Annoying the Alpha King

♛ Chapter 18

I looked at Lyda expecting her to be nervous, but she had a certain challenging gleam in her eyes. She wore a turquoise jacket, black pants, and brown ankle-high leather boots over them. Harding stood a whole head taller than her, had much longer arms- but that didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. I looked around and the crowd was larger now, and some bleachers were hastily set up to handle the crowd. I saw servants, neighboring Alphas and some of their packs, and I even saw Shiner.

Grinning, I squeezed Kendrew's hand and 'linked' him that I wanted to talk with Shiner if that was alright with him and his wolf. I quickly added that if he ever wanted to talk to one of his ex-lovers I expected the same courtesy.

"And if I say no?" he replied stiffening at my question.

"I will remain at your side like a good little Queen." I left the answer completely up to him.

"I'll go with you then, since neither my wolf or I want you to talk to him. He's a criminal, Aislin, as you well know. You think of him as this type of guru teacher, but he has ties to the shadiest of wolves and men." I had told Kendrew a little bit more about my past with Shiner, how he had taken me under his wing to show me the private-detective business. Which actually bordered on the criminal side of things.

Turning to Lyda I wished her luck and excused ourselves, and holding Kendrew's hand guided him over to Shiner.

Shiner had been talking to some guards, but turned toward us when we approached. Bowing his head in respect he said curtly, "Your Highness, my King."

I smiled at Shiner as he smiled back. His short grey hair trimmed more than usual, and he was wearing a slightly better quality of clothes. The King must be paying him well. "I'm surprised to see you here, Shiner. And it's good to see you."

"This duel is the talk of the entire Palace and surrounding towns. There's heavy betting on both sides, but Harding is favored two to one."

Oh how I itched to place a bet but Kendrew just squeezed my hand in warning. I let out a breath, "I would encourage you to bet on Mrs. Perreault."

"Insider tip? How interesting," Shiner told me with a smirk.

I took my free hand and pulled out a small wad of cash from my pocket and handed it out to Shiner to take as a bet. "As I am," I added.

Shiner didn't take the money, but looked to his King. Kendrew simply stared at him, but then nodded his head slightly in agreement. Shiner smiled at both of us and took the money and put it in his pocket, it was most of my money and I was hoping I'd be rich shortly. Kendrew squeezed my hand a little bit tight and didn't let go.

Ignoring him I said to Shiner, "Oh, and I wanted to especially thank you for your improved security measures, they've made a huge difference already." Both men knew it wasn't a compliment, but was a thinly veiled complaint. Kendrew couldn't help a prideful smile at my comment, and glanced at me before looking away and loosening the punishing grip on my hand. He really didn't want a repeat of my escape, and brought in my mentor to make that happen. Even if he didn't trust Shiner, the man knew all about security.

But I knew of a way to escape from here if needed, my new 'security expert' had shown me a glaring weakness. I had hired her as my assistant secretary, after running her by Kendrew of course. But why I always felt that I needed an escape clause was strange to me, I think it was the challenge similar to how some people did crossword puzzles. I guess it was my hobby.

"Thank you my Queen," Shiner replied, but his eyes had a mischievous glint to them.

A Royal Guard that I didn't recognize stood in the middle of the room and addressed both combatants and the crowd. Since Harding was the challenger, Lyda got to select her sword from a pair of them. I'd studied epee fencing a little so I understood the formalities required. There was the posturing, where both parties boasted of their prowess through their body language. Then the 'choosing of the weapon', then the initial dueling where they sized up each other's skills, then the duel would turn deadly. I so didn't want this to happen, but resigned myself to it.