The Hidden Luna Queen (Maeve and Xaden) novel Chapter 91

Maeve POV

The moment Prince Eric made his presence known, the banquet hall fell dead silent. No one dared to speak a word, breathe, or make even the slightest sound.

Or perhaps that was just me. I really couldn’t tell anymore.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from his sudden entrance. Every rumor I had ever heard indicated that he was either not on speaking terms with his family or was merely too sick and feeble to attend anything that involved public appearances. But if what Eric had told me himself was the goddess-given truth… about how he was the black sheep of the highly regarded royal alpha family and was shunned for not living up to their expectations, then we were going to have a real problem on our hands.

For all I knew, Alpha King Arlan would throw him out. Or someone would instigate a fight in the middle of the banquet hall. And if someone were to attack him in front of me… what was I supposed to do…?

Good goddess… what was I supposed to do if any of those horrifying possibilities happened? None of the lessons I’d been taking with the queen covered that.

My stomach sunk with dread at the mere thought.

This was my informal initiation into the family. If I chose to defend him despite whoever opposed me, I could risk further damaging what little relationship I had with everyone and my marriage to Xaden could very well be on the chopping block. But if I stayed silent for the sake of neutrality, then that would hurt poor Eric, who would not hurt even a fly.

Either way, chances were that the evening could end in catastrophe. I was utterly petrified for both him and myself.

Amid the awkward silence, however, one person chose to speak up.

“Eric, you decided to join us, after all,” Luna Queen Leonora murmured, giving off the faintest whiff of surprise as she rose to greet her son, albeit with abundant grace and poise. “I thought you were not feeling well enough to be here.”

His gaze nervously darted around the room, but he nodded. “I… I wanted to officially welcome Xaden’s new mate. I thought it best she heard it from me personally…” he faltered, glancing up at me. “I-I hope that was alright.”

That was directed at me. He was looking for my approval.