He Brought His Lover Home, So I Left Him to His Regret novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Filed in Person

Rowena hands the filing to the Royal Council herself. A counter-petition is already waiting, and the Alpha King's wolf stops dead at her scent.

The clerk at the Royal Council hall read my filing twice and then turned it face down on her desk.

"You mailed this, Luna?"

"I mailed it three weeks ago. It came back. I'm handing it to you now."

"Then it's received." She stamped it, and the stamp was loud in the empty marble hall. "Hold on. I have something with your name on it."

She slid a thin folder across the counter.

It was a counter-petition. The heading said the bond between Kendrick Winslow and Rowena Winslow was "in good standing and in residence."

It was signed by Lenore Winslow, house elder of Greenhaven, on behalf of the family.

I read the date.

It was the day after I mailed my filing.

"She says we live together," I said. "We've never lived together."

"She attached household records. Signed visits, a leave log, a few dinner receipts." The clerk lowered her voice. "Luna, the Council always believes the house elder first."

I held the folder very still.

Lenore had known about my filing the whole time, and she had said nothing. Behind me, a door opened, and the whole hall changed.

The clerk's stamp slid out of her hand and hit the floor.

A man had stopped in the doorway of the inner corridor, one foot still lifted for the next step. He was tall and lean, black hair cut short, a thin scar through his right eyebrow.

He was looking at me.

He did not look at me like a stranger; there was recognition in his eyes, steady and deep.

"Your Majesty," the clerk whispered.

I had never seen the Alpha King before. I had only seen him on coins.

He set his foot down and walked over, slowly.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"Rowena Winslow, Your Majesty. Of Greenhaven. She's filing to terminate her mate bond."

"Winslow." He frowned at the name. "You're the Luna who has never been seen at court."

"I didn't know court had been looking."

The clerk made a small sound.

The King did not smile, but something at the corner of his mouth moved.

"The counter-petition says you live in your husband's house," he said.

"I live in his parents' house. He has been on the northern border for three years."

"Has he marked you?"

I answered plainly, because the whole hall was listening.

"No. He has never touched me."

Nobody breathed. Down the corridor a guard coughed.

"Then the law is on your side and the paper is against you," the King said. He took the folder from the clerk's hand and read it standing. "I'll hear it myself at the new moon. That's the twenty-eighth. Until then, you'll stay under Crown protection."

"I don't need protection. I have a hotel."

"Your mother-in-law has a stack of signed receipts." His eyes came up. "You need a lock on a door."

I should have argued. I didn't.

"One rule," he said. "I'll preside over your hearing. So until it's ruled, nothing passes between you and me. Not a favor, not a touch, not a promise. Do you accept that?"

"Yes."

"Good." He said it too quickly. "My steward will show you the east wing. Sleep."

I had barely turned when the main doors opened behind me.

I knew the footsteps before I saw him. Kendrick walked with that heavy, deliberate strut of his, even on a Tuesday.

Odette was beside him in the same cream coat, and she looked prettier by daylight, which seemed unfair.

"So you came here," Kendrick said. He stopped three feet from me. "To make a scene before the King?"

"I came to file. You can read the stamp."

"My mother told you to wait. My mother was kind to you for sixteen years." His jaw worked. "And this is what you do the first night I'm home."

"The first night you're home in three years," I said.

Odette touched his sleeve. "Kendrick. Not here."

"No, let her talk. She's very good at talking when somebody's watching."

"Commander Winslow."

The King had not raised his voice. He had not moved.

Kendrick went stiff and turned and bowed, quick and correct.

"Your Majesty. I was reporting for the border briefing."

"At four o'clock, in the council room." The King's voice stayed level. "Not here, and not at a lady in my hall. You're dismissed."

"Your Majesty, this is a private family matter."

"It stopped being private when she handed it to my clerk. Dismissed, Commander."

Kendrick looked at me one more time. He was not angry now. He was confused.

Odette's smile held, but her grip on his arm was white at the knuckles.

They left.

The steward came forward with my bag. I started after him, and the clerk caught my sleeve.

"Luna," she said very softly. "I should tell you before you hear it in the corridor. An Alpha arrived at dawn from the north. He said he was here for his daughter, and he gave the guards a name."

My breath stopped.

"He's in the east parlor," she said. "He's been there since six, and he hasn't sat down."

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