Chapter 4:Den of Vipers
The massive black iron gates of the Fortress groaned as they swung open. I kept my chin high, as my boots continued clicking on the stone floor of the courtyard. The air inside these walls was different from the Red Valley. It smelled like stone, fancy perfume and blood.
"Keep your hand near your sword, Vance " I whispered with my lips barely moving.
"I haven't taken my fingers off it since we crossed the drawbridge, Commander," Vance whispered back. His voice was tense, vibrating with the natural panic of a human surrounded by a pack of pureblood wolves. "The way they are looking at us... it feels like we walked right into a slaughterhouse."
"It’s not a slaughterhouse yet," I said, looking straight ahead. "Right now, it’s just a theater. And we are the main act.”
All around the courtyard, royal guards in polished silver armor stood like statues, their yellow wolf eyes tracking my every move. They knew who I was. I was the rebel who had spent three years breaking their supply lines. But today, because of the paper tucked against my ribs, I was something else. I was the King's fiancé.
We walked up the grand stone stairs. Toward the big oak doors of the great feast hall. The sound of laughter, glasses clinking and loud music came through the wood. When the guards opened the doors the noise stopped.
The hall was huge. Hundreds of ranking wolves sat at long tables with roasted meat, wine and gold plates. At the end of the room Lucius sat on a raised platform. He wore a fancy dark velvet tunic with thread. He had a cup in his hand.
When he saw me walk in, his eyes flared with a dangerous, sharp light. He had expected Brenda to bring him my head in a sack this morning. Instead, I had walked through his front gates alive, untouched, and smiling.
"Ah the guest of honor has arrived!"
The voice cut through the quiet hall like a whip. It came from the center table.
Brenda stood up, a mocking smile plastered across her face. She was dressed in a sleek, dark gown that did nothing to hide the heavy muscles of a warrior. Her yellow eyes locked onto mine, burning with a mixture of lingering shock and pure hatred. She was still furious about the empty wagons in the canyon.
"Come in Commander Tiana, " Brenda called out. "We thought you had lost your way. Or maybe the journey was too scary for a human?"
Some of the lords chuckled. I didn't smile. I walked down the aisle. My eyes never left Lucius. He watched me quietly. He wanted to see how I would handle Brenda.
"The journey was nice, General Brenda, " I said. "The canyon paths are quiet at night. No distractions."
Brenda's face tightened. She knew what I meant.
"Well we must feed our ally " Brenda said. The word “ally” sounded like poison. She gestured toward a tiny, rickety wooden table placed at the very edge of the room, far away from the warmth of the roaring hearth and the high lords. It was a table meant for servants, or dogs.
Vance let out a breath. "Commander, this is an insult. They are treating you like an animal."
"Stay back Vance " I whispered.
Brenda leaned against the table grinning. "I hope the rebel appetite isn't too delicate. In the pack we eat according to our status.. Right now a human who sues for peace takes whatever scraps the wolves leave behind."
The lords laughed. They thought they were breaking my pride. They thought I would cry or start a fight.
I walked slowly to the table. I looked down at the bones. Then I looked at Brenda. Her face was close to mine. I turned my back on her.
I walked past the table. I marched up the stone steps of the raised platform. The royal guards stepped forward. Their spears blocked my path.
"Hold" Lucius commanded. The guards stopped. Lucius leaned forward. "Tiana. My general has provided a space for you. Why have you left it?"
"Because a general does not dictate the protocol of a kingdom, Lucius " I said. I used his name without his title. Some of the lords gasped.
"Careful human, " Lucius warned with a low and dangerous voice.
"I am not a guest, Lucius, " I said as I stepped closer. ". I am certainly not a servant to be fed scraps in the dark."
I pulled out the rolled parchment. The treaty.
I held it up high. The heavy golden wax of the seal caught the light.
"Three days ago the Alpha King signed this document " I announced. "This is not a surrender. This is a marriage contract. By the laws of the courts the moment the bloodline King puts his mark on this paper the woman named within it ceases to be an enemy."
I looked at Brenda. Her face was rigid with rage. Then I looked at Lucius.
"The woman named in this contract is the Luna of the Obsidian Court " I said. "She is the co-ruler of the Red Valley. She is the woman who will hold the keys to your fortresses by the end of the week."
Lucius didn't move. A small muscle twitched in his jaw. He knew I had him trapped.
"So I ask you, Alpha King, " I said. "Does the future Luna of this kingdom sit at the servants table?. Does she take the seat that is rightfully hers?"
Brenda marched up the steps. Her face was flushed with anger.
"Sire! Do not let this human disrespect your court! She is a rebel! She belongs in the dirt, not at the table!"
The lords began to shout.
"Throw her out!"
"Execute the human!"
"She has no right!"
The tension in the room snapped. Vance moved up to the base of the steps. His blade was out of its sheath. Brenda’s hand went to her dagger. Her wolf fangs lengthened. Her eyes turned yellow.
"Silence!" Lucius roared.
The power of his alpha voice slammed through the hall. The wooden rafters groaned. Some of the lords dropped their heads. Even Brenda stepped back.
Lucius slowly got up from his throne. He was a head taller than me. His big frame cast a shadow on my face as he walked around the oak table. He stepped down until he was standing in front of me. The air between us got really cold.
"You talk a lot about laws and seats, Tiana " Lucius said softly. His voice was low and scary. ". A seat at this table isn't given. You have to take it by being strong. You have a piece of paper.. You don't have the power to sit with wolves."
He smiled. It was a beautiful smile. It looked like he was promising something. He was daring me to move. He was waiting for me to be scared. He was waiting for me to realize that my body was no match for the monsters in the room.
I looked into Lucius's eyes. He was the man who had ordered my head to be cut off. I felt the coldness of the blade. I felt my own blood soaking the dirt. At that moment I wasn't scared anymore.
My hand moved fast. The wolves didn't even see it coming.
“THUD.”
A heavy silver dagger hit the King's table. It went three inches into the thick oak wood. The silver vibrated under the light as it made a metallic sound that echoed through the hall.
The dagger was an inch away from Lucius's cup.
Everyone in the room froze. Brenda gasped. She put her hand on her sword. Vance stopped breathing. No one had ever put a blade into the Kings table before. It was like saying I didn't care.
I kept my hand on the dagger, leaned over the table with my face inches away from Lucius's face.
"I didn't ask you if I could sit, Lucius, " I whispered. My voice was quiet and scary. It made his eyes widen in shock. "Move your general. I am taking my seat.”
