Divided Throne

"It seems that Rufus was right. He does have more claim to the throne than Alec and Lily." Dominic sat back with a sigh. "Lily does have some merit in being named heir, as Angelique was the rightful queen through marriage when she made that decision. Unfortunately, Rufus is the rightful heir through blood. It doesn't help us that neither Angelique nor Lily are of any noble blood, either. No offense, Lily."

Lily waved her hand. "I'm well aware that I don't possess royal blood," she said. "I was about as far from a duchess or a princess as you can get." She drummed her fingers restlessly against the table top. "So what do we do now?"

"We can try to work out an arrangement with him," Dominic suggested hesitantly. He didn't seem thrilled with the idea. "Perhaps he'll listen to reason."

"Doubt it," Samuel muttered. "Rufus always was a little shit."

"We have to try," Alec said. "We just had a revolution, I don't think the people of Aegaera are equipped to handle yet another regime change. Especially since no one was overly fond of the LeMontague line in the first place. Their last few monarchs left much to be desired."

"We'll just have to work something out," Dominic said, nodding. "We'll reach an agreement. For now, we should make sure the castle is heavily fortified. Rufus and his men will be back tomorrow, and I'd rather not have any more casualties."

He and Samuel rose and went to tend to castle security. Tobias continued to pore over the books and scrolls they'd been looking at, still trying to find some sort of loophole. Alec had his elbows propped on the table, head in his hands and brow furrowed. Lily remained silent, feeling choked with the thick tension and dreariness that lingered in the room. She doubted there would be any reasonable negotiation to be had with the likes of Rufus, but she said nothing.

Alec rose soon after that, offering her his hand. They walked in silence for a few moments before Alec halted, turning to pull her into a tight embrace.

"We'll figure this out, Lily," he said. "We can get through this. I'll do anything to keep you and Lucian safe."

"I know," Lily murmured. "I don't have any doubts about that."

Alec drew back to tilt her chin up. He pressed his lips against hers and Lily clung to him like she was drowning and if she let go she'd be lost to the storm.



Rufus and his troop of giant, burly men arrived the next day just as he had promised. Alec was seated at the head of the long table in the council meeting room, with Lily on his right and Tobias on his left. He stood and gave Rufus a curt nod as the northern king entered and flopped unceremoniously into an empty chair and kicked his huge dirty boots up on the table.

"So what decision have you reached, King Alex?" he asked tauntingly. His men smirked behind him.

"We want to discuss this rationally," Alec said tightly. "And my name is Alec."

"There's nothing to discuss," Rufus replied, sounding bored. "Either we do this the easy way, and you surrender what is rightfully mine; or we do this the hard way and I take this castle and this kingdom back by force. I will be in need of a pretty queen though." He winked. "Maybe I'll keep yours. To the victor go the spoils, eh Alex?"

There was a shift in the room as Alec's jaw tightened and Dominic, Tobias and Samuel glared at Rufus. Lily found herself standing, without even realizing she had moved.

"Alec," she said coldly. Rufus blinked, seeming surprised by her sudden reaction.

"Beg pardon?"

"My husband's name is Alec," Lily said slowly. "Clearly your brain isn't proportionate to the rest of your freakish size."

"Well look at this, the bitch can yap," Rufus said. "Tell me Highness, is your bite as good as your bark?"

"You don't want to see me bite."

"I don't know about that. I've always had a certain fondness for redheads. Seeing you bite might be worth it."

Lily gave a humorless laugh. She had spent most of her life dealing with men like Rufus. Barbarian king or not, he was a bully. And Lily had never taken kindly to bullies. She had survived her childhood by thriving on a white hot fury that fueled her to be as ruthless as she needed to be. Since Angie had brought her to the palace the fury had been ebbing. She had Alec, and Lucian and something resembling a family; and they had helped to soften all the sharp, hard pieces of herself.

But she was starting to feel that fury rearing its head again, sniffing for blood.

"I can promise you, Prince Rufus, my bite far exceeds my bark, and I do not make idle threats. My husband's name is Alec. My name is Lily, not 'pup.' Disrespect my family and I again and I will personally use a pair of red hot blacksmith tongs to rip out your tongue and make you swallow it."

Most of the mocking laughter had faded from Rufus's eyes and his lip was curled in a sneer.

"Be careful now, little queen. Pretty as your mouth is it could get you into some serious trouble."

"I think my mouth will be just fine," Lily said sweetly. "As it seems to me, you were bested out of your throne by two peasant girls. And now you're back with your bravado and your big meaty henchmen to throw a tantrum."

Rufus rose to his feet and Alec and the others hastily stood too, everyone's hands reaching for the hints of their swords. Lily stood her ground.

"So I take it then that you're choosing the hard way," Rufus said. "You should reconsider that choice. I will destroy everything you and your shrimpy king love."

Lily stalked forward, unwavering. "Not if I destroy you first. Pup."

Rufus's sneer deepened and for a moment Lily thought he might very well try to snap her neck then and there. The room was so quiet it made her ears ring. Then Rufus gave her a mocking bow and gestured to his guards. He swept from the room and they followed suit.

"Lily," Dominic said, gaping at her. "What in the hells was that? We were trying to negotiate with the man."

"There is no negotiating with men like him," Lily snapped. "Men like him will strike a deal with you and as you shake one hand his other is already reaching for the knife to plunge into your back. Tell me, if we surrendered the throne to him do you really think he would let us all go free? He would still kill us, and we'd be offering ourselves up as sacrificial lambs. After everything you did to win your revolution, after all the people who died to ensure a better future for this country, and you want to throw all of it away by giving power over to a brute like Rufus LeMontague?"

Dominic opened his mouth, closed it again. It was Tobias who spoke up next.

"We shouldn't be too hasty to invoke his wrath," he said quietly.

"Damn his wrath! I'll track him down myself and use his own sword to spill his guts all over Aegaera if that's what it takes." She clenched her fists at her sides to keep her hands from trembling. "We will not compromise with the likes of him. It's all or nothing for him; he won't take any offer we give him. We run him out of Aegaera, or we mount his head on a pike. Those are our only options, gentleman."

Lily stormed out of the room before anyone else could say anything, startling Belle and Erwin as she came slamming into her room.

"Don't wake Lucian," Belle whispered. She studied Lily's face as she laid the baby in his crib. "I take it the meeting didn't go so well. You look...ah, displeased."

"That man is a vile pig," Lily spat. "No way in hell am I letting him anywhere near rulership of this kingdom."

Belle tried to hide a grin and failed. "You're taking to this queen thing pretty well."

Alec appeared in the doorway and Belle excused herself.

"That was...something," Alec remarked, looking baffled. Lily shrugged, going to one of her old trunks and rummaging through it.

"Lily are you all right?"

"No. I'm not. Some thug just showed up in my home and threatened my family. I'm very much not okay."

Alec sighed and sat on the bed. "Yeah, I guess that was a stupid question. What are you doing?"

"Reverting back to old habits," Lily muttered. She pulled four daggers from the bottom of the trunk. They were old and not particularly impressive, but they were sharp and that's what really mattered. She placed the two larger ones in the drawer of her dresser, one of the small ones went under the mattress and the other under her pillow. Alec blinked at her in confusion.

"He's not going to stop until we make him," Lily said, staring across the room at Lucian as he lay sleeping in his crib. "And if he comes anywhere near our son, I'll stop him dead where he stands."