Chapter 163

Basil was packed to leave before breakfast the next morning. As promised, Adolph only had him stay long enough to eat breakfast and say goodbye. He was surprised that Irene hugged him close.

"You've grown so much," she said before drawing back and grinning, "Looks like there's some Raymond in there after all."

He gave her a phantom smile before taking the bag of food from Raven and another hug. Henry clapped him on the shoulder.

"See you soon, Basil."

Basil didn't agree, but he accepted their well-wishes and placed the food in his saddlebag. Adolph was the last to bid him goodbye. He pulled him into a tight hug and whispered the same prayer his father had said over him when he went to the border.

Basil looked up at him a bit dazed and Adolph grinned.

"This in no way makes you any less my son," Adolph said, pulling back and cupping his face. "You have come far, and I am proud of you. I'll see you soon."

Basil nodded shakily before mounting his horse and leaving with the escort.

Adolph watched him cut a sharp and straight path out of the capital and let out a pained breath. Laurel stepped up beside him and took his hand. He had never imagined he would see Basil escaping the capital city the way he was.

"Shall we head to the execution?" Adolph asked. He looked at Laurel. "You don't have to come."

Laurel squeezed his hand, "Yes, I do. Together. Sword and Shield."

He smiled and kissed her temple, "As you wish."

They took a carriage to the execution platform where people were gathered. Many of the guilty remained quiet, curling into themselves as they were marched up to the execution block. Gavin howled in agony as most of his family was forced to their knees and beheaded. The few who did scream and try to escape gained no sympathy. They were among the most guilty.

Finally, the last of Basil's great uncles was brought forth meaning that Gavin was next.

It didn't surprise him that Gavin started screaming then.

"I'm a proud member of this kingdom! My family's been a noble family for centuries!" Gavin cried, fighting against the guards as his brother was forced to his knees.

"This is all your fault, Gavin! May the moon goddess torture you well into your next life!"

The crowd jeered at him calling him out on his hypocrisy.

The blade fell with a loud thunk, and Gavin howled in agony.

It was a good thing that they hadn't let Basil stay for this. It would have destroyed him even though he had helped make it possible and suggested it.

When Gavin was marched up to the platform, the jeering grew louder as if the people had been saving their energy for his execution. They probably were. Laurel knew from her past life that he had been a cruel man. The machinations they knew of had wrought such havoc across the kingdom. She could only imagine that the machinations they had yet to find were no better.

"You can't kill me!" Gavin cried. "Think of my Olivia! She would have never stood for this!"

"I'm tempted to gag him," Adolph said offhandedly. "It's horrible that he can believe such blatant lies."

Laurel shuddered and took his hand, "You know he's just desperate, trying to garner some sympathy."

"Perhaps," Adolph said, "But it is beneath even him to bring up the dead, especially when he knows the truth of his daughter's involvement."

Olivia hadn't taken the same route that Delia had, but she had contemplated it and Gavin had made arrangements. It turned out to be unnecessary thanks to Adolph's desperation, but the thought of being in danger of being enchanted made him sick.

What would have happened to his kingdom if they had gone through with the plan? What would have happened to Laura or Laurel? Would Morrigan have been defeated? It made his head hurt just thinking about what could have happened if he'd decided against listening to the ministers.

"You!" Gavin growled, looking at Laurel. "You evil wench! It's all a lie! I've been framed! You'll regret this! You'll regret this! You'll see! That throne won't be yours for long! It was never meant to be yours!"

The guards shoved him down to the chopping block and Laurel blocked out his words as the crowd cheered and the herald carried on announcing Gavin's crimes against the crowd.

"You were never meant to be luna! You'll regret making a fool of the Mirabelles, Adolph!"

Adolph felt the wind stir almost ominously as the ax came down with a vicious thunk and Gavin's head rolled down the steps of the platform and the body slumped to one side.

The bodies would be left in a communal ditch outside the city to be ravaged by wolves. There would be no mourning flags or burials. The name of Mirabelle would forever be stained. It was horrible, but Laurel felt a sense of peace take over.

With Gavin dead, they just had to clean up the mess Gavin's machinations had left behind.

Laurel felt a great deal more at peace and Adolph relaxed more and more as they continued to clean up the mess Gavin left behind.

They recovered so much gold it completely refilled the treasury. The mansion was closed until they could figure out something to do with it. The furniture was covered. The portraits were all taken down and destroyed. The books were taken and searched through turning up other evidence of Gavin's plans against the throne leading all the way back to when Olivia was just a young girl.

Laurel's stomach turned reading through some of the notes about how he planned to ensure Olivia would get the throne she wanted. His plots against Raven and the rest of the family to isolate and control Adolph had been heart-wrenching and infuriating to read.

Laurel almost wished she could revive him to kill him again.

There were notes on Laura as well. He hadn't begun to toy with the idea of killing her outright, but he was actively looking to replace her if he could.

They moved all the books of worth into the library and sold a lot of the odds and ends inside the manor to pay for some of the family's debts to the throne. It was good that Gavin had such extravagant tastes. What gold pieces weren't worth selling, they melted down to create more coinage.

The catalog of property owned by the throne grew a great deal after they'd traced the paths of ownership from aliases through other members of the Mirabelle family until they reached Gavin all over the kingdom. He'd been buying buildings and various parcels of lands through other people for years and using them as merchant points to line his pockets for ages.

"He was an evil man," Adolph said, looking at some of the documents. "But he was very crafty Hats off to my late daughter-in-law for thwarting so many of his plans."

Laurel's lips twitched at the little flutter of happiness and pride that went through her. She hadn't known that all of her refusal to agree or turn over certain contracts over the years had thwarted Gavin's plan to create a remote pack to carry out underhanded activities, but she was glad for it.

He set a few pages aside, "Let's talk of something else. How are things with the Wiccans?"

"Well," she said. "Eden's latest report seemed happy."

That was an understatement. His words were glowing with joy as he'd been working hard to rebuild the vampire lands and clean things up. They were expecting that the lands would be fertile enough to plant the next spring and had set up an orphanage, hospital, and school in the main citadel modeled after the ones in the werewolf kingdom and the Wiccan Alliance.

The first chance she got, she wanted to go visit and compare notes.

"I wanted to talk to you about writing them about the blood aura."

Adolph frowned, "What about it?"

"Well Eden called it a curseDoesn't that mean that it can be lifted?"

Adolph winced, thinking back to Eden's words. It was implied, but he hadn't seemed very hopeful about it. Hadn't told Laurel that part of it as he didn't want to worry her.

He still didn't want to worry her, so he waved it off.

"Maybe, but it's not posing any danger now. I'm not planning on going to war any time soon, so it should be fine for now"

Something at the back of his mind told him that he was lying though he didn't mean to. He looked down at the sheets of paper and made plans to go speak with his sister about it. At the very least, having someone else to bounce ideas about it that weren't compromised by their physical state would mean he could figure out what could and couldn't be done.