Free Web NovelChapter 54: Chapter 54
"Your majesty," soldiers greeted Adonis as soon as he entered the dining hall. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"I hope all is to your liking?" Adonis asked, then turned and looked at one of the cooks. "Are my men thoroughly?"
’Yes, your majesty."
"I would like us to discuss the events of the battles that we previously fought in." The room went silent; forks clattered on their plates.
Adonis slowly looked at all the faces in the rooms. "As you all know by now, those bombs which were used were created by us. It was not exposed or sold to the public or kingdom, which means someone among us has been selling them out."
The men around the table began to murmur loudly.
"Quiet, please," Adonis said and held up his hand. "I understand perfectly, gentlemen, but this is the situation we have found ourselves in.
Therefore, we need to re-strategize. We will not be sending our army to die meaningless deaths; we are going to send out a few men who will stake out these kingdoms, find out their plans, destroy any reserve they have if possible, and then we attack."
The men nodded with a grunt.
"In the meantime, we will stay here, and our men will recover. I want everyone in the best shape possible when we eventually get back into action. Am I clear?"
"Yes, your majesty!!" The men chanted.
Astrid and Andrea had been watching from the door as Adonis spoke, and as soon as he was done, they found empty seats and sat down to eat.
Astrid saw Augustus crouched over his food near Adonis and smiled a little. It hit her then that she’d been so focused on Doris that she’d forgotten that he was injured as well. She palmed her face and shook her head.
They all ate a large loaf of bread with milk. As much as she hated to admit, it was always after they’d won over a danger that she cherished small pleasures such as this. It had been the same way during their time in the order. They would go hungry for a day because they weren’t able to complete tasks, but they got used to it eventually."
When they were all finally done, they sauntered out of the hall one after the other.
"Augustus," Astrid called as they were heading out, "how are you doing?"
He smiled and shook his head from his seat.
"Aren’t you done eating? Why don’t we take a walk around the place?"
Augustus laughed, ’I would probably die from the pain before I lifted my sword again."
"Come on now," Astrid chuckled, "don’t be such a baby about this. You know what, I promise you, we’re not going to walk for very long, we’ll sit when we find somewhere good enough. How does that sound?"
"Alright, fine." Augustus got up from where he sat and followed Astrid and Andrea out.
"How’s your injury? Andrea asked.
"It doesn’t hurt as much. It’ll probably heal in a..." Astrid poked his stomach a little, and he hissed. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I wanted to see if you were telling the truth." freёwebnovel.com
Andrea smirked by her side.
"You’re crazy, you realize that? Crazy!"
"Oh, come on, that was hardly a touch."
The three of them walked around the palace, looking at all the structure, the various quarters it held. Except this time, Lily was not with them.
"How do you think the girls are faring?" Astrid asked quietly. They were on the third floor, right outside the door where they had killed Aman.
"I think they’re just as fine as we are. They’re doing wonderfully well." Andrea responded.
A corner of her lips lifted. "I hope that was true, Andrea, I really hope it was."
"What are you guys talking about? You mean your sister? The princess? She’s in the palace, why wouldn’t she be ok?" Augustus asked.
"Not her," Andrea replied, "our other sisters. We sent them with the prince’s sister."
"You did what?"
"Calm down, we just wanted to protect Epirus. Nothing else."
"That’s as audacious as it gets," Augustus scoffed. "Do you even know who she is? She is the most vicious of all the siblings. She’s always had this agenda to prove that she was better than her brother, and sometimes, she actually did.
Unfortunately, women are not given stations in Erindros, so she has never really showcased her efficiency."
Astrid arched a brow, "You mean to tell me, as advanced as Erindros is, women are still not given leadership roles? How awfully backward is that?!"
They had gone outside and were heading to the women’s quarters.
"I don’t make the rules, Astrid. So you don’t need to look at me like I committed some sort of crime. I think women are just as competent. Both of you, for instance, are some of the greatest women I’ve ever met in my life. I couldn’t imagine restricting your abilities just because."
Astrid cocked her head to look at him. "I like the way you think," she said with a crooked smile.
"Shut up."
"Wait," Astrid furrowed her brows in confusion. "If women aren’t given posts, then how does she lead such a large fleet?"
"That’s the part I was getting. She became a force to be reckoned with. She would insert herself in council meetings, persuade, or rather advise her father on certain laws for the empire, and it was all eventually worked out in her favour.
The members of the council began to accept her. They would sometimes even consult her when her father was proving difficult."
"Which meant that she was slowly undermining Adonis’ powers?" Asreid asked.
"Bullseye," he exclaimed.
"He must have felt awful, didn’t he?" Astrid asked.
"Of course he did. The council did think they needed him again, or rather, they’re using his sister to keep him in check. Ultimately, he will ascend the throne; they’re never going to let a woman become queen, even if she’s as competent as Octavia. But they want as much power over the prince as they can."
"That’s definitely an awful position to be in."
"It is."
Astrid was silent, for a while, looking aimlessly ahead. "Wouldn’t she be the most likely to benefit from his death?"
Augustus and Andrea whipped their head to look at her.
"It’s a terrible idea, but it is a possibility," Astrid said.
