Heart of the Wolf Prince

Chapter 16(b)

My smugness quickly turns to confusion as I follow Kohl down more corridors, and as we pass up a couple of stairs, my stomach knots as I realise exactly where he is going. He's going to the king's chambers, and something tells me it's for nothing good.

As he swings a corner, I glance around for the door that leads to that dusty room. With the flickering light of the torches, I find it slightly ajar just four doors down on my left. I push it open and immediately make a beeline for that wooden panel, which is still in the haphazard position I left it in. I pull it off with a grunt and get on my hands and knees, shuffling into the crawlspace. I sputter and choke as the dust assaults my lungs, but I keep pace quickly as I scale up the wall and across the suffocating tunnel that spans a path in the ceiling. As I crawl, the faint murmur of voices gets louder, and eventually a golden light appears in the tunnel before me. I fight my sigh of relief as I spy the oak wood of the rafters of the King's Council Room. As quietly as I can, I push myself out the tight exit and spill onto the little overhang of the rafters, just enough to stay out of view but close enough to give me a decent view of the room.

I realise with a beat of exhilaration that I'm here before Kohl when I spy his father and his mother in the room. King Galen stands behind his high-backed chair, clutching its frame with white knuckles while Queen Selene lingers several steps to his right. The king is staring at the door like he might just shoot lasers through it, while the queen casts worried looks his way. I don't blame her – the anger rolling off her husband is enough to suffocate a small elephant.

"Please don't be too harsh on him, Galen," Queen Selene says, and something inside me twists uncomfortably at the tone of her voice. It sounds like she is begging him.

"The boy needs discipline," he growls, his golden eyes not straying from the door.

"But—"

"Quiet, woman," the king snaps right as the door opens. My heart thumps when I hear Kohl's steady footfalls, his father's eyes locking onto him like a hawk's on a mouse.

"Father, Mother," Kohl greets, and I can just see the top of his head from where I sit in the rafters. His tone is hollow, which surprises me considering how terse he looked walking here.

The king sneers at his son, rounding the table to stand in Kohl's personal space. The queen trails behind him like a timid lamb, looking back and forth between them worriedly. To Kohl's credit, he does not balk, even as King Galen uses his two inches of extra height to tower over him.

"It seems we have some matters to discuss, boy," the king says.

"So it seems. I have been summoned to your quarters at the dead of night. It must be something of importance," Kohl deadpans, and my heart rate ticks up at the irritation that passes his father's face. I know Kohl is strong, but should he really be talking like this when his father looks one wrong look away from snapping someone's neck?

Instead, King Galen grabs Kohl's arm and yanks him to the other side of the room. The queen stiffens but makes no room to stop her husband as he shoves their son towards the wall. Kohl spins and staggers several paces back, and I can see his full face now. He's wearing that strange mask again, the one that conveys no emotion.

"I will have no tongue in cheek. You will listen and answer or face my wrath."

Kohl nods stiffly, but that doesn't seem to console his father. In fact, Galen just looked angrier as he booms, "Do you need reminding of what we are, Kohl? We are Gahndors. We are the true rulers of Raelia and we have a reputation to uphold. Recently, you have shown behaviours that go against our nature and I will not have it."

"Like what, father?" Kohl asks, sounding almost bored.

King Galen looks like he's about to pop a blood vessel. "By jumping into the fucking pit to save that stupid girl, that's what! Do you have any idea what that heroic little stunt will cost our reputation, cost yours? We do not stick our necks out for others, especially those who are so weak; we let them die. And do I even need to go into what you did to lady Cliffgard? That is going to put a stain on our good graces with that bloodline."