The Abandoned Luna's Journey to Power (by Emily Reed) novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68 The Prince’s New Look

Chapter 68 The Prince’s New Look

Cindy’s POV:

After sunrise, at Wailing Keep.

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The army was finally resting. Thin smoke rose from the cookfires, and the smell of meat drifted through the air. It had been a long time since we’d smelled that.

This food was taken back with blood and sweat.

Soldiers moved in lines, carrying dried meat and sacks of flour. The hyenas’ rations didn’t taste good, but food was food. At least it filled our stomachs.

Adam stood on the city wall. He had changed out of his gold armor and into plain clothes, yet his presence felt even stronger than before.

“News from the reinforcements,” he said, handing me a note. There was a hint of amusement on his face.

I read it. “James’s force entered deep Deadmarsh by mistake. They ran into poison fog and dreadbeasts. Heavy losses. Advance delayed. Estimated arrival: two weeks.”

Two weeks.

Everyone in this city, soldiers and civilians, would already be vampire food if we hadn’t held the line ourselves.

“That idiot Evelyn,” Viola said, leaning over to look. She spat to the side! “I knew she couldn’t be trusted. Taking 100,000 troops into a swamp? Does she have a death wish?”

Adam looked at me, studying my face. “When they finally arrive, there will be questions to answer. And when James sees you now, I bet his expression will be priceless. Have you thought about how you’ll deal with him?”

I crushed the note in my hand and let the scraps scatter in the wind.

“Deal with him?” I smiled faintly. My eyes were calm, empty. “Grand Marshal, I am now a Grand Duchess. I command a thousand troops. I am one of the heroes of Southreach. “And he?” I continued. “He’s a general who delayed the army and wasted lives.

“I don’t need to face him. He needs to think about how he’ll face me and how he’ll face everyone who died here.”

I turned away. I was done talking about that name.

“Come on, Your Highness,” I said. “Compared to that useless ex-mate, I care more about whether lunch

includes roasted venison.”

Prince Adam froze for a second, then he burst out laughing.

“We do,” he said. “Plenty of it. But before lunch, you need a barrel of hot water. You stink of blood.”

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18:08 Sat, Jan 10

Chapter 68 The Prince’s New Look

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We fought all night and walked between the corpses for far too long.

When the rush of adrenaline finally faded, I smelled myself at last. It was awful. Dried blood. Rotten flesh. Smoke and powder. Mixed with the scents of dozens of different werewolves and vampires.

The smell was so strong that even Diana sneezed inside my head in disgust.

“Grand Duchess,” a soft voice said. “Your Highness asks you to bathe. This is the former city lord’s private bath. It uses an underground hot spring. It’s clean.”

A small Omega maid stood before me, nervous and careful.

She was a native of the castle. The vampires had kept her as a blood slave. We were the ones who freed her.

I nodded and followed her into a stone chamber that had survived the fighting.

Steam filled the room. The sharp smell of sulfur covered the scent of blood.

The maid stepped forward to help me take off my armor. I shook my head and told her I would do it myself.

When the heavy, blood-stained armor hit the floor, my skin was revealed. Bruises covered it. Small cuts ran everywhere. The little Omega burst into tears at the sight.

I slipped into the hot water and let out a long breath.

The heat soaked into my tired muscles. Layer by layer, it washed the killing away.

I stayed there a long time. I scrubbed myself three times before I finally felt whole again. Not a weapon. Not a machine.

“Your Grace,” the maid said softly. “These are clean clothes prepared by Your Highness.”

She held out a set of black fitted clothes. The cut was sharp and simple. No extra decoration. Only a silver wolf stitched at the collar.

I put them on and wrung the water from my long hair. I did not style it. I tied it high with a black ribbon. The woman in the mirror looked unfamiliar.

My skin was pink from the heat. My features were clean and calm, but my silver-gray eyes were sharp, shaped by life and death.

This was who I was now.

No longer the quiet woman who once bowed her head in Duskfang Pack, but the Duchess of Silverpeak Pack.

When I stepped out of the bathhouse, the wind and sand had stopped.

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18:09 Sat, Jan 10 G.

Chapter 68 The Prince’s New Look

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I was about to look for Viola and the others when I turned a corner in the hall and ran into someone.

He was a tall alpha male, wearing dark blue casual clothes. His hair was still wet. Clearly, he had just bathed.

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