The Alpha King's Mate novel Chapter 32

The skyline is bordered by a row of tall and large trees on the horizon. The training fields are just visible in the distance beneath them. A beautiful lake with ducks, swans, lily pads, and lots of frogs is on my immediate right.

I need to tell King Fenris werewolves are not a threat. That this war doesn't have to happen, and we can live peacefully. If I can persuade King Fenris to stop the war, I can return home and inform Damon.

Mrs Fields leaves, and her absence is filled by two middle-aged women, who knock on my door and enter my room.

"Princess Maia," one of the women addresses me, tiptoeing toward where I sit on the bed.

"Please, come in, and call me Maia," I say, smiling. The women, like everyone else, are in awe of me.

"I'm Jewel. This is Leah. We will tend to your wounds," she says, bringing a small wooden table to me and placing a large bowl of warm water onto it.

"I'm sorry, but this will hurt," she says, washing my wrists and making me wince.

Leah dips her fingers into a wooden bowl with ointment and rubs the balm on my skin before each woman bandages a wrist.

"Thank you," I tell them, incredibly grateful.

"What would you like for dinner, Miss Maia?" Jewel asks politely.

"Tell the cook to surprise me, please," I answer happily.

"Okay," Leah smiles.

"I'd really like to try some wine," I add. Leah smiles and bows.

"Of course. I'll tell the cook right away." Leah leaves the room, and Jewel offers to tour me around the castle.

"I'd like that very much."

We start with the library, where there are books, some are many centuries old, in glass stands. I've never seen a book or so many books before.

The ceiling is twenty-foot high, and the second level, which is also lined with bookshelves, is secured by a polished, mahogany balustrade that edges around the whole rectangle room. Both levels have six sculpted mahogany columns, spaced apart evenly, with perfect architectural precision. Against the bookshelves are several wooden ladders on wheels, and it seems these, too, have been spaced apart at exact intervals.

The Great Hall is magnificent and full of regal splendour. White marble flooring meets gold skirting boards, white walls adorned with white wainscotting meet gold ceiling cornices, and five roses decorate the ceiling. In the heart of the room is a twelve-armed crystal chandelier.

"Hundreds of people could fit in here," I marvel, never having seen a room so grand and so big before. I can't help but twirl around and bask in its splendour.

"Hundreds of people do," she says, smiling. "We like to have regular balls here. King Fenris likes to entertain a lot. Five hundred guests fit comfortably in here," she explains.