The Alpha’s Mate Who Cried Wolf novel Chapter 121

Chapter 121 

‘Mrs Fields, this is Maia. Maia, this is Mrs Fields, my Head Housekeeper. Please escort Maia to her room, the room next to mine. Get the staff to tend to her wrists, and tell the cook to make whatever she wants for dinner. I will be accompanying her then, King Fenris says.

‘Yes, my Lord: she says, curtsying and taking my hand.

‘Maia, I have some urgent matters I need to tend to. I’ll join you for dinner, and we can discuss the war and so forth, he says kindly

“Yes, I’d like that. Thank you, I say.

Mrs Fields leads me up the grand staircase, along a lengthy passage, and into a stunning bedroom, with a Queen-sized four-poster bed and a balcony. I run outside through two open doors and admire the views

‘The view is breathtaking, I tell Mrs Fields, and she chuckles.

‘It is indeed. We’re very blessed with excellent views here, she says.

The skyline is bordered by a row of tall and large trees on the horizon. The training fields are just visible in the distance beneath them. A beautiful lake with ducks, swans, lilypads, and lots of frogs is on my immediate right.

I need to tell King Fenris werewolves are not a threat. That this war doesn’t have to happen, and we can live peacefully. If I can persuade King Fenris to stop the war, I can return home and inform Damon.

Mrs Fields leaves, and her absence is filled by two middle-aged women, who knock on my door and enter my room.

‘Princess Maia, one of the women addresses me, tiptoeing toward where I sit on the bed.

‘Please, come in, and call me Maia, I say, smiling. The women, like everyone else, are in awe of me.

I’m Jewel. This is Leah. We will tend to your wounds, she says, bringing a small wooden table to me and placing a large bowl of warm water onto it.

I’m sorry, but this will hurt, she says, washing my wrists and making me wince.

Leah dips her fingers into a wooden bowl with ointment and rubs the balm on my skin before each woman bandages a wrist.

‘Thank you, I tell them, incredibly grateful,

‘What would you like for dinner, Miss Maia?’ Jewel asks politely.

Tell the cook to surprise me, please, I answer happily.

Okay, Leah smiles.

I’d really like to try some wine, I add. Leah smiles and bows

Of course. I’ll tell the cook right away. Leah leaves the room, and Jewel offers to tour me around the castle.

Td like that very much.’

We start with the library, where there are books, some are many centuries old, in glass stands. I’ve never seen a book or

so many books before.

The ceiling is twenty-foot high, and the second level, which is also lined with bookshelves, is secured by a polished, mahogany balustrade that edges around the whole rectangle room Both levels have six soulpted mahogany columns,

spaced apart evenly, with perfect architectural precision. Against the bookshelves are several wooden ladders on wheels, and it seems these, too, have been spaced apart at exact intervals.

The Great Hall is magnificent and full of regal splendour. White marble flooring meets gold skirting boards, white walls adorned with white wainscotting meet gold ceiling cornices, and five roses decorate the ceiling. In the heart of the room is a twelve-armed crystal chandelier.

“Hundreds of people could fit in here,’l marvel, never having seen a room so grand and so big before. I can’t help but twirl around and bask in its splendour.

‘Hundreds of people do,’ she says, smiling. ‘We like to have regular balls here. King Fenris likes to entertain a lot. Five hundred guests fit comfortably in here,’ she explains.

I’ve never been to a ball before,’ say.

‘We shall host one in your honour,’ she says.

‘Oh, I’d love that. Although, I intend on leaving in a day or so, though,’I explain.

‘But, the people of West Wallow are happy, knowing you’re staying in the castle. Maybe we can have a ball within the next couple of evenings. I was told you’re going to help with the war?” she says, confused

‘I do plan to help. Just not in the way everyone thinks. I don’t plan on winning this war. I plan on stopping it,1

inform her, and she gasps.

‘Werewolves are evil and ruthless,’ she says, trying to

persuade me of the certainty of it.

‘What if I told you that isn’t true at all?’ I tell her, but before she can answer, King Fenris enters the Great Hall quietly.

‘Princess Maia, I’d love to escort you to the dining room for dinner,’ he says, smiling, completely charming.

Thank you,’I smile. I’m quite warmed by him. He is so kind and so generous, it’s really hard to dislike him. I’m hopeful he is a good king, and I will be able to persuade him to end the war.

‘Pardon the interruption. Dinner is waiting for you in the dining room,’ Mrs Fields says as we join her in the hallway outside the Great Hall. King Fenris offers his arm to me, and I take it, and we make the short journey to the dining room. The staff and servants whisper and the female servants giggle as we pass them.