course.” I stood up.

  One step at a time.

  I had to take care of these people before I could take care of the entire country.

  I walked out to the top of the stairs and saw the rest of the shifters staring up at me with smiles on their faces.

  I cleared my throat and then began to speak loudly to them. “First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions on this day. You all welcomed me with open arms, accepted me as your Queen, and committed to doing anything that I needed. I wouldn’t be here because of you.

  “And I want to take a quiet moment to remember those that we lost. They made the greatest sacrifice, and I promise, I will never forget what they did. They will go down in the history books as heroes… because they are. Let’s bow our heads in a moment of silence.”

  We did. I closed my eyes as I bowed my head, and I felt the emotion of their loss rush over me. I wished I could speak to each of them directly, to apologize, to thank them. In my mind, that was exactly what I was doing.

  I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, looking back at everyone who was now staring at me with smiles on their faces.

  “Everyone, pick a room in the castle. This is where all of you are going to stay. My ancestors used to have their families live in the castles with them. Their entire extended families—cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents—and they all lived here with their lovers.

  “As you all know, I don’t have family… none that are living, anyway. In the past year, you guys have become my family. I would never want to live in this castle by myself. I need all of you here, my family. You will always be welcome here, and your children’s children will be as well.”

  At hearing this, they began to clap and cheer loudly.

  I meant what I said, it wasn’t just words. These people were my family. I was thrilled to have the entire village live here with me.

  “Pick any rooms you’d like! Later, we can discuss what roles you guys want to play here at the castle. In the interim, if there is anybody who wants to volunteer to gather and cook food for tonight, I’d greatly appreciate that.”

  Several shifters raised their hands to signify that they would, and I thanked them before returning to my room. By this time, Rhyion and Angelo were back so I had all three of my boys with me.

  This was it… this was the dream.

  I was finally here, and I wanted to appreciate it. I wanted to bask in the moment, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. There was still so much to accomplish.

  I had to trust Lio—it would get done and I’d have to be patient.

  But patience wasn’t exactly one of my strong suits.

  10

  I thought that my first night of sleep after becoming Queen, I’d get to see my mother. That we’d celebrate…

  But she wasn't in my dreams tonight. And I wasn’t even sure what led me to this particular dream. I wasn’t trying to go to any specific memory… so why was I in this room, watching a tall brunette woman shuffle through a bunch of drawers and throw things into a suitcase?

  She looked out of breath. I didn’t know her, but I could still see that the expression on her face was one of panic.

  Suddenly, as she was stuffing small clothes into the suitcase, a blonde woman walked in.

  “Helen, what are you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing? I’m leaving! You saw the broadcast!”

  The blonde woman looked confused. “I… I don’t think that’s going to apply to you, Helen. I mean, surely when you explain your story—that you were forced into a marriage with Robert, that you had no loyalty to him—they’ll understand. I mean, he was abusive to you throughout your entire marriage. Now you have to suffer when his reign of terror ends, too?”

  Helen whipped her head around to look at the blonde. “It’s not me that I’m worried about. Maybe this woman would understand all that… I don’t know. I don’t know her. But it doesn’t matter because I’m not worried about me.”

  Wait… were these women talking about me? And was this really Robert’s wife?

  Honestly, whoever the blonde woman was, she was right. It was no struggle for me to imagine that Robert would be a horribly abusive husband. Of course there was room in my heart for a woman who was forced to marry him against her will and was subsequently treated like garbage by him. I’d do nothing to punish this woman… Did I really come off as that severe in my projection?

  “Then… who are you worried about?” the blonde asked.

  “Betty, are you kidding me? My son, of course! My son!”

  “Alexander? You think they’d hurt Alexander?”

  “They’re not going to let him live, Betty! He's Robert’s son! He was heir to the throne. Nobody that is going to take the throne is going to allow the next heir to live. They’d be too worried that it would come back to bite them in the ass.”

  Now that… that was a different thought entirely. Would I allow Robert’s son to live free, without question or consequence? Could I? Probably not.

  I mean, I wouldn’t kill him, of course. Nobody deserves to die for their parents’ sins. But the views of his father would likely be
ingrained in him. And I didn’t like to be judgmental, but the reality was that Robert was an evil man, a sociopath. What if he passed that onto a son that would do everything he could to overthrow me?

  Betty looked surprised, like she hadn’t thought of this. “Where are you going to go?”

  “I don’t even know. All I know is that we need to get out of this castle now, before she comes. We’ll just… we’ll run for now."

  “But how long can you do that? Somebody is going to recognize you as Robert’s wife.”

  Tears began to fill in her eyes. “I don't know. I have no idea! But I need to protect my son! He’s innocent in this!”

  Suddenly, I heard a small voice from behind me.

  “Mommy?”

  I turned around to see a tiny boy, no older than five, walk out from the bathroom.

  At first, I thought he was talking to Betty… until Helen turned to him.

  “Alexander, baby, come here.” She knelt down to scoop him up.

  Wait… this was Robert’s son? This five-year-old little boy?

  I wasn't sure why, but I had pictured Robert’s son to be an adult… or a near adult. A grown man who had absorbed the evil teachings of his father and would do anything to avenge him.

  I didn’t picture an actual child, too young to absorb anything malicious.

  “Mommy, what’s wrong?” he asked, once he was in her arms.

  “Nothing, baby, we just have to go. Now. Go get your Cubby. Run right to your room and run back to me, okay? And then we’re leaving.”

  She put him down on the ground and he did as she said, his shaggy brown hair bobbing as his clumsy body ran past Betty. Helen then knelt down and began to zip up the suitcase.

  Worry came over Betty’s face as she reached into her pocket. "Here, take this.” She held out a key to Helen.

  "What's this?" Helen asked, confused.

  “It’s a key to my family’s cabin. It's in Paltryville, 838 Walnut Street. It’s old, it’s shabby, and it’s been abandoned for years… But I don't think anyone will search for you there."