In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 97: A King's Lot~

           

Murdoch stood tall, impassive, and cold, though it had nothing to do with the temperature. And his face hardened further when she had fully stepped from the carriage, no doubt due to the fact that she didn't have Finley with her. His anger made her tremble and she found herself wanting to revert back to the manner she had adopted when she'd first met him, timid and diffident. This was folly, and she knew it, but her fear stayed with her, even as her guards hemmed her in with Thomas and Varale.

"Princess!" he called."It seems you've forgotten the most important detail of our meeting! Where is my grandson? Where is my heir?" He held his arms aloft, looking about as if Finley would suddenly appear.

She wished she could read what was going through his twisted mind. Was he planning a double-cross like her? Would he try to have her eliminated now that she'd borne Niall's son?

"Murdoch," she greeted informally. She stopped, leaving several spans between their groups.

His eyes narrowed at her slight in not giving him proper address, but he didn't say anything.

"I haven't forgotten anything," she corrected, providing further insult. "My son is back with the army because I wished to speak with you first, and I couldn't have you distracted."

"There is no purpose in our meeting if he isn't here." He scoffed and turned, gesturing for his guards to follow.

What? He was leaving?

"Wait!" Kalysta called out desperately. "Did I say you wouldn't see him at all?"

Murdoch stopped, just as she'd hoped, and looked at her, but his expression was even darker. "My son is dead and I have a war to win, so if you don't have my heir here to meet me then I'm not staying to waste my time."

"We know of the Ubians," Kalysta called. This definitely made Murdoch pause. She wasn't supposed to know, that was for sure, and his face said there would be people dying horrifically when he discovered how the news had spread.

"What of it?" He faced her fully. "If you know of them then you know there's nothing you can do to stop them." His grin was feral and held no actual mirth.

"Is there no chance to speak civilly?" Her voice was careful.

"You wish to speak?" he mocked. "Then you can tell me exactly how my son perished less than two weeks after being married. All of the reports on the subject have been unsatisfactorily... vague. Do enlighten me." His voice ended in a growl.

She knew her affect was plain, giving nothing away, but her silence was laden with enough indication that it didn't matter how good an actor she was.

"As I thought." His voice was a vicious hiss. "Bring my heir tomorrow at the same time. This meeting is over."

"He is not your heir!" she denounced, her anger rearing up. "He is mine, a son of Elysium, not Mullingar. Any previous treaty between our nations was made void in my Declaration of War!" No more would she tremble before this man. They would win against this madness.

"Void?! No one steps out of a treaty with me! No one!" He took several steps closer, enough that she could see the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, deepened versions of Zayn's.

"I would parley now." Kalysta fought to make her voice even again. Riling him could turn this meeting to blows before she was ready. She needed him complacent enough to approach.

"Parley?" His barking laugh rang out. "Oh, child, how naïve you are. You wish to parley now that the whole of Asmye is on its way to crush your paltry country into oblivion? Oh no, Princess. The time for treaties and parleys ended with my son's life!"