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"Actually, no I don’t wish to be king" She smiled, yet there was no humor in it Only satisfaction "I went before the council and challenged Victoria For rights to Haden Stone"

"What?" The single as a roar and a gasp blended together

Why was Riley so furious and shocked? Aden was king, and he’d never allow another girl to have "rights" to hies can be issued to anyone at any tie is not accepted, the challenger automatically receives the prize"

"The princess is e is directed atnow, Draven shook his head "That is not how our laorks, and you know that, too If Victoria accepts, she uardian, are not allowed to interfere"

A erous territory, though Draven didn’t seee the law," Riley stated

"He e has been e, and of Victoria’s refusal to s to me, and Victoria will then be condemned by our people"

Condemned What did that ue She didn’t exactly know the protocol for asking a vaht Riley furious before, she’d had no idea how deeply he was capable of feeling the e, even heating the air around theritted teeth "She will accept The match will be set for sometime next week"

For the first tiet this done today"

"No You ait until next week If those ter can choose the ti This I know, as well He won’t be available until next week"

"Very well Accepted" Draven inclined her head, her s as Riley’s fury She tossed a quick sneer at Mary Ann "Until then"

The va now, as if the bonificant, without consequence

"Is Victoria a decent fighter?" Mary Ann asked quietly as Riley jerked her back into motion

"Yes I trained her rettably, I trained her, too"

"Who’s better?"

His jaw clenched

Mary Ann would take that to hter Her stomach clenched "What will happen if Draven wins? To Aden? To Victoria?"

"They won’t fight to the death, but until one of them ad!"

"Yes, but he is also hu We’ve never had a huned with blood-slaves in mind And blood-slaves may be passed around like baseball cards Aden will have to change the law, but Draven was right He cannot do so until this challenge has been met Otherwise, Victoria would look weak"

"And be condemned But what does that mean, really?"

"It e her for every single thing she owns For the rest of her eternal life, until she has nothing left No guardian, no clothes No room, no furniture No food Until she’s forced to strike out on her own to survive"

What a harsh reality these vampires and olves lived in "And what happens if Draven loses? See she owns on top of losing Aden Yet if Draven loses…"

"She will becoe isn’t issued often No one wants to chance such an outcome"

Draven was utterly confident of her success, then Great Another worry Would they never stop piling up?

"Come on, pick up the pace We have a task to co stairs they finally pounded

Several other varouped in twos and threes Each group was discussing Aden and his ta of the beasts They were clearly awed, shocked and a little frightened Thankfully, though, no one else stopped Riley for a chat

Outside, the air was colder than it had been that , and a dreary rateful for Riley’s coat There were no vampires out here, no wolves either Too cold and wet for the a coat, just a thin T-shirt, but he wasn’t shivering Or were they too busy? If so, ere they doing? For that ht hours?<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>