Forbidden Queen
Chapter Twenty-Five – The Royal Pack

Katy

I can’t believe that our journey is almost over, and we will soon reach the capital of the royal kingdom. After all the trauma we have experienced during the journey the last few days of travelling have passed quickly and we haven’t encountered any trouble.

As we get closer to our destination, I get more nervous. I am starting to adjust to my new role as queen, but I can’t forget that only a few weeks ago I was an omega cleaner for a pack. The lowest of the low. Now I am about to become queen of all werewolves and I am not sure if I am really up to the job.

Alex senses my worry and takes every opportunity to tell me what a great queen I am becoming. I love his faith in me.

My biggest fear is that I let my people down.

As we reach the border of the kingdom we are met by a party of wolves. Four impressively dressed people approach us surrounded by warrior guards. I presume that these must be the high-ranking wolves that form my council.

I stare at each of them trying to work out which one is which. Kirsty is quite easy to identify with her long silverly robes covered in moons and her kind but unfocused eyes that mark her out as a mystic.

As there is only one male wolf, I deduce that he must be Aaron. He has intelligent sparkling eyes and a kindly smile.

The other two are both women. The youngest must be in her forties, she is taller than me and has long red hair. The older woman, is probably in her early fifties. She has black hair and is expensively, but simply dressed in a black trouser suit. I am not sure which one is my chancellor, and which is responsible for relations with the other packs.

I don’t have to wait long to replace out who they are. The red headed woman walks towards me.

“Welcome your highness” she says with a bow. We have waited so long for your return. We are all delighted to have you back with us, taking your rightful place as our queen.”

“Thank you I am so pleased to finally be here” I tell her. It feels so strange when they refer to me being back, when I cannot remember ever being here. My earliest memories all revolve around my adoptive parents and the Lunar Eclipse pack.

“Let me make some introductions. I am your Chancellor, Karen. “This is Aaron” she says pointing to the male wolf “the head of your household.”

“I am honoured to meet your highness” he tells me with a bow. “If you ever need anything then you only need to ask. My job is to look after you and your family” he says with a nod at Alex.

“Thank you. I look forward to getting to know you better.”

“It will be my pleasure your highness.”

“This is your head of inter-pack relations” Karen says pointing to the black haired she wolf. I had thought her quite austere to begin with but as soon as we are introduced to each other she gives me a warm smile.

“I am so happy that you have been able to return to us your highness. Now that you have been restored to your throne it should make it easier to convince many of the wavering packs to join our cause. For the first time since your parents were brutally murdered, we have the chance to build up the old pack alliances and encourage neutral packs to join us.”

“I hope so. I will certainly do everything in my power to strengthen our bonds with the packs.”

“And lastly this is the pack spiritual advisor Kirsty. She is a true mystic so you may have to bear with us, she is not always present in this world. Her mind does seem to wander.”

Kirsty has been staring absently into space but suddenly turns to look at me with a beaming smile. “I am so glad that you are finally with us. We have been experiencing an uneasy peace for too long. Now that you are here the battle will begin and all of this will end.”

“Thank you” I tell her. Unsure what to make of her pronouncement. I know that we will have to fight Lucius, but I am not sure how I feel about being told that I will be the cause of a major battle. Particularly when she says it with such relish.

Once the introductions have been made Joseph turns to everyone and says, “that is probably enough for now our queen is tired from her journey. Let us escort her to the royal palace and get her settled. Tomorrow she can spend time with each of you to better understand your different roles within the pack. For now, though, she needs to rest.”

I give him a grateful smile.

……..

It is not long before we are passing through a prosperous town, which Joseph tells me is the capital of the royal kingdom. I haven’t seen anything like it before. The Lunar Eclipse pack consisted of a group of small villages. Pack members lived in hierarchical communities, all the omegas lived together, warrior had their own quarters separate from the rest of the pack, and ranking wolves never mixed with lower ranks. We lived near people that we worked with or who were of the same rank as us.

This place is much bigger, hundreds of wolves throng the streets, and they do not segregate themselves from each other based on rank. I watch as omegas hang out with warriors. Wolves wearing expensive clothing, stop to talk with wolves who are plainly dressed. No one appears to be downtrodden or discriminated against in the way that the omega wolves that I have grown up with had been in the Lunar Eclipse Pack.

I notice that Joseph is watching me closely. “The Royal Pack is very different from the Lunar Eclipse Pack. I have taught you about the hierarchy, its size and composition, but you will only really get to understand it properly by experiencing it.”

“I would like to spend some time here, exploring the town, if possible, as a private citizen. Not just visiting as their queen,” I tell him. It feels important that I get to see how people really live here, not just the show that they will put on for their queen.

“It would be too dangerous. Lucius will be looking for any opportunity to attack you. He will have spies in the town.”

“I know that it would be dangerous, but I can’t hide away from people because I am afraid of what he will do.”

Alex has been quietly listening to us “We would need to take precautions. The visit would have to be planned properly and you would need to be well guarded. It would also have to be done in secret we would not want Lucius spies to replace out that you were visiting the capital.

I don’t like the idea of guards, but I can see his point, that it wouldn’t be sensible to go into the capital without protection. “OK” I agree.

“We will discuss it later, but you won’t be able to go for a while. The next few weeks will be taken up with official business. There is much that you still need to learn about being queen. From now on you will be expected to make decisions that can only be made by the ruling monarch.” Joseph tells me.

“Of course, I understand. I am keen to begin. I want to be a good queen.”

“You will be” Joseph says smiling. “You have already proven yourself to be strong and have good judgement. You are learning quickly.”

It is not long before we have left the town behind and are making our way up a long straight road that is surrounded by forest. After half a mile we reach a high stone wall in the centre of which is a set of large ornate golden gates.

“This is the entrance to the palace grounds, we are almost home” Lucius tells me.

I can feel my excitement building, we are finally here.

There are two warriors standing guard at the gates. One of them moves forward to approach our vehicle. Joseph rolls down the window to speak to him.

“Welcome home Sir” he says.

“Thank you, Gareth”

“Open the gates” he instructs the other soldier.

Once we are through the gate we are presented with a long drive, lined with large oak trees. In the distance I can see a large limestone building which must be the palace.

As we get closer, I can see that the building is far grander than anything I have seen before. It is at least five times the size of the Lunar Eclipse packhouse. Along the front there are tall columns that wouldn’t look out of place in a Grecian temple. The entrance is large and imposing, with a door that looks to be made of gold. Ornate hunting scenes are carved into the masonry that surrounds the door. Above the entrance there is a large stone sculpture of a snarling wolf’s head.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Alex says to me.

“Yes, I can’t believe that this is going to be my home.”

“You will soon get used to it. You were born here, there is no one who deserves to call this palace their home more than you do.” he reassures me.

“Yes, I just wish I could remember living here, but I was so young.”

Joseph opens the car door “Time to get you settled in. The staff have been informed of your arrival and are waiting to greet you.”

I notice that there is a long a line of people standing to the side of the entrance, wearing red and gold royal livery. I get out the car and ready myself to greet them.

Aaron appears at my side. “Let me introduce you to the royal household your majesty. This is your housekeeper Mrs Swindon, he says pointing to a small round lady, with a large smile. “Welcome your majesty. It is so good to have you back with us.”

“Thank you” I tell her with a smile, shaking her hand.

This is Brown your butler. “Your majesty” he says with a bow,

We walk down the longline of servants until I have shaken the hand of everyone in my household. I start to panic because I know that I will never remember all of their names. Finally, we reach the end of the line of servants and there is only one last person to speak to.

“And this your majesty is your lady’s maid, Martha. She will be your personal maid and will look after your clothing and help you to dress for formal occasions, among other things.”

I don’t need someone to help me get dressed, I am quite capable of looking after myself, but I don’t want to offend her, so I say nothing. Joseph seems to guess what I am thinking.

“In your role you will be required to wear elaborate gowns for formal state occasions. You must look impressive, and Martha will be able to help you with that. She will make sure that you are dressed appropriately for the different types of state functions. She will also be able to advise you on court etiquette.”

I nod.

“Let me show you to your quarters your majesty. I am sure you need to rest after your long journey” she tells me.

“Yes, thank you. I can’t wait to rest and spend some time alone with Alex.