The Hidden Luna Queen (Maeve and Xaden) novel Chapter 98

No matter how much I tried to delay the inevitable, however, I needed to get this done. If she was going to scold me, I would rather get it over with than simmer in the mess that was my mind. Taking a long, deep breath, I entered the palace and followed the usual route to get to the queen’s parlor.

I need to apologize. The resolution grounded me. She has to know—

—!

I whirled around, entering full-on defense mode and taking in my surroundings as quickly as possible. For some particular reason, I had felt the strangest sensation of someone boring into my soul with malicious intent, like someone was about to pounce on me.

But there was no one there.

Just an empty palace corridor.

Heat rose on my cheeks. I needed to calm down. More than likely, my stress was making me paranoid.

All of a sudden, Isabelle emerged from around the corner, glancing around for something. As soon as her gaze landed on me, she stopped and composed herself with as much regality as one could muster. “Good, you’ve finally arrived.”

What?

Immediately, my stomach filled with unease. There should have been no reason for her to search for me, especially considering how our last encounter went down. “You were looking for me, Isabelle…?” I asked, tentative.

She sighed, crossing her arms. “I understand your reluctance around me—”

That, I could scarcely believe.

“—but this is hardly the time or place for it,” she said with a note of impatience. “I’m only here because the Alpha King sent me to find you.”

My eyes widened in surprise, quickly followed by dread. “What for?” I asked, but as soon as the words left my lips, I realized just how ridiculous the question was. Only one thing had happened that could possibly justify an audience with him.

And it was something I’d desperately hoped we could move past.

“As if you needed to ask,” Isabelle scoffed with a blatant roll of her eyes, inadvertently answering the question I had posed in my head. “We all saw how you yelled at King Arlan in the hallway after the banquet,” she said, making me wince with the reminder. “He wants to speak to you—without Xaden around this time.”

Anxiety gnawed at my insides. A private audience with the king could mean many things, if one thought about it. In my case, it could only lead to something bad.