Queen of the Lycan - Karina Espinosa (bill gates book recommendations .TXT) 📗

I grinned. “Good thing it’s no longer the King’s Council, but the Queen’s Council now. I want people on my council I can trust, which is a problem because I don’t trust any of you.”

Jacob flashed his sapphire eyes and growled, then attempted to take a step toward me.

Ranulf stood resolutely in his way. “Are ye threatening the Queen?”

“That bitch cannae get rid of us!” Jacob spat furiously, his face bulging and red.

Ranulf grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up, digging his claws into the former Council member’s neck. “Do nae forget who yer speaking to or I’ll have ye thrown in the dungeons!”

I smirked at Jacob. “This bitch can get rid of you, but I’ll give you until the end of the week to get your affairs in order. I want your things out of the council room immediately. Your clearance will be stripped at that time.”

“By law ye must have a council!” Finlay shouted. “A king or queen cannae rule on their own!”

I nodded. “Oh, I know, but I don’t want you to worry about that. I’ll have a council, it just won’t be made up of you guys. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a very busy day. You are dismissed.” I stood from my chair and started walking out of the council room. Ranulf dropped Jacob with a loud thud and followed me outside without another word.

The guards encircled us in a tight formation as we entered the corridor. Once we were far enough away to not be heard, Ranulf stopped me with a tug on my arm.

“What were ye thinking, Yer Majesty?” he said, aghast. “That could have been handled more smoothly, ye ken.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Well, I told you I was going to shake things up on my first day as Queen and I wasn’t lying. Do you really think I can just sit there while they plot to get rid of me? No, Ranulf. They needed to learn their place. I can build my own cabinet that doesn’t include them.”

“This will rattle the Summits,” Ranulf said knowingly. “They will be expecting the aid of the Council.”.

I grinned. “I know. Make sure you give Lucas that meeting he wants.”

I started walking away from my rooms and Ranulf hurried to follow me. “Where are we going, Yer Majesty?”

“We’re going to visit the Sisters of the Sight—”

Ranulf grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to a stop. “Are ye crazy? Ye cannae go into the forest, Yer Majesty!”

“It’s fine, Ranulf. I have business with Ophelia to tend to and I’d prefer to be accompanied by you and the guards instead of sneaking out on my own. Don’t make this difficult.”

He growled, “Yer giving me gray hairs, ye ken.”

“I know.” I smiled. “Now let’s go get Bash so he can come along as well. I promised him he could join this little party.”

After finding Bash in the South Tower, we headed into town and toward Caledonian Forest. The Sisters’ temple was closer to that end of the forest than it was to the entrance from the castle. Luckily, I didn’t need the Highlanders as escorts since the guards knew how to get to the temple. We hiked through the forest on high alert for any potential attacks from Fenrir and the Valkyries. After encountering the strange, winged women twice now, I was more interested than ever to learn all I could about the Valkyries.

If I could get Raven one on one, just maybe …

The wind whistled through the trees, but the only other sounds were our soft footfalls and the creaking of limbs bending with the force. Though it was an overall eerie atmosphere, I had to trust Ophelia and her riddle to trust the trees.

After a forty-five-minute hike, we emerged from the underbrush and entered the opening that led to the temple. A rocky pathway meandered to a small pond where a ruined pyramid loomed behind it, its cement blocks disintegrated in some areas and covered in vines.

The guards directed us to the front steps and Ranulf, Bash, and I walked up to the door. Ranulf grasped the ring handle in the center of the door and knocked three times.

The heavy door opened slightly and Ranulf pushed it open just wide enough to allow our passage. Two guards followed us inside while the others remained outside, patrolling and guarding the perimeter. Stone bleachers ringed the inside of the temple, funneling down to an archaic altar in the center. The last time I came to the temples, the bleachers were filled with silent, sightless oracles, but this time the bleachers were empty and Ophelia stood by the altar, alone and waiting for us. I had no idea how she could possibly haven known we would arrive at this precise moment. Perhaps she saw it in a vision.

“Mackenzie,” Ophelia greeted warmly, “how are ye feeling?”

“Better,” I answered as we approached the altar. “A heads-up would have been nice,” I groused, peering around the empty structure.

Ophelia’s gray hair was pulled away from her face. With her lips pressed together in a straight line, she looked austere and cold. “Everything worked out as it should.”

“And what if I’d died?” My eyes snapped to her accusingly, meeting her milky white eyes.

“Ye wouldn’t have,” she asserted. “Yer destiny is already written and sealed. Nothing can change its course.”

“What did ye see, Ophelia?” Ranulf asked urgently.

“It is nae what I saw, but who,” she replied in true cryptic fashion. “The greatest ruler the Lycan will ever know—” I sucked in a breath and reached for Bash’s hand, but my heart plummeted with her next words. “But it will nae be Mackenzie.”

I froze in place, my hand gripping Bash’s tightly as I stared at Ophelia. Was she confirming my fear that I would lose the crown? And if so, would it be a good thing, since the Lycan would get such an amazing leader in return? It would have been selfish