Shadow's Throne

Chapter Twenty

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Cal's Pov

"Enough Nanabel," I say firmly, clearly annoyed by her useless attempts to get me to change my mind.

"But Cal-" she starts to say before I cut her off.

"We're saving him and that's final."

I get up from my seat, leaving her behind.

I know she's my grandmother and a queen and is just here to help me, but Maven is my brother and if I have the chance to save him, I'm taking it.

I notice Evangeline's steely gaze on me and I head over in her direction. Now's as good a time as any to answer her questions.

I sit down next to her and run my hands down my face and let out a deep breath.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asks and I turn to see the smirk that I could hear in her words.

"Hopefully not anymore," I say before turning to completely face her. "Why don't you get to the point."

Evangeline fakes confusion and I roll my eyes.

"The point of what exactly?" she says.

"You know very well what," I reply annoyed. "You know something's up, so ask your questions."

She smiles in response before leaning close to my ear. Her cold voice meets my skin as she whispers, "You don't love Mare anymore."

I pull back to meet her gaze.

"How'd you know?" I softly ask.

"I have my ways," she says with that evil smile of hers.

I watch her face for a bit before getting up and heading to a different seat.

How'd she know? Does Mare?

A billion questions run through my head and the more I think about them, the more worried I get. But I can't help but feel relieved. Evangeline's confirmation means I really don't love her anymore.

I smile to myself before clearing my thoughts. I have much more pressing matters to worry about at the moment.

Like the fact that I just won a kingdom.

I pull a piece of paper out of my lavish jacket pocket and unfold it. While we were waiting for Evangeline, Davidson helped me put together a speech for when I address the Lakelanders.

I scan over the words, rereading them until they're permanently etched into my mind.

When I finally have them all memorized, our jet starts to slant downwards and my new kingdom starts to come into view.

~~~~--------------------------------------------------------------------------~~~~

After everyone exited the jet, we all got into our transports and headed to Detraon, the Lakeland's capital. Which is where we are now. In my castle. Standing on a balcony that overlooks the city square. Where thousands of Lakelanders are gathered to see what I have to say.

Anabel, Davidson, Farley, Mare, and Evangeline are all seated behind me. I look back at Davidson who nods, telling me I can do this.

I take a deep breath before stepping up to the podium and looking out at the square below me.

"As many of you know, I'm Tiberias Calore, the heir to the Nortan throne. Or at least I was until my brother killed my father and forced me out of my own kingdom. But it wasn't my brother who did this. It was his mother, Elara. She's taken over his mind, forcing him to complete tasks for her, even now when's dead. Maven is a weak, deadly king who's only going to tear our world apart. So with the help of Montfort and the Scarlet Guard, I've decided to put an end to his reign of tyranny and return peace to our world. Peace where everyone lives as equals, no matter the color of their blood," I say, trying my best not to show my nerves.

"To make this happen, we needed to get rid of Maven's allies. The Cygnets. Earlier this morning, my army successfully killed your country's royals," I manage to get out before the anticipated yells of protest begin to erupt.

I wait for them to quiet down before continuing. "Now that another lineage of unfair rulers is out of the way, we're one step closer to reaching our goal of a new beginning. A new dawn. And as your new King, I can guarantee that in my kingdom, everyone will live as equals."

With that, I step back from the podium as numerous cheers erupt throughout the crowd. I let out a deep breath I hadn't noticed I was holding and feel someone place their hand on my shoulder.

"Nice work," Davidson says giving me a smile. "Now it's only a matter of time before Iris or Maven contacts us."

I nod, doing my best to hide my fear.

It was all part of the plan. Broadcast my speech everywhere, letting everyone know what happened. And hopefully, it'll give Maven a reason to respond to the letter we sent earlier, asking for a meeting.

I follow Davidson and Farley through the intricate balcony doors and back into the castle. Everyone else follows behind me and we all head to a meeting room to wait for any word from Maven.

"We've got to do some remodeling," I hear my grandmother mutter once we enter the meeting room, still decked in shades of blue.

We all take seats at the large table where we wait.

Nanabel tries to talk to me about the wedding and about the palace remodel, but I ignore all of her attempts.

I've got bigger things to worry about.

Like the rest of our plan.

Farley, Mare, and Davidson seem to be going over last minute details of what is to come when the letter from Maven arrives.

The minutes drag on and I think and I watch and I wait.

Finally, one of my grandmother's guards bursts into the room, an envelope in his hand.

I rise from my seat and place the crown that Evangeline and Nanabel had created for me on the plane ride, on my head.

I rush over to the guard and eagerly open the envelope, ready to face my brother and end this once and for all.