The Royal Mark-Chapter 172: Clever Girl
Chris woke up on a soft huge bed instead of the dungeon that he was expecting to wake up to. He looked around and he was in his room in their castle in Arcanis, his ankles were chained, and he was wearing a metal choker around his neck.
He was alone in his room, so he tried to remove both chains and the choker but it didn’t work.
’Aeson, Laureen, Lexi, can you hear me?’ He called out but it didn’t work.
The next thing he tried was to contact Elsa but there was nothing as well. ’What is going on?’ Chris thought. He heard some carriages outside and when he looked through the window, it looked like a normal day when he used to live in Arcanis.
He looked around to see if there was something that he could use to remove the chain around his ankles but found none.
’Yakobo, why can’t I reach the others?’ There was silence, ’Yakobo!’ Chris kept calling but couldn’t hear his wolf.
"Do you like my gift? I brought it from Novus by the way."
Chris heard when the door suddenly opened.
"Where are the others and what did you do to my wolf?" Chris asked Yvonne.
"Your pets are in the dungeon, while the humans are in the guest rooms. Everyone is treated accordingly," she took a seat near his bed before adding, "And about your wolf, I didn’t do anything, perhaps he is still sleeping. I have to use a strong tranquilizer on you, you know. You might use your true alpha form on me, that dosage is enough to kill an elephant and I am amazed that you were able to wake up after two weeks."
Chris’ jaw dropped but at the same time realizing that it had been so long made his stomach growl too.
Yvonne chuckled at hearing it. She walked up to Chris and he growled, "Relax, I will just remove the chain on your ankles so you can walk to the dining hall. You should dine with me and your uncle."
Chris did not decline the invitation since he knew he needed his full strength if he wanted to get out of there and rescue the others.
They passed by some servants and saw their heartbreaking state. Most of them had dark bags under their eyes, no one dared to greet him, they all just kept their heads lowered until he and Yvonne were far enough.
Chris didn’t utter a single word and kept his mouth shut as he observed everything around him. So much had changed in the castle, the place where he grew up. The place itself felt lonely and gloomy, the once lively and noisy castle was now silent and somber.
But what surprised him the most was what was awaiting him in the dining room. Aeson and the rest were there. And like him, they were also wearing a metal choker around their necks, except for his uncle, King Alaric Jorgensen, who looked much older than the last time he saw him two years ago.
"I’m glad you are finally awake, my dear nephew. You must be hungry, please sit," King Alaric said.
Still, Chris kept his poker face and sat quietly at the dining table. There was an abundance of food but everyone seemed like they had no appetite to eat.
"Come on everyone, start eating, we don’t want the food to get cold," Queen Yvonne mentioned.
King Alaric pointed his hand to one of the dishes and said, "Lexi, dear, could you serve that roasted duck to your prince? It was his favorite when he was young."
Lexi immediately took the plate and handed it over to Chris. He felt a paper under the plate and he looked at Lexi.
"Please take it, Your Highness. It’s the King’s idea to prepare it for you, and I agree with him. You will like it," she then winked one of her eyes that was visible to the witch queen and Chris instantly understood what she meant.
He took the plate and quickly hid the paper as he pretended to place the table napkin on his lap.
’Are you guys ok?’ Chris asked Aeson, Lexi, and Laureen mentally. "Ah!!! What the hell!" Chris yelled the stood up when he felt electricity come out of the metal choker.
"Oh! I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. The choker is made of a special metal that I enchanted to block your mind link and if ever you talk mentally at a close proximity, it will electrocute you. The same goes if you run away the electrocution could kill you. I figured this was the best way to deal with you after my dear friend became your Luna and shared her powers with all your followers. So do not attempt to talk about escaping," Queen Yvonned said.
"Damn! I was just asking how they are!" Chris exclaimed after hitting the table with his fist.
"As you can see they are ok. And you can improve their lives after you agree to my conditions," the queen said.
"What are those conditions?" Chris impatiently asks. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. And the sooner he gets to know what Yvonne wants then the sooner he can formulate a plan.
"I will tell you later at dinner. Let’s eat first. You have not eaten in a long time and you should eat," she demanded.
Their dinner went smoothly without any fuss and as soon as everyone was done eating they all went back to their chambers except for Chris.
"Tell me what you want now and I’ll tell you my answer tonight," Chris insisted.
"I want the three of us to mate on the next blood moon that will appear around six months from now. Both of you will mark me at the moon’s peak," Yvonne stated. She expected Chris to get furious but instead, he laughed so loud that his voice echoed in the dining hall.
"You have totally lost your mind! What made you think I would do that?" Chris sarcastically asked.
"Many reasons Chris. You are aware that I have Neia. I made a deal with the demon king, King Mordrak and that is to secure my place in Arcanis. So if you agree you will get Neia back after the mating."
"And why me? You have my uncle, go fuck him," Chris scoffed.
"You don’t understand. I do not wish to marry you. But I found a way to share your true alpha blood with my fiance, King Alaric. During our mating, I will use a spell to make him a true alpha as well which will be completed once you mark me both at the same time under the blood moon."
Chris raised one of his eyebrows, he still found her reasoning completely absurd but he was willing to listen, "And what happens next?"
"Then Neia and your people are free to go. Alaric will become a true alpha, he will gain the respect of the other werewolves, a legitimate heir to the throne and you can go back to your dear wife and mark her again. You can take whatever belongings you have left here and never return again. Unless you want to stay with me, I don’t mind you sharing me with your uncle," Yvonne winked at Chris making him shake his head.
"If I accept your offer you will not bother me, Elsa, and Zemaria anymore?" Chris asked.
"You have my word, my prince. We can even do a blood pack for that. Your people can go back to their homes and decide wherever they want to go. But you and your wife can no longer step foot here. Think about it and give me your answer at dinner."
Chris nodded and went back to his room. He quickly took out the paper from his pocket that Lexi gave him.
["King Alaric gave his word via a servant messenger. He said that our mind link will still work on a human mate without activating the choker. We can make it look like we are just thinking and our human mates will hear it. But if the human mate replies back then the choker will detect it. So the human mate must put up a wall against the werewolf mate to avoid electrocuting the other.
I will mate with Baahu and mark him, so we need you to find a way to make the mages return to Zemaria, he will be our voice outside Arcanis. Arla will regroup with Zemaria’s Princes and get the Princess back from Qiryn if she is still there. Once they have Princess Elsa, Zemaria and our people could attack and keep the witch queen busy.
When that time comes, King Alaric will free us, but in return, he wants us to retrieve Princess Neia from King Mordrak and bring her to Zemaria for good. He gave us his word to treat the remaining citizens well as long as we will take care of his beloved niece."]
Chris immediately burns the letter in the fireplace after reading it. He smirked and murmured, "So she has found a way to finally make Baahu hers. What a clever girl."
