CHAPTER 197: _FIRST STEP OF HIS DOWNFALL

Kyren’s POV

*****

"Follow me. These walls have eyes and ears." The Luna Queen said, giving him a subtle nod before walking down the hallway.

Kyren tilted his head, filled with suspicion at first.

He didn’t see any reason why Elowen would want to do something bad to him... Except for the obvious fact that Arian was her husband. Who he was threatening.

But that’s the thing... Arian is her husband.

Yet the man kept all these things away from her throughout the decades of their marriage. Kyren still remembered clearly how furious she’d been when he overheard her heated conversation with the Alpha king.

When she spouted Garrick’s name like it was some curse hovering over their family.

Maybe it was.

With a sigh, Kyren finally trailed after her, his expression calm and his mind set for anything.

He was more than capable of helping himself out of any uncertainties ahead.

.

.

"Here. The palace’s inner gardens." Elowen stretched her arms, taking in the scenery as they stepped in with her taking the lead.

What welcomed them first was the sweet scent of a variety of flowers, native to Lunaria and some even brought from other parts of the world.

Kyren scanned his eyes around, hiding his approval.

Safe to say that this inner garden held more grandeur than the one he had back in the Dark Lands.

"No one else is here." His voice broke through the soft noise of a fountain several meters away, his arms behind his back. "It’s a perfect spot for strangulation... Or incinerating. Screaming won’t be heard."

Elowen froze, turning around slowly. Her eyes glinted with worry, causing Kyren’s lips to curl with amusement.

"I’m merely making an observation." He raised his hands, showing he was harmless.

Mostly.

The Luna Queen managed a smile, clasping her hands in front of her stomach. "I came here a lot after my brush with death. After I was... Shot by a member of the very organisation my husband’s sponsoring."

Her voice was heavy with a lot of things. Pain. Anger. Sadness. All coiling into something raw that had been buried for Hades knows how long.

"All Arian did was stay by my side and whisper sweet nothings while the doctors healed my wound." She continued with a dry chuckle.

Kyren almost felt pity for the woman.

Her husband was an asshole to say the least.

Elowen became silent, walking toward a bed of silver lilacs to her right. She crouched just a bit, plucking one stem and raising it to her nose.

Kyren resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her elegance.

It was clearly practiced. And clearly wasting his time.

"While I... Pity you for what my half-uncle has done." Kyren broke the silence, taking a couple of steps forward. "I must remind you that my time here is short. I need to leave after the ball tonight and I imagined I’d have a little nap this morning."

Elowen smiled, her lush brown hair whipping behind her as she swerved her head to him.

"What Alpha King Arian has done and is constantly doing is unacceptable." Her voice was firmer now, cutting like glass. "He says he’s being blackmailed, but his sponsorship of the Dark Hand empowers their weaponry, their crazy experiments and now..."

She paused for a few seconds, as if trying to make sure Kyren was with her.

He was.

"... And now they’re coming after my children." Her voice snapped with rage. "I thought Aurora getting kidnapped by Magnus and Estella would be the height of it. But look at Lucian now. They stripped him of vital memories. About his mate."

She stopped herself just then, letting out a silent breath. "About Elian. Who, as you can tell, isn’t safe from the Dark Hand as well."

Kyren’s jaw tightened but he didn’t say anything.

All he could sense now was intense emotions from a woman who was probably tired of being sidelined by her husband. He could also see the determination burning in her eyes.

This should be interesting...

"The point is, I think we can agree that Arian’s reign has been an unpleasant one." She tapped the rings on her right hand. "Sure, the Empire didn’t know war under his rule and has flourished... But in the shadows, the Dark Hand is rotting it to its foundations."

She raised her right hand just then. A holographic tablet instantly flickered in between her fingers, glimmering with a bluish white hue.

"On this is written evidence of all the funds Arian has siphoned to the Dark Hand throughout the decades." She flung it across the air.

Kyren caught it, squinting at the words and numbers on it.

Apart from those there was also something else that caught his attention.

The Lunarian royal seal.

"He authorised them with his seal. That will be the first step of his downfall." Elowen’s voice was cold now, dripping with contempt. "But I’ll need your help."

Kyren’s eyes fleeted from the holographic tablet to the Luna queen’s face repeatedly, his mind reeling at first.

Was this some kind of expensive joke?

"Let me get this straight." The Rogue king lowered the tablet, his lips twitching. "You want me to help you stage a coup against your husband? To make a blackmail on top of the Dark Hand’s blackmail... In exchange for?"

Elowen’s expression was calm, calculated.

"Like I said... Your birthright." She blurted. "With Arian out of the way, Lucian can ascend the throne and put an end to this Dark Hand madness."

’Unholy god of delusion!’

"No offence, but... What fucking birthright?" He nearly sniggered. "Your son gets the throne and I get what? Bragging rights for bringing down your husband?"

Elowen smiled slyly. "That. And something I discovered while uncovering my husband’s dirty dealings with the Dark Hand."

Kyren’s brows knitted but before he could say anything, she flicked her right wrist.

A holographic projection appeared above her palm, showing the image of what appeared to be an information box.

An information box was basically primitive technology compared to all they have today.

If this was a joke... It was no longer funny.

"It’s not in my possession at the moment," Elowen said, as if it should mean anything. "But within this information box is a message stored from your parents, Rogue king. Recorded three centuries ago."

Kyren’s limbs tensed, his eyes widening.

By Hades’ gates...