NEGASI
1186 Words
KAEDYR
The announcement of the Queen Dowager rang from the outer parts of my chamber through the door of the lounge room. I poured another glass of wine, waving off the guard with me as he gestured silently as if he should open the door. With a nod, he walked over to the door, pulling it open for my mother and her entourage of court ladies, and the ass kissing court official that’s always by her side.
“Your Majesty,”
“Greetings to the king.”
Voices echoed through the room as they bowed while muttering their greetings.
“To what do I owe the honor of your presence, Mother?” My voice was laced with venom as I drawled the word Mother.
Her eyes hardened, and her jaws ticked. I met the intensity of her gaze with a grin. She’s always hated the word Mother. She hates it when I call her Mother. She claimed it demeans her status and reduces her to a common omega whose only use was to bear children.
Not that I care for what she thinks. That is very obvious, because I jump at any opportunity presented to piss her off.
“Can’t I pay my child a visit without being questioned?” she asked snidely. Knowing fully well, I hate it when she uses that word child.
“You could’ve sent a message and I would have come to you.”
“And that would’ve taken weeks, perhaps months.”
“True,” I shrugged. “Alright then, what brings you here?”
“Leave the room,” she instructed her entourage in a sharp voice.
They bowed, offering greetings as they filed out of the lounge room with their heads cast down.
“You too,” Mother motioned to my guard.
He made a move to depart the room and I stopped him. “He stays, whatever you have to say can be discussed in front of him. He’s my most loyal soldier.”
“I will not discuss important affairs of the kingdom and the throne in front of your subject,” she hissed in a stern voice.
Shrugging as I poured another glass, that voice stopped working on me when I turned twelve. She needs to try harder if she’s looking to intimidate me.
“Alright Mother, you can see yourself out then.”
“Negasi,” she hissed.
The sound of the wine glass in my hand shattering against the oak table echoed throughout the room as a loud, threatening growl rumbled out of me. “Do. Not. Fxcking. Call. Me. That!” I stood to my feet, fangs bared and my claws out.
She gulped, looking visibly shaken as she stumbled a step back.
Soon the look of absolute horror on her face is replaced with that of disdain, a look I am quite used to seeing on her face whenever my name is mentioned around.
She cleared her throat as she walked tentatively to the chair. “You’ve been drinking,” she muttered, shaking her head in disapproval to imply that my outburst was due to my drunken state.
“I am not drunk,” I rumbled a growl.
“Sit, we need to talk.”
“What’s there to talk about? You tried to push a girl on me. I was onto you the minute I walked through the door and saw her.”
Sighing, she motioned for my guard, Feran, to pour her a glass of wine. “What did you do to her? I saw her at dawn when she left.”
“What did you think happened to her? You knew what faith would befall her when you sent her here smiling like that. Did you really have to bathe her in tuberose?”
“Are you blaming me for what you did to her? Are you saying you can’t control yourself? Shouldn’t your Lycan have the tenacity to withstand even the strongest aphrodisiac?”
I rolled my eyes at her antics. “No. I won’t give you that credit. I did what I did because I wanted to,” Na’imah was mine whether she wanted to be or not. Better me than being subjected to the wandering eyes and hands of the soldiers in their camp.
“You shouldn’t have done that to her. I sent her to you, so you could get to know her.”
“Get to the point, Mother.”
“The court officials are talking,” she began.
“And? Is there ever a time they don’t talk? They’re always blabbering. Old fools.”
“It is serious,”
“What is?”
“Your lack of heir? You have children, all girls, all illegitimate. None of them are noble born. Words are traveling out of the palace walls. It is only a matter of time before your enemies find out that you’ve managed to only father illegitimate low-borns. Without an heir, your chances of keeping the crown become slimmer.”
“And you want me to believe you have my best interest at heart; is that why you sent the slave girl to my chambers?”
“I am not going to sugarcoat my words with you. You are not the favorite of my children, but you’ve always been the firstborn and heir. I can set aside my judgment if the throne is at stake. What is most important to me is that the throne, the crown, doesn’t depart from this family. So, whatever I need to do to keep my offspring on the throne, I will do it.”
“What do you want, Mother?”
“I want you to give the throne an heir. I want you to prove that you are the son of your father. This is the first time in history to have a king who fathers daughters. Every firstborn of this family has been boys.”
“And you couldn’t have gone with anybody else? Why the slave girl?”
“She is royalty. She has royal blood.”
“We have allies who have princesses that are of royal blood.”
“Do you trust them enough to let them into this palace and not expect them to one day try to steal the throne?” She asked, and I couldn’t deny that she had a point.
But I don’t trust Na’imah either; however, I have her in the palms of my fingers.
“I’ll make arrangements for the marriage.”
“I am not marrying her,” I hissed.
“You cannot have an illegitimate child with her.”
“Then make her a consort. That’s as good as you will get from me, and once the child is born. I want her gone.”
She pondered over my decision for a minute before nodding.
“And what does she gain from this?” I asked, because the stubborn hybrid princess I know wouldn’t agree to this unless there is something in it for her.
“A better situation for her people.”
I nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”
- Writer
