Free Web NovelChapter 9: Chapter 9 Do not touch my people
_Rowena’s POV_
The decree arrived at seven in the morning.
A single document, formally sealed, delivered digitally to my attorney and physically to the Varkos estate’s registered address simultaneously, Celeste had insisted on both, so there was no room for anyone to claim they hadn’t received it. By eight, my attorney had confirmed receipt. By eight-fifteen, I had read it twice and set it on my desk face-up where I could see it.
Done.
Not finally though, Kaelen had fourteen days to formally respond before the dissolution was legally complete. But the Alpha King’s seal was on it, which meant contesting it required going through Alaric directly. Kaelen was an Alpha. He was not that Alpha.
I was still sitting with my morning coffee when Velvet came in.
I knew something was wrong before she spoke. She had a particular way of holding herself when she was trying not to show that something had happened, spine slightly too straight, hands too still.
"What is it?" I asked already, locking eyes with her.
She pressed her lips together for a moment. "Miss Virella sent word this morning. Through Mrs. Park." She paused. "She’s been given the title of First Mate."
I set my cup down.
Kyra went very quiet in the back of my mind. The kind of quiet that came before something loud.
"Kaelen announced it?" I asked.
"Grandmama Maelis announced it," Velvet said. "Apparently it happened last night, after the meeting. The household staff were informed this morning." She hesitated. "Mrs. Park came to the kitchen to tell the staff directly. She said..." another pause "...that all household requests should now be routed through Miss Virella first. That she has full authority over domestic arrangements."
"Full authority," I repeated.
"Yes." Velvet’s voice was careful. "And then she told Cook that your standing breakfast order had been removed from the morning rotation. Effective today."
I looked at her.
"She said it on Miss Virella’s behalf," Velvet said. "But Luna Rowena, that wasn’t all."
"Tell me."
Velvet’s composure slipped, just slightly. "She called me into the corridor afterward. Mrs. Park. She said that since Miss Virella now oversees domestic staff, she wanted to reassign me. To laundry rotation." A beat. "She said it with Miss Virella standing right there."
The room was very quiet.
"Rowena," Kyra said, low and sharp.
"Where is Virella now?" I asked.
"The east sitting room. She’s been holding informal meetings with the household staff all morning." freewebnovel.cσ๓
I stood up.
"Don’t go in angry," Kyra said.
"I’m not angry. I’m clear."
"There’s a difference?" Kyra laughed.
"Yes. Anger makes mistakes. Clarity doesn’t."
I walked out of my room, down the corridor, and into the east sitting room without knocking.
Virella was seated in the chair by the window, my grandmother-in-law’s chair, the one Maelis sat in when she wanted the room to understand the hierarchy without saying it aloud.
Park stood to her left. Two junior staff members were hovering near the door with the uncomfortable posture of people who had been caught in the middle of something they hadn’t agreed to.
Virella looked up when I entered. Something crossed her face, not exactly surprise. She’d been expecting me. The timing had probably been deliberate.
"Luna Rowena." Her voice was warm. "I was just getting to know the staff better. I hope you don’t mind."
"I do," I said pleasantly. "Get out of that chair."
The room went still.
Virella blinked. "Sorry?"
"That chair belongs to Grandmama Maelis," I said. "You’re not Grandmama Maelis. Get out of it."
A beat of silence.
Then Virella set her hands on the armrests and stayed where she was, her expression shifting into something softer and more dangerous. "I was asked to take on domestic oversight. I’m simply doing what I’ve been...."
"You removed my breakfast order from the kitchen rotation," I said. "You told my personal attendant she was being reassigned to laundry." I kept my voice even. "I want to be clear about something. Velvet is my staff. She was employed before this marriage and her terms of service are tied to my accounts, not Moonreign’s operational budget." I looked at Virella steadily. "You have no authority over her. You never did. And if Mrs. Park delivers one more message on your behalf to anyone in my personal household, she will find that the doors she assumes are open to her are not."
Mrs. Park stiffened.
Virella’s eyes hardened behind the softness. "Maelis gave me oversight of....."
"Maelis can give you oversight of whatever she likes within the pack’s resources," I said. "My resources are separate. That was established three days ago. If you’d like the documentation, my attorney can send it over." I paused. "The breakfast order will be reinstated before tomorrow morning. Velvet stays where she is."
Virella stood up from the chair. She was composed — I’d give her that — but something behind her eyes was recalculating.
"You’re making this very difficult," she said. Almost gently, like she was sorry about it.
"No," I said. "I’m making it very simple. Don’t touch my people. Don’t touch my things. And don’t sit in chairs that don’t belong to you." I looked at the two junior staff by the door. "You can go back to your regular duties. This meeting is over."
They went. Quickly.
Mrs. Park looked at Virella. Virella gave a small, controlled nod, and Mrs. Park swept out with the dignity of someone pretending they hadn’t just lost ground.
Virella and I were alone.
She looked at me for a moment, really looked, with her undecorated gaze she kept behind the soft voice and stupid smiles.
"You’re not going to make this easy for anyone, are you," she said. It wasn’t a question.
"I was easy for three years," I said. "I’m done."
Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked out.
Velvet was waiting in the corridor, eyes wide.
"Done," I said, before she could ask. "Your assignment hasn’t changed. Walk with me."
She fell into step beside me, and I heard her exhale, a long and shaky one.
Kyra sighed, "Well done."
