Free Web NovelChapter 261: Chapter 261
Ragnar found her tucked away in a quiet corner of the library, a book opened across her lap. She looked utterly absorbed in its contents, eyes moving swiftly across the page, her brow faintly furrowed in concentration. She was so intrigued that she barely noticed him until his shadow stretched over her and dimmed the light she was reading by.
When she finally became aware of his presence, she blinked up at him curiously, as though momentarily pulled from another world.
"You’re back," she said, her eyes brightening at the sight of him. "How long has it been?"
Circe smiled, and for a fleeting moment Ragnar found himself almost blinded by the beauty of it. There had been a time when he had wished for moments like this, moments where she would look at him with warmth in her gaze, when she would share her smiles with him freely. Now that he had that and more, he knew there were very few things in the world that compared to the feeling it stirred within him.
"Not long," Ragnar answered. He had left at midmorning to attend to urgent matters and had come looking for her the very moment he returned.
He settled beside her, close enough that his shoulder brushed lightly against hers. The contact felt natural now, unremarkable in the best possible way. When he was seated, he tilted his head slightly to peer down at the book in her hands. He didn’t recognize the cover. The library was so vast that he had only managed to read through a fraction of its collection.
"What are you reading?" he asked, watching as she turned another page.
By then, he had abandoned any pretense of subtlety, lowering his face further to read the first line on the page.
"It’s a book about the past rulers of Lamora and their outlandish reigns," Circe replied matter-of-factly.
She had come to the library that day as she did every day, determined to continue her search for answers. Not once had she paused her quest, not even after the woman in her dreams promised to reveal everything she needed to know about her powers.
Circe could not bring herself to simply sit and wait to be summoned again. The thought of it felt far too much like surrendering control, and even amidst so many unknowns, that was one thing she refused to relinquish.
She did not know her aunt well enough to trust her completely. There was every chance that truths would be withheld, answers reshaped to fit her agenda. Circe trusted very few people, and it was precisely why she persisted with her research regardless.
But midway through her work that day, her focus had derailed when she stumbled upon a book chronicling the former rulers of Lamora, details about their reigns, and how each one had shaped the kingdom into what it was today.
Ragnar snorted softly, clearly not expecting that response from her. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"You speak ill of Lamorian kings in front of a Lamorian prince," he said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Is it truly speaking ill of something if it’s true?" Circe asked, glancing up at him.
Her gaze lingered on his smile, and the mirth that danced in his eyes as he watched her.
She had just finished reading about the third king, nowhere close to finishing the book and already, every ruler so far had been abhorrent.
Marzen, Lamora’s first king, had been a religious fanatic and a tyrant. His youngest son, who succeeded him, proved to be no better. During his reign, religion had been woven heavily into politics. Laws were dictated by the doctrine of the Old Gods rather than reason or practicality. Crimes such as heresy were punished with the same severity as treason. The High Temple also had been elevated to near equality with the crown, and those who failed to follow its sacred teachings to the letter were dealt with mercilessly.
King Orrin, the third ruler of Lamora, had claimed the throne immediately after his predecessor’s death. His reign had been different, but no less disastrous, and his greatest flaw had been his vanity.
"King Orrin was married to six women at the same time and kept nearly ten concubines," Circe said flatly. "There are also several accounts of him even sleeping with married ladies of the court and somehow, he still found the time to rule a kingdom." She paused, frowning slightly. "How was he even allowed to do that? I thought there were disproportionately more men than women in Lamora, not counting the humans who migrated here in recent years."
The whole thing was so foreign to her, she almost couldn’t wrap her head around it.
"During his time, a king’s authority was unquestionable," Ragnar replied. "They did as they pleased. There were hardly any laws to keep their actions in check."
He leaned closer and pointed to a passage on the page. "During his reign, Lamora expanded its borders into Sanscar. The campaign left us with many casualties. Around the same period, our lands suffered the highest number of fae beast attacks ever recorded. Many women were left widowed and Orrin took full advantage of that and made a few of them his concubines."
Ragnar’s expression darkened slightly. "This book isn’t a detailed account of his reign. If it were, you would have known that sleeping with the wives of his lords was the least of his atrocities."
King Orrin fathered twenty five children in his lifetime. When he died, the question of succession plunged the kingdom into chaos. What followed was a brutal struggle for power, one that ended with ten of his children murdered in cold blood, slain by their own kin in the ruthless scramble for the throne.
After Orrin’s reign, a law was passed prohibiting kings from taking more than one wife.
Circe gave him a pointed look. "You are simply proving my point."
Ragnar smirked at that, the corner of his mouth lifting in quiet amusement. "I never said you were wrong."
Lamora was an unforgiving place, and its history reflected its brutality, cruelty layered upon cruelty—centuries of bloodshed etched in stone.
"And why isn’t there a clear line of succession?" Circe continued, unable to keep the frustration from her voice. "So many battles and needless deaths could have been prevented. Some kings die before ever naming a crown prince, and the throne immediately passes to the firstborn son. But that isn’t the case in Lamora, from what I’ve read." She frowned slightly, her brows knitting together.
"That is because King Marzen believed the crown should not be handed to someone simply because they happened to be born first," Ragnar said. His voice was steady, but there was an unmistakable edge beneath it. "He saw it as a game, one all princes were forced to play. Whoever survived, and proved themselves to be the most ruthless, earned the throne. It did not matter if they resorted to violence or brutality. He relished the bloodshed."
Circe’s fingers tightened around the edge of the book.
"This is the way of my people even to this day." Ragnar continued. "It means one cannot trust even his own blood without fearing a knife in his back."
