The King's Mistress

Chapter 107: The More You Know

After escorting them in, the shadow guards disappeared. There were only the four of them, a crackling fireplace and a table with wine and light snacks set up for all of them. The three women glanced at one another.

"Why are all of y’all still standing there. I don’t bite," Alistair mused as he poured them a glass of wine each. freewebnσvel.cѳm

"Come, sit," he beckoned them once more.

Sierra was the first to take a step forward. Followed by Lady Diane, then Roxine.

"King Alistair...Your Majesty... I-" before Diane could say anything else, Alistair cut in.

"Less talk, more wine. Here, Diane, this one is for you," he said as he handed her a glass.

As soon as Sierra sat down, he handed her a glass. Last of all, he held out a glass for Roxine. Not wanting to know what would happen if they turned him down, they took the glass in their hands. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Alistair raised his own glass as he got up to his feet, startling them a little. At first, Sierra thought he might be a little tipsy. But she realized quickly that she did not smell any alcohol on him. The only alcohol she could smell was the ones in their hands.

"To Diane and Roxine! You could have at least invited me, you know. I would have loved to be there," Alistair raised his glass a little higher before taking a sip of it.

His attitude surprised all of them. They did not know how to react. Looking down at the glass of wine in their hands, they wondered if they should drink it.

"Oh come on, the wine isn’t poisoned. You all saw me pour every glass, even my own! Don’t any of you trust me?"

He looked over to Sierra, "I’m especially disappointed in you, sweetling. Don’t you trust me?"

Sierra bit her lip. She took a sip without hesitation. If he wanted them dead or in agony, he would have already done so. That is, unless, he was toying with them. Waiting for them to lower their guard.

The wine did not taste out of the ordinary. In fact, it was one of the best she had tasted in a long time. Seeing that Sierra drank it with no issues, Roxine and Diane took a sip of theirs too.

"You know, I could have poisoned the glasses instead of the wine," he chuckled.

Roxine spat out the wine in her mouth and Alistair got a face full of it while Diane had already swallowed hers. Her eyes widened in shock. Sierra gasped too. She could not help but laugh at how Alistair looked at that moment.

"I deserved that," he had cracked a joke he shouldn’t have and got his desserts.

"You know, about us?" Roxine asked after the embarrassment subsided and Alistair wiped the wine off his face with a handkerchief.

"I’m bad at hiding my emotions, but you’re not any better either, Roxine," he lamented. He looked up at her, with a tinge of disappointment, "Did you seriously think I wouldn’t be able to tell?"

Roxine and Diane glanced at each other, not knowing what to say. Sierra was surprised that he knew too.

"I...You’re right, I should have known," Roxine sighed.

She had been a fool to think she would be able to pull the wool over his eyes. He had broader connections, after all, it would be a matter of time before he eventually found out. But why did he decide to speak to them now? When he had many other opportunities to do so.

"Great proposal, by the way," Alistair spoke up, breaking the silence, between them, "Wished I was invited to it though."

Sierra could not help but chuckle. She could sense the saltiness in his voice. He glanced at her with his eyebrow raised. He was amused that she caught on to him so quickly.

"I... We were worried," Lady Diane tried to reason with him but she found herself fumbling.

"Worried that I would ruin it?" he mused.

He was clearly giving Roxine and Diane a hard time. Neither the Queen nor the Lady knew what to say. It was as if they were being interrogated.

Sierra knew she had to say something.

"You must have your reason for calling all of us here, don’t you, Your Majesty?" she diverted the questions back to him.

"Yes, you’re right. I just wanted to celebrate this joyous occasion with my Queen, that’s all."

"You’re not mad? You’re not upset that I lied to you? That I got Sierra to lie to you too?" Roxine asked, she could not keep it in anymore.

Alistair put down his wine glass and looked over at her. Since they had been wed, Roxine played her role as Queen well. She had it down to a subservient attitude, which was what was expected of her.

It was moments like the present, that he missed. Where her true personality shone through and he get to catch a glimpse of what one of his closest friends was truly like.

"I am disappointed that you did not trust me enough to tell and had chosen to keep me in the dark instead. I am also surprised that you found out about Sierra’s true identity and for the sake of your own benefit, keep that information from me."

He looked over to Sierra for a moment, then back at Roxine, "I’m also surprised that despite the level of trust I share with her, she still chose to keep it from me."

Sierra defended herself, "I uphold the promises I made, it had nothing to do with what you and I have."

Alistair turned to face her. He gently cupped her chin as he grinned. His sudden action caught her completely off guard, she did not know how to react.

"What do we have, sweetling?"

The heat rising in her cheeks was difficult to deny. She turned her head to the side and folded her arms. This display of affection between them was a surprise to Roxine, who assumed Alistair would have been more discreet.

As they refocused on their topic of discussion, Alistair revealed why he had summoned them to his quarters.

"I assume your next course of action would have been to decide when you will leave Vargos Castle beneath my nose, yes?" he cut the chase and went straight to the point, "What do you have in mind?"