Chapter 329: Chapter 329

329 Animal Companion

Jason rushed up the stairs until he made it to the queen’s chambers. Stopping at the door and acknowledging the two wolves that guarded it, he knocked. From the other side, the melodic sound of the queen’s rang clear, “Who is it?”

“Alpha Jason, your highness,” he replied. ‘Hmm, maybe queens practice speech. Although I can’t imagine Katie would start speaking like that once she was officially the Luna of Lycaon,’ somehow he doubted these thoughts. Katie had spectacularly pulled off the respectable hunter act when they’d first met her in Brigadia. Perhaps she could also pull off being the elegant queen like Queen Martha and Queen Margaret both did.

“Oh, Jason, come in,” reluctantly, the beta alpha pushed the door open and walked in. The queen sat in front of her dresser, staring into the mirror with an expressionless face, “Is he growing anxious?”

The beta alpha kept himself from taking in the disturbed state of the room, “Quite the opposite actually. He might be a little worried that you’re taking long.”

“I suppose. He’s just as confident as his father was regarding matters concerning the kingdom. It’s a strength possessed by the royals of Lycaon, I suppose,” the elegant woman sighed.

“Well, Katie is also confident when she’s protecting people,” now that Jason thought about it, this was his first time speaking to the queen alone. Without Cole to divert her attention away from her, this was very different. Having the attention of the Luna was not as pleasant as he’d imagined it to be. This was the most powerful woman in Lycaon, probably followed by Katie and he had no idea how to conduct himself around her.

“They make a sweet couple. I would never have thought he would find her, but then again, my husband had no doubt,” the woman commented, snapping him out of his panicked thoughts.

“Your highness, is something the matter?” Jason asked. It wasn’t that he wanted to make conversation with the queen, however, he was curious to know why she wouldn’t get up from the chair she currently occupied.

“I just... can’t bear to see the kingdom move on so fast after his death,” her expressionless facade was gone, replaced by the face of someone that was still going through mourning of their lost loved one.

.....

Was Cole also similar to her? No, Jason would have noticed... or had the king simply learnt to hide it. Lately, Cole’s emotions were also getting harder to read. With the recent death of his father and Katie’s state on top of running an empire, the king was starting to shield his true emotions.

“I don’t think I follow,” Jason replied.

“How can you not? I am a grieving woman and...”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” the beta alpha cut her off. When she remained quiet he continued, “When Cole’s mother died, I heard that the king could barely move on, but the kingdom needed its ruler and he had to forge a path forward even though it was the hardest thing at the moment. It was his duty to do so. Losing his wife didn’t mean he had to let go of the kingdom. The empire knew what he was going through and didn’t press him unless necessary, but he held strong for the sake of countless others that relied on him. I know Cole is well aware of this fact,” the beta alpha replied.

“You are the worst at pep talks. Do you know that?” the woman chuckled.

“Yeah, I know that, but I can’t give a good pep talk on a day like this. Look outside, your highness,” the queen tore her gaze from the mirror and looked toward the balcony Jason had walked up to.

“What am I supposed to be seeing?” she asked.

“It’s cloudy, your highness. I believe you noticed the rain when the king died. Cole is not having fun with this either, but it has to happen,” the man replied, “I would know. The only person that can feel his emotions more than Caden and I, is Katie.”

“You could have led with that,” the queen sounded defeated... at last.

..........

Katie had the other women leave before her and walked up to the balcony. They’d settled for a deep blue floral dress that was much similar to the one that Marie had made her wear to her date with Cole.

It was also a dress that Katie would never have worn if she was given the choice. Regarding fashion, she didn’t understand as much as the other females. She did, however, remain stubborn in matters concerning her face and hair. She’d been defeated when choosing a dress and fallen prey to an argument that went, ‘You’re not on the security detail. You don’t need to wear something that can let you run.’

That had been enough to get her to agree to the ladies’ demands.

A lone pigeon fluttered toward her and landed on the girl’s shoulder, “Good morning. Today is the day, isn’t it?” Darla chirped in delight.

“Yes, it is. What have the others decided?”

“They have all chosen to help as they had many days ago. We’ll take care of the details involving how we shall get into the throne room. I can barely contain the excitement. That is one of the parts of this palace that has an ancient feel to it,” the pigeon cooed.

The girl didn’t bother asking. The creatures of the wild had done a lot for her already and every time they said they would get something done, they did... Katie was still unsure whether to consider it scary or overly competent. Darla’s excitement did not go unnoticed, ‘We are trying to catch criminals, right?’ Katie chose to keep this question to herself and proceeded to more important matters, “Do you know who the criminals are?”

“Yes, we do. I will show them to you when we get to the throne room. The rats, roaches, lizards and all the other small creatures that were able to overhear peculiar conversations... It was all too easy,” the pigeon replied... ‘Is it just me... or does Darla sound a little... smug?’ the female pigeon had her breast puffed out in an obvious manner of pride.