The Cost
1271 Words
Four Years Later
Four years had passed since the council divided the Draven Empire.
Four years since Viktoria had walked out of that chamber with half an empire and a promise to herself that the other half would not remain beyond her reach forever.
She was twenty-four now.
And the girl who had once entered the council chamber determined to prove she deserved a throne no longer existed.
Viktoria stood before the tall windows of her office, looking down at the city beneath her.
Her territory had changed.
So had she.
The businesses under her authority had expanded. The divisions that once questioned her leadership now followed her decisions without hesitation.
Her people trusted her.
Her enemies respected her.
And the council had stopped calling her young.
But there was still one thing she had not accomplished.
The other half of the Draven Empire.
Her father's territory remained separate.
Marcus had spent four years strengthening his side, surrounding himself with people who benefited from the division.
Every attempt Viktoria had made to bring the territories back under one authority had met resistance.
Every negotiation had ended the same way.
No.
She had won battles.
But not the war.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
Alexander entered.
He carried several files beneath one arm and a tablet in the other.
He placed everything on her desk.
"You've been working since six."
Viktoria didn't turn.
"And you've been counting?"
"I've been watching."
She finally looked at him.
"That's worse."
Alexander smiled faintly.
"Your grandfather asked me to watch."
Her expression softened for only a moment.
He had been beside her for four years.
Before her grandfather's death, Alexander had been one of the most trusted members of his inner circle. Afterward, he had made it clear that his responsibility had changed.
He was no longer simply serving the Draven patriarch.
He was serving Viktoria.
Her grandfather had trusted him enough to leave him beside her.
And Alexander had never forgotten that responsibility.
He walked toward the desk.
"The eastern division sent the latest reports."
Viktoria sat.
"Problems?"
"Nothing serious."
"That's not what I asked."
Alexander looked at her.
"Three businesses are requesting permission to expand into your father's territory."
Viktoria's eyes narrowed.
"Denied."
"I expected that."
"Why did you bring it to me?"
"Because there's another request."
He slid a document across the desk.
Viktoria opened it.
She read the first page.
Then the second.
Her expression changed slightly.
"Who approved this?"
"No one."
"Then why is it here?"
"Because it came from the Wells family."
Viktoria stopped reading.
For a moment, the room was silent.
"The Wells family?"
Alexander nodded.
"They've requested a private meeting."
Viktoria closed the document.
"No."
Alexander didn't move.
"You haven't asked why."
"I don't need to."
"You might."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"They specifically requested you."
Viktoria leaned back.
"Who?"
Alexander hesitated.
"Their second son."
Something about the words made her still.
The second son.
A memory surfaced.
Not a memory of a face.
A voice.
Her grandfather's final words.
The Wells.
Second child.
Elias.
Viktoria's fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.
"Elias Wells."
Alexander nodded.
"Yes."
She looked toward the window again.
For four years, she had tried to understand why her grandfather had spoken that name.
She had searched the files.
She had studied the Wells family.
She had found very little.
Elias Wells had remained strangely difficult to reach.
He had spent years away from the center of the family business.
He had built his own interests.
His own influence.
His own reputation.
And now, after four years of silence, he wanted to meet her.
"Where?"
"The Wells residence."
"No."
Alexander raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't even heard the proposal."
"I don't need to."
"You really haven't changed."
Viktoria looked at him.
"I've changed a lot."
"That's what worries me."
She almost smiled.
"You're becoming brave."
"Your grandfather encouraged it."
"That was his first mistake."
Alexander laughed quietly.
Then his expression became serious.
"There is something else."
Viktoria waited.
"The request came with conditions."
"What conditions?"
Alexander placed another document on the desk.
"An alliance."
She read it.
Her eyes moved slowly across the page.
Then she looked up.
"Marriage."
Alexander nodded.
Viktoria said nothing.
The word remained between them.
Marriage.
She looked back at the document.
"The Wells family wants me to marry Elias."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"That's what we're going to find out."
She stood and walked toward the window.
"Absolutely not."
Alexander remained silent.
She turned.
"I've spent four years fighting to reunite this empire. I'm not going to marry a stranger because his family thinks it will make their political position stronger."
Alexander studied her.
"It may not be about strengthening their position."
"Then what is it about?"
"The empire."
Viktoria's expression hardened.
Alexander continued.
"You've spent four years trying to take your father's territory back."
"I've spent four years trying to reunite what should never have been divided."
"Exactly."
He walked closer.
"The Wells family has influence your father cannot easily challenge."
Viktoria said nothing.
"They have connections in territories your father controls. Financial agreements. Old alliances. Political relationships that existed before the empire was divided."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've spent four years looking."
She looked at him.
"And?"
Alexander's voice lowered.
"The Wells family may be the only family capable of giving you the leverage you need."
Viktoria stared at him.
"And marriage is the price."
"Possibly."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Viktoria."
"No."
Alexander didn't argue immediately.
Instead, he said quietly,
"Your grandfather knew Elias."
Her expression changed.
"He knew his family."
"That's not what I said."
Viktoria turned toward him.
"What are you implying?"
"I'm saying your grandfather specifically told you to find the second Wells child."
The room became silent.
"You think this is connected."
"I think your grandfather knew something we still don't."
Viktoria looked at the documents again.
The mysterious file.
The Wells family.
Elias.
Her mother's death.
The divided empire.
Pieces that still refused to fit together.
She hated that Alexander was right.
She hated even more that Elias might be the missing piece.
"I don't trust him."
"You don't know him."
"Exactly."
Alexander nodded.
"Then meet him."
Viktoria looked at him.
"That's your advice?"
"My advice is to stop treating the marriage proposal as a marriage."
Viktoria frowned.
"What else would it be?"
"A negotiation."
She remained silent.
Alexander continued.
"You don't have to love him."
"I don't."
"You don't have to trust him."
"I won't."
"You don't even have to agree."
She looked toward the document.
"Then why meet him?"
"Because if Elias Wells truly has what you need to reunite the empire, walking away before hearing him would be a mistake."
Viktoria's jaw tightened.
"And if he expects me to become his wife in exchange for it?"
"Then you'll know what he's asking."
"And if the council supports the arrangement?"
Alexander paused.
"Then you may not have much choice."
She stared at him.
Alexander didn't soften the words.
He knew her too well.
"The council already divided the empire once," he said. "They won't hesitate to use another arrangement if they believe it benefits the Draven name."
Viktoria walked back to her desk.
She picked up the marriage proposal.
For four years, she had fought to prove she could rule.
Now, the key to taking back the other half of the empire might be sitting somewhere in the Wells family.
And apparently, his name was Elias.
She looked at Alexander.
"Arrange the meeting."
He nodded.
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
Alexander hesitated.
"You're certain?"
"No."
She placed the document down.
"But I'm tired of fighting blind."
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