Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 143

Chapter 143 The Rogue King

**Rosalie’'s POV

Soren was healing steadily, but the pack wasn't too happy about his stay

“Your Majesty!” Cerina knocked at my open office door.

“Cerina,” I looked up from the piles of documentation and studying materials and greeted her."Where's the prince?” The prince was my baby boy.

"He's with Seraphine. Do you need me for something?”

Cerina breathed in deeply through her nostrils, held it for a moment, and then let it go. “Yes, YourMajesty.”

I stood up from my desk and gestured for her to take the seat at the sofa with me.

“Is this about Soren?"

She nodded. It was obvious she wasn't pleased with his presence, and I could hardly blame her.

I started, “I know that it's difficult for anyone to understand why I haven't simply locked him up orhad him executed. But our relationship is a complex one. He helped me when I was in

need of assistance, and I would like to do the same for him.”

“My understanding is that he helped you when you were in need of assistance because he hadordered some men to beat you, isn't that so, Your Majesty?” Cerina might be respectful, but she alsodidn't have any problem speaking her mind.

“Yes, to an extent,” I said. “There's more to it than that. Anyway, he did take me in. He gave me a joband cared for me while I needed it most.”

“He held you hostage so that he could use you and the prince as bartering chips. That's how I seeit,” Cerina replied, folding her arms. “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I believe you may be moretrusting than is good for you.”

“I'm sure you're probably right about that,” I admitted. “I do tend to forgive easily and think the bestof people.”

“And in many ways, we admire you for that. But in this case... he is a dangerous man. He needs tobe dealt with accordingly. He should be seen as a prisoner of war, not a friend visiting from out oftown for an unforeseen amount of time or a political refugee.”

I considered her words and realized she was right: “Very well,” I said. “Toward that end, I'd like togive him someplace to stay. It should be somewhere that he will be comfortable but also where wecan make sure he is watched at all times.”

"We'll take manpower away from the cause for that,” she

reminded me.

“And if we can win him over as an ally, he may be very valuable. Not to mention, he is a bargainingchip now,”II stated.

“He's had a falling out with his uncle. It's not as if we can ransom him back,” Cerina said with ashrug.

“No, but Soren knows about both the West and East kingdoms much better than us. I do believethat his resources and intel could help us. After All, we need to know what King James and King Kalare up to.”

Cerina didn’t seem to be too convinced, so I added, “It's better to have a friend than a potentialenemy. Worst case, even if he is a foe, wouldn't it be better to keep him under our watch thanletting him run free?”

That seemed to be more acceptable to her. She sighed and finally gave in.

“There's a small cottage on the edge of the palace grounds near the highest part of the wall. There'sno gate there, so it would be difficult for him to escape, and it's frequently patrolled.”

“That sounds perfect, Cerina. Thank you.”

A few hours later, I personally walked Soren to the cottage Cerina arranged for him. I'd already beenthere to inspect it. “It’

s not as nice as the one you put me in, but I think it will work,” II told him.

“I really appreciate your hospitality, Rosalie... I mean... Your Majesty. Sorry. Old habits die hard.” Helaughed and looked a bit sheepish

It was strange, hearing him talk to me that way. “You can still call me Ro or Rosalie when there's noone else around.” I did have my guard with me, as I always did, but they were in the distance, andthey weren't listening that closely to our discussion.

Pushing open the front door, I said, “Here we are,” and gestured for Soren to walk in. “It's just asmall living room, kitchen, one bedroom, and a bathroom, but-"

“It's wonderful,” Soren said, looking around. “It's perfect.”

My eyes traced over the old, dingy furniture. The walls were a light yellow and in need of a freshcoat of paint. The kitchen cupboards were old, and one was falling off of the hinges. I knew theother two rooms were not much better.

This was a man who owned an island and lived in a mansion...

“I've had some clothes hung in the closet for you. The toiletries are in the bathroom, and there'sfood in the kitchen.”

“Wow, I've always wanted to learn cooking! Maybe one day, you'd be willing to come over and letme cook you a meal?” he

asked pleasantly, and didn't seem to be bothered by the outdated internal decoration at all.

I almost said yes, but reminded myself that I shouldn't do that. Seraphine and Cerina had alreadymade their compromise, and I did think it was a good idea to keep my distance with Soren.

I shook my head, and turned his offer down. “I'm afraid I'll be quite busy for a while. Sorry.”

“Please do say so, Queen Rosalie,” Soren said. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close.For a moment, it was like I was hugging my old friend. “Thank you so much. I can't tell you howmuch I appreciate your hospitality. Even if you can never forgive me,”

“Soren,” I pushed away so that I could look him in the eye. “Please give me some time. However,regardless of what I think, you should understand that my people will be much slower to acceptyou. That means, in the meantime, you must stay here and be my hostage. I can't treat you thesame way you treated me.”

He nodded. “I understand. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” I wanted to say more, but before I could get anything out, one of the guardsknocked on the open door. I turned my head to give him my attention

“Pardon me, Your Majesty,” he said, “but we just received a

message that you're needed in the war room.”

That was never a good summons to receive. “Thank you," I told him and then turned back to Soren.He chuckled. “Our roles really have changed. Gosh, I hope I'm not going to have a baby.” He put hishand over his abdomen the way I used to do.

I bit back a laugh at his silliness. “Please behave and don't do anything silly,” I warned him.

"Got it,” he promised me.

"Good. I'll see you later.” I smiled at him and then left.

The guards escorted me to the war room where one of the commanders who had been at the frontwas standing. Fresh from the battlefield, he was dirty, with sweat and blood caked to his face. Hedidn't appear to be injured himself, but he had surely inflicted some wounds.

"Commander Landon,” I said with a nod. “What is it that you have to report?”

He bowed to me and said, “Your Majesty, we've been receiving word recently from our scouts andmany villagers that there have been sightings of a new threat.”

"A new threat?” I asked. I tried not to sigh. We were still managing the old ones.

“That's right,” Landon told me. He was a middle-aged man with dark hair, graying at the temples,and when he spoke, it was with great authority. “They are calling him the Rogue King, and thoughit's unclear as to his intentions, we've heard his forces are infiltrating our territories.”

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I stared at his face for a moment, trying to make sure I was clear on what he was telling me. It didn'tseem like a lot of information at the moment. “A Rogue King?” I repeated. “Do we know where he'scome from?”

“No, Your Majesty, only that he seems to be coming from the south, moving northward.”

“And... how many rogues does he have with him exactly?” I

asked.

Landon shook his head. “That is also uncertain, Your Majesty, but we've heard reports as small astwo dozen to as many as two hundred.”

“That seems like a relatively small force,” one of the other leaders, Katherine, said, tapping her nailson the table in front of her.

“It's not a large force compared to the others we have encountered, but he is said to be a fiercewarrior himself, possibly stronger than twenty wolves combined.” Landon’s expression told me hebelieved this could be true, though it sounded far fetched.

"What do you suppose we should do?" I asked Landon.

“I believe it would be smart for us to move our forces here,” he said, pointing to a spot on the mapthat was a bit south of the castle. “If we can meet him there, we can potentially prevent him frominvading our territory at all.”

"What about the other rogues?” Katherine asked. “We can't just forget about them.”

“No, we won't leave them unattended,” Landon agreed. “We can use a smaller force against theRogue King and still keep our other forces in reserve against the other threats.”

I considered Landon’s plan. We needed to be careful not to stretch ourselves too thin.

“Very well,” I told him. “Let's move forward with your plan. We’ Il need to do our best to keep ourforces as centrally located as possible so that they can go where they are most needed. But we can'tallow this Rogue King to simply walk into our territory without confronting him. Whoever he is andwhatever he wants, if he is coming into our territory, he will need to show that he is not a threat.”

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"And if he is a threat?” Landon asked, raising an eyebrow.

My answer was simple. “Then we eliminate him.”

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