Chapter 55
King Harvey keeps his hand steady on my back as we walk through the castle, well, our castle from the undercroft. This basement of the castle takes us to where King Harvey hides his money. The stone walls that surround us are lit by a soft orange fire that naturally illuminates the way as we step.
“Elena, watch closely, my dear.” King Harvey opens his palm and shows it to the wall in front of us. A soft red flame emits from the center of his hand, and a red door appears before us.
“Security?”
“Yes. Our children will have a slight incentive to learn our shard abilities, Elena.”
“You picture them stealing?”
King Harvey laughs. “All do when they are young, and if they earn it by using this flame, is it stealing?”
I nod as he opens the round red door. We step into a tower-like room, overflowing the gold coins. They hang from the ceiling in collective strands, and gems litter the floor in all shapes and color.
“King Harvey, where did you get all of this?”
My head spins at the idea of collecting some and giving them to Emily for an emergency. When a light green perfect orb grabs my attention by my right foot, I snatch it without thought and put it away to give to Emily.
King Harvey smiles. “Anything you like is yours, Elena. But be mindful. You will have to produce a flame to prove you are worthy.”
“Oh, being your wife is not enough?”
“It is, but you shall remain competent, Elena. Take it as an incentive.” King Harvey turns his back to me and walks deeper into the room and returns holding three long golden bars in his arms. He cradles them on his forearms, and they dig into his biceps.
My right-hand itches and I wonder if I can produce a flame.
As King Harvey surveys the area, I take up another gem, this one pink and another red. I just think they are beautiful…and I might not be back in this room for some time.
“King Harvey. Did I speak out of turn?”
“No, no, Elena.” King Harvey chuckles as he moves to press a kiss to the top of my head. “You had a point to question me; I am simply thinking of new ways to train you.”
“You are very smart, King Harvey.”
King Harvey nods. “Hold onto me, my mate.”
Squeezing his bicep, I feel his stern muscle and it brings me comfort. In two steps of his and a blur, we are in the room where the maids rest.
Doris dusts a tall lampshade and turns to face us when the rest of the maids’ gasp. They are a collection of young women, all in the same red uniform, giggling among themselves as they lounge on a long red sofa.
“King Harvey and Luna Elena.” Doris politely greets us with a bow.
The maids follow her automatically greeting us with a low bow. I notice they all bow longer and lower than they should to show their cleavage. That is planned. King Harvey looks above them all and grits his teeth.
“I have been informed that information is being sold to my parents. This is one free chance, who has done it?”
The maids all stand together at once and say nothing, their eyes wide. They fiddle with their hair, and I see the overly full face of makeup and overly done red nails. Why do they all have the same shade? They must be working together. The maids start to chatter to themselves in a soft whisper.
“Ladies.” Doris says, purposely interrupting their chattering. “Be mindful, this is King Harvey. Respect him.”
“How do we know you didn’t do it?” A maid with flowing black hair asks as she steps forward and places her hands on her hips.
Doris chuckles. “Girl, I am not stupid enough to turn my back on King Harvey after working for his family for over four decades.”
King Harvey laughs now. “I was going to be kind; I have no time to waste. I hold in my arms three golden bars; this is enough money to take care of your great-great grandchildren.”
All their eyes widen at once and they thrown themselves at King Harvey. He steps back and they all freeze.
“You will give us this money if we talk?” A maid with orange hair asks as she points at the gold in his arms.
King Harvey nods. “Go on, tell me.”
The maids look at one another at and start to yell over one another in a frenzy. One calls out the other and comes back again. Soon, they are pulling each other’s hair and clawing at one another.
King Harvey and I glance at one another, and he laughs as they start to scream.
“Elena.” King Harvey says sweetly. “Would you like to try your luna abilities to stop them?”
My heart stops. “Can I?”
“Yes.” King Harvey holds my hand and squeezes. “I believe you.”
Squeezing his hand back, I whisper. “Stop.”
One maid pauses and stands up.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop!!” I repeat for each maid. One by one, after a few more moments of clawing and screaming they stop.
“Now, who did it?” Doris snarls. “You all are disrupting my work.”
The woman with black hair steps forward and fixes her sweaty bloodied hair, a long scratch bleeds down the left side of her face. “Your parents, King Harvey, approached me with a job and told me to take my friends to get more money and get information.”
“What information did you get?” I ask.
“All we could find was that you two loved one another dearly, and that Elena has always had strong senses of a luna, by how she stayed calm at the werewolf party.” She bows her head in sorrow.
King Harvey tosses the three golden bars up in the air and slices them into equal parts. He tosses four equal chunks at their feet and waves them away.
“Do not return to my kingdom. If I hear of any of this information being told to another kingdom after this day, I will not extend my kindness. Be mindful of this money, it is more than enough for you to live off.” King Harvey commands.
They all tearfully bow and walk away.
Doris sighs heavily. “King Harvey, now what?”
“I don’t want any more maids, King Harvey.” I say before he can open his mouth and speak. “I only trust Doris.”
King Harvey runs a heavy hand down his face. “I do not enjoy traitors…. Doris, do you know of anyone that is loyal we can have?”
“Two maids will work, Doris.” I say, backing up King Harvey.
Doris’s eyes sparkle with joy. “My sister works as a nurse, King Harvey at the training school. I believe she would love to work here.”
“Perfect, Doris.” King Harvey clasps her shoulder, and she walks off happily.
Taking a seat on the red sofa, King Harvey sinks beside me in his seat and rests his head on my shoulder.
“I am not happy with those maids, Elena.” King Harvey breathes heavily.
“They are gone now, King Harvey. You did well.”
“Restraint… I do not want you to be spoken of it causes me great agony.”
I kiss his cheeks and he shuts his eyes.
“Elena, King Harvey.” Beta Tom appears before us in a blur. “I have found you. I have come to explain. Elena, I do love Emily, with all my heart.”
I grit my teeth. “I know, tell me something new. Prove yourself. She is the only family I have, Beta Tom.”
“I have no other family outside of Emily, I am an orphan. I have worked my way up through the ranks to be a Beta which is rare, Elena. It is usually by the father’s lineage. I have saved King Harvey in dangerous situations more times than we can count, and I have no rage towards humans.”
“Will you cheat on her?” Like dad cheated… blinking tears from my eyes, King Harvey presses a kiss to my nose.
“He has been offered forever to switch kingdoms; he never has. Loyalty is all he knows.” King Harvey replies seriously.
“I will be paying close attention, Beta Tom.” I frown.
