Chapter 217

Of all the awkward, uncomfortable diners I have sat through over the years, this one has to be the worst. And that includes the ones right after my public disgrace, when I went from being the pride of my parents to their servant instead, with my sister taking my place.

Gladys, Caleb, and I are in the regular dining room, but even the long table here is comically large. Per Gladys’s assignments, she chose to sit at the head of the table, but placed Caleb at the opposite end. I sat in a seat nearest Caleb, which felt about a mile away from Gladys on the other side.

This makes for difficult conversation, as most things need to be shouted across the space.

Instead, we’ve mostly been awkwardly looking at each other in between bites of food.

The other issue of tension is…

The servants take away our salads and bring out the main course. Seared salmon with a baked potato, and a rare variety of vegetables are on the plate placed in the spot before me.

Just as with the soup and then the salad, Caleb doesn’t let me take a single bite until he has taste tested each portion himself. He has the same exact meal on his own plate, but it’s mine he doesn’t trust.

Earlier, after he tested my soup, I whispered, “I’d rather me poisoned than the king.”

He chuffed at me, annoyed. “I’m an Alpha werewolf. There’s no poison in the world that could permanently end me. You, however, are human and my greatest weakness. I will not lose you to mediocre soup.”

He tests my salmon, then the potatoes, and then each of the vegetables. All the time Gladys glares at him.

When a servant refills my wine, however, and Caleb tastes that, this seems to be the last straw for Gladys.

“I did not realize that you considered me such a poor, vicious host that you would question every bit of food I place in front of your consort,” Gladys says. She speaks loudly to be clearly heard from her side of the table.

She’s insulted, that much is clear, but Caleb seems not to mind.

“Surely you can understand my insecurity in the matter of your hosting skills,” Caleb says calmly. “Especially with my father still missing.”

“If you want to accuse me of something, be my guest,” Gladys says. “I do not take kindly to these miserable, childish games.”

She does seem like a straightforward woman, though the listening devices in our room hint at a larger game at play. I have no trust for her at all, though it seems Caleb has even less.

“Do you know where Hector is?” Caleb asks.

“No,” Gladys says, enunciating the word slowly.

Caleb hums. Likely he didn’t expect her to say anything else.

“Do you know that my mother died while trying to attack Harper?” Caleb continues.

Gladys leans back slightly. “I have.”

“Is that why you offered to have her buried here?”

“I offered to have her buried here because despite her flaws, she was still Luna once. That should be honored, even if you wish to ignore it.”

“I will not honor the memory of a person who conspired to have my brother killed and tried to kill my favored consort all on her own,” Caleb says.

“Let us not forget who actually killed your brother,” Gladys says cruelly. “When the time comes for you to be interred, will you expect to be laid in the royal tomb at his side?”

“They can burn my corpse for all I care,” Caleb replies. “But I will not allow insult to my consort.”

“But it’s fine to insult the second wife to your father, a former Alpha King?”

“A former Alpha King who has been disgraced and gone into hiding.”

I watch the back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match, my head on a swivel.

Even so, with the drama, I worry about the food getting cold. It does look good and a cook took the time to make it. I quickly cut a bite of the fish and eat it.

Though my stomach is in knots, the fish is delicious so I force it down.

“Careful, stepmother,” Caleb says, giving weight to the word I’ve never heard him use before. “I wouldn’t want to think you had anything to do with what Hector has done. Or perhaps you know something of the rebellion?”

Gladys reached for her glass and took a sip of her wine. “I’ve heard whispers, nothing more. Though I’m more curious about you, stepson. Tell me. What’s it like to be the most hated man in the entire kingdom? The common people formed a rebellion against you, but the nobles hate you too. Does that keep you up at night?”

“I sleep soundly,” Caleb says.

“Perhaps if you focused more on your duties and less on your lust over a certain consort, then –”

Caleb stands up so quickly that his chair topples over.

Seeing this, I stand too. “Stop!” I shout, my arms out towards both of them. To Gladys, I say, my voice filled with ferocity. “Caleb cares about his kingdom and his people more than anyone, and for you to insinuate otherwise is just plain wrong.”

Gladys looks at the two of us quite calmly, considering the tension in Caleb’s body.

“Harper, if you believe that you are blind to the way he looks at you. He does not love his kingdom or his people more than anyone. They are all secondary to you.”

Her words silence me soundly, because in them, I can see the truth. Caleb does so much for me, like releasing the harem. He didn’t care how that looked to others, or how it might have made him seem weak. He only cared about making me happy.

Even now, Caleb doesn’t dispute this claim, he just glares at Gladys, who seems happy to return the unhappy expression.

“Why don’t we sit and continue to enjoy this delightful meal my chef prepared?” Gladys says. It’s something of an olive branch.

It solves nothing in the end, but allows this moment to pass by without more incident.

I look at Caleb, ready to act on his lead.

Behind him, the servants right his chair. When it’s behind him once more, he sits. I do as well.

We eat the rest of the meal in silence.

After, as we stand, Gladys approaches me. She has an unusually friendly expression on her face. I don’t know what to make of it at all.

“Harper, I believe it is time for us ladies to speak one on one. Would you be so kind as to join me in the library? We could have a girls chat.”

“Absolutely not,” Caleb says without missing a beat.

I freeze. Gladys shifts her gaze to Caleb, adding ice to her eyes as she does so.

“While we are here, Harper doesn’t go anywhere without me,” Caleb says firmly.

Gladys scoffs at him. “You realize how possessive that sounds. She is her own person, capable of making her own choices.”

I’m not about to let Gladys speak for me. “I will agree with whatever Caleb wants,” I say.

Gladys glares at me now, as well.

“The pair of you, treating me like this. This isn’t the way to treat your hostess, let alone one who is practically family. I hope you can see this as the insult it is. I deserve more respect than this.”

Caleb says nothing, just glares. Gladys glares right back.

Just like at the dinner table, I feel myself caught between two incredibly strong wills.

And I have no idea what’s going to happen next.