Free Web NovelChapter 215: Three days of peace.
"You know that white snake is a bad influence, right?" Lord Marius asked.
Sienna laughed. "I am sure there are people out there that say the exact same thing about me to their kids. Your wife is one of those people. Hell, she is at the top of the list." She exhaled, tension draining from her shoulders. "You know, I don’t need your apologies. I appreciate them, but I don’t need them. We all have our poison that we hold on to despite knowing its the wrong thing. What I need is for your wife to stop treating me like an enemy. She doesn’t have to like me, she doesn’t need to support my policies publicly, she doesn’t even have to smile at me. All she needs to do is exit in her own space and let me exist in mine."
Marius nodded slowly. "I will speak to her. She listens less than she once did, but I am going to be harder on her from now on. Maybe....just maybe she will hear reason this time."
Sienna studied him, seeing weariness etched into his face. For all his power, he was now a man caught between loyalty and regret. "Do that," she said bluntly. "Because like I said, if she doesn’t stop, I will fight back. And once I start, I won’t hold back. And I don’t care if she’s your wife, my husband’s mother or the queen herself. When I reach my limit, she will regret her actions."
He gave a weary smile. "You remind me of her, you know."
Sienna almost leaped out of the window. To be compared to Lady Cadelaria was a crime. A sin.
Marius laughed, "You must be revolted now, I can see it on your face. I don’t mean the bitterness, I mean the fire, the defiance which sometimes fails all logic. Perhaps that is why she despises you--because you are what she once was. But better."
She snorted. "Then she should admire me, not attack me."
Marius chuckled, a sound tinged with sorrow. "If only it were that simple."
The ship’s engines hummed beneath their feet, a reminder that Sienna’s life was always in motion, never still. She straightened, brushing off the lingering frustration. "Enough with the unpleasant subjects, let’s talk about the factory which collapsed. I don’t know who you to talk to, but it is not my job to investigate the case. The factory manager keeps calling me every thirty minutes for an update on the culprit and when we are due to start renovations."
"I will handle that," Marius waved his hand slowly, indicating that it was not a problem.
"Put Wayo on the case, the black panther." She pushed forward, a thoughtful smile on her face. "If he can pass this test, then he can be granted the job of head of security for the tribe."
Marius arched his brows and blinked a few times. "Errr....."
"What, you don’t think that he is cut out for the job because his fur is sleeker than yours?" She asked. freewebnσvel.cѳm
He laughed. "No, I don’t think he is cut out for the job because there will be a riot in the tribe."
Sienna snapped her fingers once. "Then let’s put it to a vote. Start a poll among the foxes on who thinks he should get the position or not. It should be the people’s choice, not the elder’s choice."
Crossing his arms against his chest, Marius tilted his head from side to side. He could see the merit in her suggestion. Personally, he liked the black panther, but professionally, he didn’t think the man was right for the job. Not if it meant causing a political battle in the tribe, during a plague!
Ali whimpered, like she was having a nightmare. Sienna rushed to the cub.
Marius snapped out of his thoughts. He bowed slightly. "Rest well, daughter in-law. And know that not all foxes stand against you. I am sure my wife will finally have the same awakening you did, and make things right."
Sienna didn’t respond, she just watched him leave, his tail swaying with the weight of unspoken burdens. Alone at last, she got to rest on the bed with the cubs. But even that rest was tainted with the words of her father-in-law, about Cadelaria coming around. She smirked, "An awakening!" Unless her mother in-law’s body was hijacked by a transmigrator, it was not likely.
She cradled her cubs and took a deep breath. Rather than imagine the future, it was best to sleep when she could. There would be more work waiting for her after she opened her eyes.
****
Sienna sat in her office, behind the heavy marble desk which was officially hers since yesterday. Her shoes were abandoned somewhere somewhere on the soft rug beneath, which her daughter was rolling around on, laughing pointlessly. Ali was back to her usual antics, now that she was recovered fully from her illness.
Eli was also in the office, perched at a small table he had demanded be assembled and reserved for his personal use. It had been placed by the window, which his head could barely reach. He was reading a book on governance. It was far too dense and complicate for his age.
Sienna’s lips twitched in half amusement-half irritation. Pretentious little fox, she thought, though pride lingered in her eyes. Having the cubs there softened her shoulders, and brightened her day, though the weight of tribe business pressed down harder than a slab. But at least, the elders and her mother-in-law were all behaving.
Three days had passed since she had the conversation with Lord Marius. Since then, the office for women and cub affairs had been handed over. She had not seen her mother-in-law at the ceremony. Cadelaria had claimed sickness which people took to mean plague!
Sienna knew it was a lie, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was that there was silence from her mother-in-law’s end. No sudden visits, no sharp remarks, no meddling--just absence. It was almost unsettling.
The office door creaked open. Her self-appointed personal secretary Mija walked in, arms full of blossoms: white lilies and fox roses. "My biggest competitor is back." Mija placed the flowers on the desk with a huff. "He was dragged to his office by Elder Tomlin on his way here. If he had not brought you these flowers, I would be saying mean things about him."
Ali squealed, rushing to tug the petals from the bouquet, while Eli looked up from his book with solemn eyes, as if sensing the shift in the mood.
Sienna rose to her feet, and dashed out of the office, forgetting her shoes.
