Free Web NovelChapter 177: Chapter 177
Circe’s hands trembled around the stack of papers she held. She asked Ragnar for proof of everything he was saying, not because she believed he was lying to her, but because she needed to see the truth for herself. For years she had listened blindly to every word her father fed her, never once questioning him. And look at where that unthinking obedience had led her.
But now, as Circe read the written documentation detailing everything that was done to Iliana Tavish by those soldiers, she wished that she had never asked to see proof.
The accounts were brutal and grotesque.
How could anyone possibly justify doing such things to another person, vampire or not? It was nauseating. No one deserved this. Not even an enemy.
She swallowed hard as her stomach rolled. She had seen gore before and was no stranger to it. But this was different. This was cold-blooded, and deliberate. It took every shred of her strength not to vomit the dinner she ate earlier.
Ragnar had kept a copy of Iliana Tavish’s autopsy report tucked away in his study, and when Circe asked for proof, that had been the first thing he placed in her hands.
After that came the war reports, records that showed Lamora had not launched a single attack on Westeria until three months after Iliana’s death. King Zeriel had still been trying to negotiate peace then, exhausting every diplomatic avenue before turning to violence.
It explained why, when Hairan eventually spiraled out of control, the king had been quick to strip him of all administrative duties instead of indulging him the way the queen had. King Zeriel had been trying to avoid a war.
"King Zeriel sent an emissary to Westeria only days after Iliana’s body was found," Ragnar said quietly, his gaze fixed on Circe so she could see the sincerity in his eyes. "He carried a message for your father. A simple request. King Zeriel wanted your father to pull the soldiers responsible from active duty and send them to Lamora to stand trial. Since it was clear your father had no intention of addressing the crime himself. If he complied, all would be forgiven."
He paused but Circe could already guess how the rest of the story went, given the fact that the war still happened. She also knew her father well. He was very stubborn and prideful, he had never liked it when he felt threatened in any way. Circe unfortunately got the worst of her qualities from him.
Her father despised vampires with a hatred so deep it bordered on obsession. For years she had listened to him rant about them. He would frequently call them vile creatures. Abominations, monsters who should never have been allowed to exist.
The fact that the king of vampires himself was demanding accountability would have been enough to send her father into a rage.
She could picture it now: her father’s absolute refusal to yield.
Ragnar’s voice drew her back. "When the emissary returned, he reported that your father refused outright. So my father sent a second emissary." Ragnar exhaled, his jaw clenching. "But that one wasn’t even granted an audience. He was turned away at the border. By then, Laheir was urging the king to take action and avenge what was done to Iliana before more crimes followed."
And they would have followed. If Iliana’s murder went unpunished, worse may happen to others.
Circe couldn’t bring herself to speak. Her throat felt too tight, her lungs too constricted. Her eyes burned with a sharp mix of pain and shame, her chest twisting painfully as if a knife had been lodged in the center of it. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
She had not shed a single tear in nearly nine years, not since the day she watched her mother’s body burn to ash on a funeral pyre. But now she felt like collapsing into sobs. Yet no tears fell.
Her eyes remained stubbornly dry, holding back a storm she didn’t know how to release.
Everything she thought she knew was unraveling before her. For so long her father had told her that Lamora attacked Westeria out of greed, a way for them to amass more power and territory.
He always painted vampires as bloodthirsty creatures who thrived on destruction, who slaughtered innocents simply because it was in their nature. She had believed him. She had repeated his claims. She had built her worldview on them.
And all along he had been the one sabotaging every attempt at peace.
Torben had known. Of course he had. He had been their father’s heir and the soldiers who killed Iliana served under his command. There was no way he hadn’t known. The realization twisted the knife in her chest deeper, the betrayal cutting far more sharply than she expected.
They had both conspired to keep her and Rowen in the dark.
"King Zeriel sent a third and final emissary," Ragnar said. "But unlike the others, he didn’t return. Not for another two weeks. He was detained before being sent back to Lamora. Your father refused to comply. And he sent him back with insults that made it clear he would never cooperate with Lamora. It left my father no choice but to retaliate."
It took Circe a long moment before she finally spoke. freewebnøvel.coɱ
" And you were placed to lead the charge." She said, and her voice was hollow to even her own ears.
"I saw it as a way to redeem myself," he said. "I was supposed to accompany her to Azaire. Hairan asked me to, but I refused. To ask a man of my station to do the work of a common guard was demeaning, and I knew he only did it to insult me. But after what happened to her..." He exhaled slowly, jaw tightening. "I felt a measure of guilt. That was why I agreed to lead my father’s troops to Westeria."
It was to clear his conscience or what little of it he still had at that time.
He slipped the documents from her hands and set them on the desk. Then, taking her gently by the wrists, he drew her toward him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, as though he sensed she wanted to be held but didn’t know how to ask.
"I wish you and Rowen weren’t caught in the crossfire," he murmured into her hair, his voice low and meant only for her. "I wish it could have ended differently."
His arms tightened around her protectively.
The only good thing about it all was that it led him to her. To him, their marriage was the only good thing that came out of it.
