Free Web NovelChapter 159: Not A Part of Their Plan
{Third Person}
Polite laughter spread through the room. Several guests nodded in agreement. Even King Sebastian appeared amused.
Zarek’s smile only widened. "To the Alpha Prince."
Servants immediately moved to ensure every important guest had a filled glass, including Alexander and Amara.
Barron’s eyes followed the movement as Jasper’s hand tightened slightly behind his back.
Alexander remained perfectly calm.
The toast was met with enthusiastic agreement throughout the banquet hall.
Glasses were raised across the room as nobles, ministers, court officials, mages, and dignitaries joined in the celebration.
Amara followed Alexander’s lead and lifted her own glass.
Across from them, King Sebastian and Queen Lysandra did the same, followed by the rest of the royal family and the honoured guests seated nearby.
"To the Alpha Prince."
The words echoed through the hall before everyone drank.
As he lowered his glass, Zarek felt a wave of satisfaction settle over him. Weeks of preparation had led to this moment.
The difficult part was over. All that remained was to wait for the effects to reveal themselves.
After retaking his seat beside Julia, his attention repeatedly drifted toward Alexander. At first, he remained calm. The drug had never been intended to act instantly. Still, every few minutes, his gaze returned to the Alpha Prince.
He watched Alexander converse with guests. He watched him accept greetings and continue the banquet as though nothing had happened.
The longer nothing happened, the more uneasy Zarek became.
Beside him, Julia had been observing his behaviour for several minutes. He was barely paying attention to the conversations around him and seemed unusually focused on whatever was happening across the hall.
Eventually, her discomfort overcame her curiosity.
Leaning closer, she lowered her voice and asked, "What are you planning?"
Zarek did not even turn his head to her. His eyes remained fixed on Alexander.
"You will see," he said.
The answer immediately made Julia’s stomach tighten. She knew her mate far too well. Whenever Zarek wore that expression, trouble usually followed.
Her gaze shifted toward Alexander before returning to Zarek, and an unpleasant feeling settled heavily in her chest.
Several seats away, Rowan had noticed the same thing.
Unlike most people in the room, he had spent his entire life dealing with Zarek’s schemes and ambitions. The signs were familiar enough that he recognized them immediately.
The constant glances. The anticipation. The satisfaction that Zarek was trying and failing to hide.
Rowan leaned slightly toward Yara. "My second brother is up to something."
Yara calmly took a sip from her wine before replying, "Of course he is."
"You don’t sound surprised."
She lowered her glass and gave him a look. "I’m married into this family now. I know exactly what Lord Zarek is like."
Rowan could not argue with that. He glanced toward Zarek once more. Unfortunately, knowing his brother was plotting something and knowing what he was plotting were two very different things.
Meanwhile, across the hall, Amara was listening to one of Davina’s stories when an odd sensation passed through her body. At first, she ignored it.
The banquet hall was crowded, and she assumed the warmth came from the sheer number of people gathered inside. However, the feeling did not fade. Instead, it slowly intensified.
A strange heat spread through her chest.
Moments later, her head began to feel light. The voices around her sounded slightly distant, and the room no longer felt quite as steady as before.
Amara blinked several times, trying to regain her focus. Perhaps she had stood too long. Perhaps she needed fresh air.
The moment she lifted a hand toward her temple, Alexander noticed.
His attention shifted away from the noble speaking to him. The change in Amara was subtle enough that most people would have missed it entirely, but Alexander did not.
Her posture had changed. Her breathing seemed different. Most importantly, she no longer looked comfortable.
At the same moment, Zarek noticed her reaction as well. His pulse quickened.
’Finally.’ He thought to himself. ’The drug had begun to work.’
A slow smile started forming on his face as he turned his attention back toward Alexander. Now he simply had to wait for the real effects to appear.
Several seconds passed, then everything changed.
Without warning, Alexander’s body went rigid.
The glass slipped from his hand and struck the floor with a sharp crash that cut through the noise of the banquet hall. Conversations stopped immediately, and dozens of heads turned toward him.
Before anyone could react, Alexander suddenly bent forward, and blood splattered across the table. freewёbnoνel.com
For one horrifying second, the entire hall froze. Nobody moved, nobody spoke.
Amara stared in shock. The dizziness that had been distracting her vanished instantly.
Across the room, Julia’s face lost all colour. Rowan shot to his feet so quickly that his chair nearly toppled backwards. Even Yara looked stunned.
Then chaos erupted.
"Alexander!" King Sebastian’s voice thundered through the hall.
The Alpha King was already moving before the last syllable left his mouth. In that moment, he was no longer a ruler presiding over a royal banquet. He was a father watching his son cough up blood before his eyes.
Servants rushed forward. Nobles abandoned all decorum. The banquet’s orderly atmosphere shattered as panic spread through the room.
The mages were among the first to react. Several immediately hurried toward Alexander while Jasper moved to his side without hesitation. Barron was only a step behind him.
Amara had already risen from her chair. Her face had gone completely pale. There was blood, far too much blood.
Nothing about this looked normal. Nothing about it made sense.
Across the hall, Zarek’s satisfaction vanished so quickly it was almost frightening. Shock replaced it.
He had reworked his plans on the kind of drug to give to Alexander.
Now, this new drug was supposed to agitate Alexander. It was supposed to push his emotions out of control and cause a public incident that would damage his reputation.
It was never supposed to do this.
Beside him, Queen Lysandra looked equally stunned. Genuine alarm broke through her carefully maintained composure because whatever had just happened was not part of their plan.
As panic consumed the banquet hall, a terrible realization began settling over everyone present.
Something had gone horribly wrong.
