Chapter 124

It had been mere days since the celebration ended when Adolph called a formal meeting again, but instead of the usual meeting room, the meeting was held in the throne room. To Gavin's surprise and dismay, he was dressed in full ceremonial dress and he had no idea what was happening. Every noble of the court was in attendance, including the ministers who had been dismissed.

Laurel was dressed in a fine gown that made Gavin purple with fury. Olivia had been the luna yet she had never had a gown as grand as the one Laurel wore, or perhaps she had never seemed so natural standing beside Adolph. The sight of her irritated him to no end.

"Your Majesty, what is happening?" A minister asked, almost timidly.

Adolph looked at him from his throne with a little smirk, "Do you not recognize open court?"

Gavin's stomach churned. He didn't like the sound of open court. They never held it while he was at war as a matter of course. What did they care about the problems of peasants?

"The first order of business will be to announce the dissolution of all government ministries," Adolph said. "The duties once splintered into ministries will be reabsorbed by the office of the alpha and luna, the king and queen."

Gavin's stomach plummeted as Adolph glanced at Gavin.

"Minister Mirabelle shall maintain his ceremonial position as the minister of family insofar as he is the grandfather of the crowned prince." Adolph continued, "From today until otherwise stated, all former ministers, and the minister of family, shall be detained to their respective estates for audit and investigation for various charges of embezzlement, mishandling, criminal conspiracy, and treason."

The ministers stumbled, little panicked gasps filling the air as Laurel smiled plainly. Gavin met her gaze, furious and almost wishing that Laura was still alive.

She would have never been so bold to meet Gavin's gaze with such superiority.

Her warning went through his mind and he clenched his fist before smoothing his expression into a plain one. The caravan they confiscated had cost Gavin a great deal, but the money was not traceable to his personal or estate accounts easily.

"Any attempt to leave without permission will be considered an act of treason and met with lethal force without question."

Gavin bowed his head gracefully, "As you wish, Your Majesty."

"Before you are taken," Adolph said, gesturing for Chasel to come forward, "So proclaimed will be the properties and sums confiscated by the crown as back payment for tax evasion revealed through the initial audit including taxes, late penalties, and punitive charges."

Chasel began reading the long list and Basil looked horrified looking around the room as more than just the former ministers were called out. Gavin watched Adolph's expression, calm and cunning and he wondered how long Adolph had been planning this.

The laws of the kingdom set forth that no one of noble status could have ever been charged successfully with tax evasion or conspiracy as it was considered a minor act of treason and in opposition to the purpose of nobility. If a noble was caught, they were immediately stripped of their noble status and property as penance so long as they were considered full criminals.

With just a few declarations, Adolph had cut out most of Gavin's power structure of government positions, leaving Gavin to stand alone. Though none of it could be traced back to him directly, everyone who had been charged would look at him with a suspicious and furious gaze as he would remain mostly unharmed.

They would assume it was some form of leniency or at least some pre-planning on Gavin's part and lie in wait to repay him.

"These funds will be turned over to the office of the luna," Adolph said calmly as he looked at Laurel. "Laurel?"

She smiled, "There will be several changes to how packs will be run"

Raven smiled watching them, absurdly proud. Laurel's plans to force pack leaders to take full responsibility for their pack members in the form of education and vocational efforts and housing extensions of the national food stores in each pack's territories was brilliant.

She looked at Henry as he let out a low whistle of appreciation, "Vicious. Brilliant. Goodness if she weren't green-eyed I'd wondered if you cloned yourself and donned a wig."

Raven laughed, shaking her head as Laurel went about packs being required to submit to formal audits going forward, noble and not. When she was done, Adolph stood.

"Now, for the noble structures, I will be appointing new nobles to serve as my courtiers and advisors as we enter a new era of the kingdom."

Laurel smiled as he called the living generals and soldiers forward one by one and appointed them as nobles, assigning them a section of the kingdom to reign over. Sam and Lynn seemed shocked that they would be called and she smiled as they came forward, awed and amazed.

When the living had been named, he moved on to the deceased, stating that their families would be taken care of and alerted within the week by a courier. When she heard Jack's name among them, she smiled and kept herself from crying. He set his ceremonial sword back on the pillow and greeted his new court.

"Before we celebrate," Adolph said, descending the steps. "I have one more announcement of a more personal matter."

Laurel looked over at Raven who looked as though she was joking with Irene about it being a declaration of love for Laurel.

"For today onward, the ban on blood acknowledgment shall be lifted."

Raven dropped her wine glass in the silence, staring silent and shocked, pale with amazement. Henry and Liam grew tense on either side of her.

"The precedence of blood rights and dissolution shall be lifted and the records from my kingship to the first Raymond royal to the last shall always reflect the truth of the bonds of blood, whether common, noble or temple-bound."

The priestess who was in attendance seemed shocked as well, staring wide-eyed even as her eyes grew teary.

"By the goddess' grace, we were born as family," Adolph said, offering Raven his hand. "For foolish politics, we have erased those bonds. Barring family from being together and depriving the Raymond family of the joys we defend for our subjects No more."

Henry swallowed, squeezing Raven's shoulders gently as she remained frozen in place, staring at Adolph. It was bigger than just visiting rights.

Adolph and Raven were the first royal twins born. From the time of their birth, until Raven married, they had been inseparable. Henry knew how deep the wounds of having to leave the castle, to leave Adolph ran for years. He also knew how she had believed it for the best for everyone's safety.

He couldn't imagine what was going through his wife's head, but he nudged her forward slowly. She took staggering steps, fearful and almost timid though she reached out to Adolph like a small child just learning to walk.

Raven heard the words, echoing through her mind. The clang of the castle gates as she left for Henry's pack, never to return freely. She heard her calling Adolph by his formal title for the first time and how long she'd cried after. She'd heard the attack on her home and the threats to Henry and her son's life too, but Adolph was offering his hand as if they were just children again and he wanted to go chase frogs or climb the orchard's trees.

He clasped her hand and smiled, "Welcome home, Rae'."

Her eyes burned. It was ridiculous and maudlin and she should have been keeping an eye on the ministers to figure out what they were thinking and get a read on them. This was huge and after all the changes Adolph had just announced, now was the time to get a true read on what dangers still lurked in the court, threatening her brother's happiness, yet she couldn't speak. She couldn't see through the tears and she heard herself let out a broken sob as Adolph pulled her into his arms and murmured into her hair.

"I missed you too, Rae'... Should we go chase frogs later?"

She laughed, watery and gleeful as she squeezed him back, "Don't be ridiculous We are much too old for that."

Still, if he wanted to, she probably would have hiked her skirts up and ran through the gardens with him.

She looked over at Laurel who smiled at her, eyes watery and filled with joy. She held out a hand to her and Laurel rose from her seat to join them, allowing Raven to pull her into a sideways hug.

Laurel hummed, comforted by the embrace, and opened her eyes.

Over her shoulder, she saw grandfather and grandson sporting two very different expressions. Basil looked confused and a bit wary, but Gavin looked livid, staring at her as the guards began to escort him and the others out of the throne room.

Her heart clenched and she heard rushing water and howling wind in her ears like a warning of a death threat just behind her.