The Silver Throne

Chapter 31

Much to her surprise, Nicholas didn't get angry. He only burst out laughing. "I'm sorry. As your mate, I have to tell you that your plan was terrible." He looked genuinely amused as he made fun of their well-crafted plan. Her face reddened and she didn't know what to say. Before his laughter died down, she already thought of what she would say next.

"My friend did her best," she mumbled. It wasn't the best of retorts.

Nicholas tried to contain his smile as he turned to her. "She should have thought of something else for your debut into society." Alexandra furrowed her eyebrows at him and his smile faded. "However, I do believe that she's smart and knows what she's doing. I wonder why she overlooked everything that could've gone wrong. Let's say that my father and I were somehow rendered unconscious. Then what? You go back inside, stand in front of everyone, and simply announce that you're the long-awaited heir? You can't expect all of them to believe you. Besides, while you're at it, a guard could've easily shot you, even with all your comrades backing you up. It only seems to me that the endpoint of your friend's plan was to get you killed. The only thing that stopped that from happening is our connection as mates."

Alexandra lowered her gaze and stared at her hands. His analogy made sense. Their plan was hastily composed and she wondered why none of them even questioned it. She must've been too distracted with Christian. Alexandra's lips thinned and she tried to remove him from her thoughts by thinking about Angelina's intentions.

It wouldn't hurt anyone if Angelina allowed her to reassure her family and Christian that she was alive and safe. They've just lost their father and the emotional burden her silence brought upon her brothers was certainly heavy. It was unlikely that they would have told others about her whereabouts if they ever knew. Why had she let Angelina and Max convince her into cutting her loved ones off for an entire year?

If Angelina really meant for everyone to know about her, she probably wouldn't have done it during a ball in the castle. With King Charles and Nicholas' presence, it was possibly one of the worst ways for them to go. Not to mention that the castle crawled with guards at the king's command. They could have started out small, pack per pack, to slowly gain the allegiance of the people before boldly marching into the castle.

Nicholas broke her train of thought by telling her that it was merely his opinion and that her friend probably did mean to do her good. At this point, Alexandra could only think of otherwise.

"Speaking of friends," he said as he sat up straighter and gazed at her. "Let's talk about Alpha Christian."

"He dressed up as a guard to keep anyone from recognizing him. He told me that your father knew of our plan and —" he cut her off with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"I know this already. Alpha Christian told me himself when I talked to him at the infirmary. Behind my back, my father laid out his 'precautionary measure' and unintentionally brought more harm than good. Alpha Christian dressed as a guard with the intention of protecting you. Why is that?"

"Because he's my best friend," she easily said.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes at her and pushed himself off the bed. "He seems awfully possessive as a friend." Alexandra shifted uncomfortably. Christian's efforts of letting Nicholas know that he wasn't welcome had been unfortunately fruitful. "And I know you were with him the night you were kidnapped, as the reports go."

Alexandra's shoulders sagged from shame. "It was just an infatuation." She looked at her feet, anywhere but him. Her mind raced from worry about what he would say. If Nicholas was angry, he didn't show it.

He squatted down to her level and, upon realizing that she was trying to avoid looking at him, he gently lifted her chin. His gaze trapped her and kept her from looking away. The edges of his lips quirked up slightly.