Chapter 4
I want a very long walk from the family cemetery back to the castle, but it was one I spent in reflecting.
The victors of showing catherine to her place was only one battle won out of several others. There were many other battles to be fought, and I was aware that regardless of the knowledge I know hail. I needed to be unart in onder to win the battles ahead. I needed strategies, allies and resources. I couldn’t do it all on my own. Icouldn’t go all out alone and even though I needed to be careful of whom to trist, going by what happened in my
and a headstart on who to bring in on mally tram
That way why when I got back to my room and ex fanged the sumple black dress or a more regal black gown with a turtle neckline. I summoned Beatrice is me room and kept the rest of the eklers waiting in my father’s study on the other side of the castle.
She scalked into the too quicker than Lespecial.
“Thope you did not suminen, me all the way up here to apologise for that mess your caused to happen at the Royal rites, Erica.” She sounded angry, but the look on her fare told the tale of reverence. I schooled any expression into that at indifference before replying to her
‘I don’t regret the pack seeing me almost breakdown at the sight of my deal family. They would have done the same she didn’t let me finish.
They would have done more for they arent royals. You’re the next leader of the Dunham park and all you’ve shown your people so far is your weakness? Do you think they 11 want to entrust govenunce to you after what they’ve seen! I’ve heard this before, verbatim in fact, but it wasn’t Teamce that d rinsed that argument in the council meeting before, it was another elder, Alina, who Ed later found out had a son with catherine’s father and she wanted her son to be alpha
A least I didint shed a fear, and I didn’t accept help from anyone. It was a split second of weakness and I am at least entitled to that. I saw Drey–my brother is corpse mangled between his woll and human form, he died in the middle of turning! That is a valid cause to be a little weak in the knees.”
Beatrices eyes were a tad widened by the time I was done talking, but she recovered quickly and looked around the room haughtily.
“Well, that was a very solid drience, but not for me, save it for the council.
I figured I could rehearse with an ally first before facing those broods of vipers, 1 replied in a lighter tone and the look of Beatrice’s usually expressionless face made me understand that she was trying hard not to smile.
I gave a small smile of my own and began to lead the way out of the room
“It’s good to see that you know what you’re doing. Especially with your outfit. Gives off an air of authority”
I didn’t need a shaman to tell me that I’d impressed Beatrice and scored myself an ally. My grin widened because I knew that I’d won her over with the same argument she’d made on my behalf, the first time I’d met with the council. It was good to see, by proof, that the knowledge of the past life I now had was going to be very effective in accomplishing my agenda.
Something about me shocked the servants as I made my way to the other wing of the castle. I know it wasnt Beatrice, for she wasn’t even with me: we’d wordlessly agreed to arrive at differently to the study. It had to be the way I carried myself in dignity, or the fact that I had no makeup on, or
Ed greeted them as they went about their respective jolin
at was the latter, the royals barely ever talked to the helpers. It was like an unsaid law, one Jad scued for a friend I’d kicked our to the curls whien Monald came by. It was an action Eregretted up until my deathbed and even though my
e which I’d initially broken even in my last life and throwing Eski away had already happened in this life–going by the time frame–I wasn’t going to muke the past mistake of letting it stay that way I was poing to look for lüm after the meeting
The meeting with the cost of elders wasn’t a walk in the pack, but it had been casier to sit through than the last because I wasn’t silent this time, sach and everyone was going to say, so Tid prepared a belining answer beforehand. In the past, the meeting had ended on the nutcut me being do probational leadership under the influence of the council till I was ready to get married and hand over the pack to my mate, but thui une had been adjourned on an inconclusive note in umeone could find a basis to crucify m
The hard port of at lowever, was having to see the faces of every single lar and thief that lived off the hand cared taxes of the pack. It was hard to atinees rachi qaration politely and even managing their egos at certain points when all I wanted to do was uninstall them in the misist disgracefal
was the plan, no smunstall their complot one after the other. However, I needed to tread carefully as the lase was currently leaning mo lerin sade that maior. I needed to hru prove to them that
and win the hearts of the majority of the wolver in the
for coming when I finally
capable of ruling the pack without their influence or as they liked to put it ‘endance Licoded them to think Fouauve and gullible for none, in fact, so they wouldn’t see
However, for now, there was something more pressing then I needed to do. I took a quick detour to my room to change back into my simple black drews, with the addition of mard, belane [began musking my way out of the castle
