If You Leave, I Leave novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: The Crown Changes Hands
Aveline's POV
I got to my feet and stood between the King and my husband.
My palm was bleeding down my wrist, and I did not care.
"He's not feral," I said. "Look at him."
Corwin knelt behind me in his torn coat, with grey eyes and his own face.
The King's spear point stopped a foot from my chest.
"The law does not ask what you think," he said.
"The law," said the Moon Elder, "asks whether the heir comes back."
She stepped out from the Stone with her grey cloak trailing.
"It says that a feral royal who does not return to his name is put down. He returned. He returned with no Tether, no hold on him and no Luna's hand, and the Stone has bound them again by choice. Ask the Stone, Hadrian."
"I wrote that law."
"Yes. You wrote it carelessly."
A small, shocked laugh went through the benches.
The King looked around the hall.
He saw the elders on their feet and the alphas of the river packs, and the guards with their spears pointed at the floor.
Nobody was looking at him as a king.
"Council of the Moon," the Elder said. "A king who orders his son killed so that a favourite can hold the Tether has broken the oath of the Crown. Those who say he must lay it down, raise your hands."
My father's hand went up first.
It was rough and scarred from the ropes, and he held it high.
Then the elders, and the alphas, and the courtiers who had applauded Verity twenty minutes before.
The hands went up row by row until every arm in the hall was raised.
Keep reading free with an account. Start If You Leave, I Leave from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend