The Forbidden Wolf King: Kings of Avalier, Book 4(39)

“What grave news?” Ansel asked as he stood back from the table. His wife still had her head bowed and it killed me to think he was doing that to her. How powerful was he? Could he control all of us if we were to attack him at once?

The redhead, Queen Madelynn, cleared her throat. “The Nightfall queen has been stealing your wolves and using a magical device to siphon their power and give it to her people to drink as an elixir. She then uses this power to attack us at our borders.”

Holy Hades! What?

Ansel looked unfazed. “How unfortunate for you.”

The blonde queen’s eyes narrowed and the brunette tightened her fists.

A slight breeze picked up in the room, which I found odd, and Queen Madelynn took one step closer to the king. “If we cannot defeat the Nightfall queen, she will ride north, to Fallenmoore, and take you all out,” she declared. “We plead for assistance in this war.”

King Ansel grinned and chills raced across my skin. “Let her try. I will bring her to her knees and make her cut her own throat. Just as I can do with you.”

I barely had time to register the shock of his threat when a window broke on the far wall and a roaring wind blew into the room creating a funnel. The blonde dragon-folk queen raised her hands as if to attack King Ansel but just as soon as the wind had come and these three women had attempted their attack, they all grabbed their heads in unison, screaming as they bowed on their knees.

He’s controlling them too. This shook me to my core. I looked at Axil, unbelieving that he had had this kind of power the entire time.

No one should be this formidable. It was terrifying.

Ansel looked back at his brother with a grin. “Should I kill them?”

No! I wanted to scream but suddenly my throat felt paralyzed. He was keeping me from speaking.

“If you do, the kings of Avalier will come for you and you’ll have a war on your hands with multiple foes,” Axil said calmly.

Ansel nodded. “Maybe they can stay the night and I’ll decide if I should kill them or send them on their way tomorrow.” He tapped his chin as if thinking.

He looked at his guards posted around the room. “Ready the dungeon.”

Those three words were terrifying and yet if I was about to be released from this torture device, I didn’t care where I went.

The three queens hissed and groaned, on their knees as Ansel continued whatever torment he was doing to them and my heart broke for the women. They’d come all this way to plead for help and now this. It was awful and Ansel was playing with fire by attacking them, though I was pretty sure the fae queen had attacked first with that wind. I’d heard about the fae being able to control certain elements, and I’d just seen it firsthand. She’d broken that window somehow and pulled the wind inside. It made me wonder what the other women could do. I was sheltered in the sense that I’d never left Fallenmoore but I’d heard many stories about the powers of the other races.

“Let’s take a walk and put all of our guests up for the night, shall we, darling?” Ansel called to his wife who stood, head bowed as she turned stiffly, without much animation.

Two of the guards left, but the other two walked over to Axil and me. When one of them reached up to unhook the chain from the ceiling bolt, I cried out in pain at the sudden movement as relief then spread throughout my limbs. Then my neck collar chain was released too and I whimpered at being free of the hanging position. My arms fell limply to my sides and then all of my weight was suddenly on my feet. My legs could no longer hold me up after hours of fatigue and I felt myself falling. But I never did. As if driven by an unseen force, I pulled my leg out from under me to stabilize myself and then I was walking. The chain from the collar at my neck dragged behind me as I followed King Ansel, his wife, and the three queens. We all marched in a perfect line, with flawlessly spaced steps. All against our will.

I wanted to look behind me and see if Axil was following but I couldn’t move my head. Ansel was controlling every muscle in my body and it terrified me. Had I known he was capable of this, I never would have allowed Axil to step down and give Ansel such power. I didn’t think Axil would have done it either. It seemed that his brother had snapped and had never before used his power over people to this degree.

We walked down the hall and to a wide stone staircase that led to a damp dungeon with gray stone walls and no light. Every once in a while the wind would brush past me lightly only to die out and Ansel would laugh. I assumed the fae queen was trying to use her power. He’d taken my voice: I was completely helpless and it made me feel sick.

When we turned the corner, I saw one wrought-iron door standing open. My heart picked up speed as one by one we marched into the cell against every effort to stay out. When Ansel used his power to turn me around, I watched in relief as Axil walked in after me.

Ansel’s wife stood still at his side, head down, hair limply covering her face. I found myself wondering why she hadn’t killed him over the last two years, when he was without this power and Axil was king? Maybe he’d never done this to her before and it was new behavior. I surely could never let a man live after this kind of treatment.

We all stood in a large cell, spread out in a line as Ansel walked slowly inside and right up to Queen Madelynn. He grinned as he looked her up and down, and again a light gust of wind blew past us and then died out.

“I find your rebellion extremely attractive,” he told her, and I forced a growl into my throat, working past his power. How dare he flirt with a married queen! This level of disrespect looked bad on all wolven. He was shaming our entire culture with this treatment of these monarchs.