Free Web NovelChapter 209: Chapter 209
Hairan didn’t bother to hide the relief in his expression and posture as he stepped away from the table. Rycoff rose as well, bowing deeply, his daughter following with a graceful curtsy. It was one so perfectly practiced it was clear she had spent years in the company of other important courtiers. The eagerness that Rycoff and his daughter possessed clung to them like floral perfume: sweet, suffocating, and impossible to escape.
"Of course, Your Highness," Rycoff said with a too-bright smile. "We are honored to have been granted your time this morning. Should you require anything further—"
"I will send word," Hairan cut in smoothly.
A scathing retort hovered on the edge of Hairan’s tongue, something about Rycoff’s painfully obvious attempts to parade his daughter in front of him but he swallowed it down. Insulting Rycoff, no matter how justified it would be, was something he couldn’t afford to do right now.
Hairan still needed the lord’s support and also needed the support of many others, and if all he had to do to maintain the favor of these overly ambitious men was allow them to keep deluding themselves with fantasies of their daughters one day becoming queen, then so be it.
Rycoff didn’t even flinch at the dismissal. Men like him never did. They were so convinced of their usefulness that even blatant disinterest became, in their minds, a challenge to conquer rather than a barrier to respect.
Hairan offered the pair one final polite nod before turning on his heel.
The moment his back was to them, his expression cooled, sharpening into something much darker.
He crossed the garden with long, purposeful strides, the breeze tugging at the hem of his coat. The morning sun filtered through the lattice of intertwined branches above, casting shifting patches of sunlight across the path. The air smelled faintly of dew and crushed leaves. But none of it eased the tension gathered in his jaw.
His mother’s summons could mean anything. Lately, she never called to see him without a reason and rarely without an agenda of her own.
As he moved through the palace corridors leading toward her chambers, the question gnawed at him.
Why was she summoning him now? Did it have something to do with the spectacle she had orchestrated in her atrium? Was she summoning him to berate him for not attending her theatrics?
The king’s declaration had thrown the court into chaos, and Queen Nheera had been pulling every string within her reach to prevent her worst fear from becoming reality.
Ragnar was also moving pieces on the board quietly and had made more progress than anyone thought possible.
Hairan rounded another corner. The guards stationed along the walls bowed deeply as he passed, but he barely acknowledged them. His thoughts had already returned to Ragnar. His brother’s sudden command to dispatch guards had been abrupt, even for him.
He once more circled back to the letter, wondering not for the first time, what Ragnar was up to. Was it a part of any scheme to usurp the throne? Ragnar had always been fond of taking things that weren’t his. He never quite learned his place.
The thought made Hairan’s pulse thrum with irritation.
A bastard like Ragnar should never rule, he should have been happy and content with the fact that their father was kind enough to grant him a royal title. freewebnoveℓ.com
Ragnar was reckless sometimes. But he was never foolish.
He would not send out guards the way he did unless he needed something done quickly.
He reached the wide staircase leading to the queen’s private wing.
"Your Highness," a soft voice greeted him.
Lady Seraphine, one of Queen Nheera’s ladies-in-waiting, stepped forward and bowed. Her eyes flicked over him with a calm, assessing gaze, as though searching his face for any signs of agitation.
"The queen is waiting for you in her chambers," she said.
Hairan nodded once, the action curt. Seraphine turned and led him through the final corridors until they stood before the carved double doors of Queen Nheera’s private chambers.
Hairan’s jaw tightened at the sight.
Seraphine lifted her hand and knocked once. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
She hadn’t even raised her knuckles for the second knock when a sharp, clear voice rang out from within:
"Let him in."
Seraphine immediately pushed the door open and stepped aside.
Hairan inhaled slowly, smoothing every lingering trace of emotion from his features until his face was a perfectly blank mask of indifference. Then he stepped across the threshold into what he affectionately dubbed the wyvern’s den.
Queen Nheera stood at the center of the room, her presence commanding the space with effortless dominance. Draped in fineries, she turned her gaze toward him, eyes as cold as shards of ice.
Hairan spoke first.
"You asked for me." He came to a stop a few feet away, arms stiff at his sides.
"Were you doing something before?" she asked, her gaze sweeping over him from head to toe, her tone deceptively mild.
"Would it have mattered to you?" Hairan shot back. Then his expression flattened. "But if you must know, I was meeting with Lord Rycoff and his daughter. I wanted to see where his loyalties lie."
Nheera inclined her head, approving. "Good. I’m glad you are taking that approach. I’ve already asked Azul to gather you more supporters." She paused, her expression darkening at the edges. "I would have asked Jayran to do the same, but after the stunt he pulled, I cannot be certain his loyalties do not still linger with Ragnar."
Hairan tried to keep his tone level, but impatience still wound through every syllable. "Was that the reason you summoned me?"
Nheera ignored the edge in his voice with the same practiced skill she used to dismiss anything about him that did not directly serve her ambitions.
"There is something I have been meaning to discuss with you," she said, her voice low and smooth as she began to pace, each step measured and deliberate. "This pointless animosity you have with the twins has to come to an end. We are entering a crucial time for the kingdom, and there is no room for petty squabbles. We must appear more united than ever. And if genuine unity is too much to expect from you, then at least pretend. I don’t need to remind you what is at stake, do I?"
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