The Siege Of Drakkon: Book Three Of The Drakkon Series

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alessandra Drakkon

Queen of the Drakkon Empire

The primaries sit before me in the war room once more, their faces holding hints of worry and stress, worry from no doubt hearing my screams earlier, and stress because they don't know why I've summoned them here. "Let me be honest with you, the odds are not in our favor for this coming war. Only one empire will stand with us, the others choose not to be involved or stand against us. Our defense system has been leaked to the enemy, if we do not make changes quickly, they will over run us easily." Caius is the first one to snap out of his shock, this news was not easy for them to hear.

"How do they know our defense systems? Drakkon has stood above all others with our defense, if there was one thing that could have guaranteed our triumph in this war it would have been that, no one should be able to out maneuver it!" I give him a tight smile, knowing they won't like the truths that have to be heard.

"That is the crux of the problem, our defense system is above all others, yes, but who designed it?" There faces turn pensive as they try to think of an answer, but Octavian, the man with an answer to seemingly every question knows immediately.

"Your father, Aldrich designed it." I nod, and they gaze at me with confusion, after all how could they ever think the previous king of this empire would betray all of us so easily.

"Yes, he did. And now he stands with the enemy against us. I have not been truthful with all of you, my father didn't return to Draka because he was still ill, he didn't return because I locked him in a medical pod until the date where he no longer has any claim on my kingdom arrives." They all stare at me in shock, Octavian and Caius hadn't even known this, they had known my father would probably be against me, but I doubt they had guessed how much.

"You had no right! He is the proper heir to the throne!" Taarique was quick to side with my father, but to them he was someone they had known for thousands of years, and I was only someone they had known for months. "You're the reason we are in this mess to begin with, you should give the throne back to him, it was his for thousands of years and it should be his again!" I frown at her, not pleased with how quickly she cast me aside, even though I knew she and I weren't very close.

"He was king, but now I am Queen. Can you truly not see the difference in our rule? How the people act now that I am Queen? He may have ruled for thousands of years, but that does not mean he deserves to rule again. He is cold and cruel, he looked me in the eye, his own daughter, and told me I was a whore that needed controlling and that he would help Cedric kill me because I stole his empire from him." They all look shocked, most of them looking disgusted by the words I said, the words my father told me. "Taarique is that the man you remember? The man you care about? Someone who would put women down in order to bring himself up? We are not in this mess because of me, we are in this mess because of him, he is the one who made the contract between our Empires, promising my hand in marriage, he is the one who enforced after I saved him from dying on Earth. I am not saying this is none of my fault, I know that Cedric wouldn't be nearly so vindictive if I hadn't been so cruel to him, but would you have acted differently in my place?

He said he wanted to kill me and take my empire from me many times, acted like I was a toy meant for his amusement. I know this is partially my fault, but the blame does not solely lay on me either. Late last night, the moment today began I sent the orders for my father to be released, and the first thing he did was take a shuttle and disappear, I know I have no hard evidence or any proof other than a feeling, but he has gone to Cedric to collude against us, you have to believe me, we must take action before too many of our people die due to our hesitance." I gaze around the table desperately, hoping that they won't decide to strip me of my title and hope that stops the war, because it won't, and they would be fools to think that.