Chapter 216

Violet’s POV

I kept my face neutral just another moment in case he had anything else he wanted to add. Theo had hoped this wouldn’t get brought up.

I knew it would.

“Thank you, Alpha Creen, for allowing me the opportunity to address this. You’ve asked a few questions there. If I do not answer all of them in my initial response, please let me know; I do not want to miss any of them.”

Alpha Creen was a good Alpha: always fair and logical. He was not a supporter of Owen or really a supporter of me, either. He supported common sense, and his question reflected as much.

Yes, it would have been easier if no one had brought this up, but I couldn’t be mad at him for having done it. He was just being a good leader: asking relevant questions to ensure the best for his people. I would have done the same.

“To answer your first question, it was not a symptom of the double mate rejection since, as you reminded us, the second mate rejection never took place. Instead, I was experiencing a symptom of my pregnancy.”

Gasps and chatter sounded in response to that little nugget of information that Theo and I had agreed to reveal today should this issue be brought up. There were already rumors swirling about my pregnancy, and this would hopefully divert at least some of the attention away from the fact that I’d outright lied to the entire country.

Technically, I was experiencing a hallucination caused by unstable magic, not a pregnancy symptom like morning sickness, however the hallucinations were made worse by the pregnancy, so in that sense it was at least a half-truth.

But we couldn’t tell them about the hallucinations and the unstable magic as they would surely consider me unfit to lead if they knew about all that. I was confident we would find a solution for it, and it would be irrelevant for my ability to rule sooner rather than later.

There was a possibility they would also call me unfit to rule for being pregnant, but we had more arguments against that than being unfit to rule due to unstable magic – which was still illegal even in stable form.

I waited for murmurs to die down before I continued.

“I lied about it because we were hiding my pregnancy from the king. You are all highly aware of how concerned he was that Theo would take his crown. Without an heir of Owen’s own, Theo’s and my child is the next heir to the throne.”

I paused for the inevitable murmurs while folks learned that my child did in fact belong to Theo and not someone else.

“We were concerned that would make our child a target. However, King Owen found out I was pregnant anyway, and within less than a day, he changed the succession laws to decrease the chances our child would be crowned.”

I circled back to my first question. “I was asked about the suspicious timing of the changed succession law with my confrontation of King Owen. I can only say that, like the king’s passing, that timing was caused by his own doing, by his own fear and paranoia.”

And a little nudge from Olivia, apparently, but I didn’t feel the need to bring that up.

“As far as my ability to lead, we have CEOs and business owners and professionals at all levels successfully leading in their own industries while pregnant. If a rogue, single mother, abandoned by society, can keep seven children under the age of ten alive while pregnant, I would like to think that I can maintain a country of adults while pregnant.”

I smiled, grateful as chuckles reverberated through the hall at my little jab toward our country’s adults.

“However,” I steeled myself, “if anyone would like to make the case that a pregnant woman is incapable, unfit, weak, or less than in any way, by all means, please speak up.”

I am equally attracted to and in awe of you in this moment, Theo’s voice rang through my mind. I allowed his love for me to further ground me as I looked on the audience in challenge.

To my shock, a supporter of Owen stood, waiting patiently for a steward. He made sure to thank the steward as he reached for the microphone.

“With all due respect, Alpha Donovan,” he began, “perhaps it is not that pregnant women are incapable, but that they are worth protecting. We would not want the stress of the crown to negatively impact your child. And, by the way, congratulations to the both of you.”

He began clapping then, and the rest of the audience joined him obligatorily.

The sniveling sycophant was pathetic.

“Thank you, Alpha Brahms.” I was surely the only one who noticed his brown-nosing smile falter just slightly when he realized I knew his name.

“Per our country’s law, should a monarch fall temporarily ill, their spouse will take over rule until such time as the named monarch can safely return to work without further impeding their own health. I think we all remember the terrible flu King Owen fought a handful of years ago when Queen Nightshade was good enough to step in for him.”

I paused then, allowing the Alphas to remember the horrible two weeks when Queen Nightshade almost single handedly ruined our country. Alpha Brash’s nostrils flared as I subtly gave reason against the puppet he was trying to string up.

“Should a healer determine that any of my work is detrimental to the health of me or my child, I would similarly take a temporary leave while Alpha Nightshade fills in for me.”

It was the truth and also the plan we had decided on should I become queen and continue to hallucinate. Theo sent a comforting caress through our magical connection.

I couldn’t wait for our full bond to be restored, for the fraction of bonding that this magical connection provided to be amplified by the real thing. For the fake mate rejection to stop destabilizing my magic and risking my life. But I couldn’t think about all that now.

I focused back on the audience as Alpha Brahms sat back down, nodding to the steward as he returned the microphone.

I expected more whispers, more gossiping, as we sat there waiting for another Alpha to rise. Instead, the silence only deepened.

“I will wait another minute for any last questions or comments for either candidate. After that, I will ask both candidates to leave the hall while we take our final vote.”

We waited in silence, and I hoped that the notable lack of questions for Marissa indicated that everyone already had their minds made up about her – and that most of them intended not to vote for her.

If she were selected as the next ruler, just a puppet for the late king’s largest supporters, we would have changed nothing. We would be back to square one for protecting our country from oppression and exploitation.

I hoped and prayed that what we had been doing in the past few weeks was enough. But the truth was that if it wasn’t, if Marissa won, I would still keep fighting.

“Alright,” Theo said, “Queen Nightshade and Alpha Donovan, please exit to my left and wait in the antechamber while we vote on our country’s next queen.”