The Southern King's Hoax Mate

CHAPTER 6~~ THE WHITE FLAG~~

The meeting room bustled with chatters and murmurs from the council members, each going over topics from previous meetings, or just random gossips about things happening in the provinces. 

The door to the meeting room opened wide, giving way to two lanky men, dressed like guards and they walk in to the room. Paying no regards to the chattering elders while they walk to the top end of the table, passing an envelope to another man sitting at the right-hand side of the Lycan king.

 A few minutes pass as the right-hand man goes through the contents of the written note in the envelope and he leans over his seat to whisper something in the ears of the king.

“Silence.” 

That one word, had the entire table full of council members to go quiet. One could not even hear their breathing as the command of decorum travels through the room. The owner of the voice hadn’t even raised his voice. He had listened in to all their chatter, his brain working at a maximum speed as he listened and watched his council members chatter away as if he wasn’t in their midst.

“Perhaps most of you forgot why I called for this meeting. We have pressing matters at hand and all you do is gossip about your filthiness.” This was mainly the reason half the men sitting around the table had a rough patch with their king, he was never like his father.

He is always too serious and has no regards for the words that come out of his mouth. As king, he felt superior to all, and he always made that clear. Despite their dislike for his lack of morals, no one around the table could really come up to him and tell of their dislike.

No one would dare to challenge a dominant Lycan Alpha, that was what made Alpha King Maxton different from his people, why his voice carried so much authority even without exerting his Lycan powers. “Apologies, your majesty. Since you hadn’t said a word, we thought we could catch up to pass time.”

Alpha King Maxton didn’t need to raise his head to know what hole the words came from; the voice alone irritates King Maxton to no end and has often wished to have the elder removed from the council, but he knows that would only cause a split amongst the members.

“This isn’t your living room where you catch up on hot gossips.” That was Alpha Callan, second in command and right-hand man to the Lycan Alpha King and right, although he was like every non-dominant Alpha in their kingdom. Being second in command to their king gave him authority.

Such that his hard voice cut through the room and once again, silence fell upon the council members, they know not to respond because Alpha Callan speaking was equivalent to their King speaking. Knowing he is a man of few words, Alpha Callan did most of the talking in their meetings.

Years of staying by King Maxton's side not only as his right-hand man but best friend gave him time to know their King more than anyone could. Alpha Callan understood simple gestures from King Maxton, from the quirking of his eyebrows to the movement of his lips and eyes.

Therefore, communication had never been a problem between the two, and it aided King Maxton more than he hated having needless conversations.

“Reports?”

King Maxton says, looking round the royal council members at the table and each member assigned to specific duties, flipped through their journals for information that might be of use to their king.

“Words came from scouts at the border we share with the werewolf eastern province. It seems they are preparing for an attack, the envoys of their eastern province visited the capital, staying a few days in the king’s palace.”

“There are words that the royal guards have taken new recruits, specifically for the royal army.” Alpha Callan turns to King Maxton at the reports and the Lycan king gives a curt nod, showing for his second in command to speak up.

“Why is that newsworthy? Haven’t they always trained new recruits?” The council member who had tabled the report looked over at the other members, wondering if the Alpha King and his second in command didn’t know of the news.

“Did you not hear the news?”

“What news?”

 It was King Maxton who asked this time, and a hush spell fell on the council members again. The elder who spoke had directed the initial question to Alpha Callan, none thought King Maxton would speak, at least not so soon.

“Your Majesty, about three months ago, the prince of the Northern kingdom had his mating ritual and got married. Apparently, his mate is the eastern province of Head Alpha’s daughter. We think that is why they are reinforcing their army, as they union, would prove absolute loyalty from the entire pack under the eastern province and any pack affiliated to them.”

King Maxton stared at the council member who answered his question for a few minutes and he nods towards the elder.

“As we know, most werewolf Head Alphas from the eastern province do not support the reign of the current king. Most of them only follow up because the other royal family has no interest in the throne__” The elder stopped talking as he saw the king raised his hand. 

“Get to the point Elder Faris.” A gulp, followed by the elder bopping his head, and he skips to the point as instructed.

 “The union forms a good Alliance for the king, the Head Alpha has strong warriors, and a has quite the following from Alpha’s in the smaller packs. “

“So, in one word, the prince mating with said Head Alpha’s daughter strengthens the royal Army?” Alpha Callan questioned, silencing the elder, who nods at the question, and King Maxton takes a glance at the letter before him.

“If this is true, why would the northern king send me a proposal to call a truce?” The table fills with scattered voices, at the information as every member tried to voice their thoughts and opinion and once.

King Maxton wasn’t having any of the noise and a low growl rumbled out of his throat at the disorderliness. “This is a not a council of barking dogs, is it?” King Maxton questioned and silence loomed over the members at the question, even though it rubbed them off wrongly.

“My king, this might be a way to distract us from not thinking they are planning an attack.” King Maxton nods in agreement at the words of the elder, because he had the same thought when he read the letter. He would have ruled it as a scam if not for the northern royal seal at the bottom end. King Maxton just didn’t understand why the northern king would suddenly raise the white flag for an enmity of years.

As a child, he never understood why his father would always train day and night or lead their armies to these wars if half of them never made it back. Then he learnt what took the life of his mother, why he never had a mother while growing up, and the answer to his questions of why his father, a king, was without a queen.

It started as a land dispute, for years the Lycan kingdom and the werewolf kingdom never really lived in harmony, although they respected each other’s boundaries, they were not what you would call friendly neighbors.

History showed both were species once lived in harmony under the rule of a Lycan king, but of course, a group of werewolves had to rebel because they felt entitled to the throne as alphas. There had been the suggested that the eligible families between the Lycans and the werewolves would rotate reign on the throne.

However, the turn of the werewolf Alpha king came, and he refused to pass the throne, that had led to the dispute, war and the reason the kingdom had to split. The Lycans went with their dominant alphas and the werewolves remained with their kind.

They had rules and laws that came with punishment for trespassers into each kingdom, but it was at least peaceful to a point, until the death of the Lycan queen.

“Also, why now? Why offer raise the flag for a truce now?” Alpha Callan, directed the question to the elders at the table and each took a moment to sort out the answer in their thought.

“The land between our western province and their eastern border, did they agree to our demands?” Elder Faris asked, and the members shake their heads.

“Perhaps this is a way of not legally evacuating the land, even though we all know it belongs to the Lycans.” 

“Or this could be a plot to infiltrate our lands, without us realizing it.”

King Maxton listened as each member of the council voice their opinion, after a while of hearing different reasons, he cleared his throat.

“If I refuse this? It means war, right?” He waved the letter, as he asked and everyone nods, gulping down the saliva in their throats because they know their king would blindly go to war just for it.

“How do we know if they aren’t prepared for that? I mean they, know you would refuse the truce, and if you do, we would play into their hands. Why not switch it up?” Alpha Callan now had the attention of the council on him after the words he said, even the king took an interest in what his second in command had to say.

“We accept the truce, but on our own condition. It would be difficult for them to pull out since they raised the white flag first.”

“So, what would you suggest you put in as a condition to accept?” King Maxton requests, leaning back into his seat with his attention now focused on his second in command.

“Well, since we have an ongoing dispute on the land, we can just request for it to seal the truce.” King Maxton and the council members take their time to weigh the pros and cons of the suggestion, and a few indifferences rose in the air.

“I want something that would give us leverage over them.” King Maxton says, and the council nods in agreement to his words. For King Maxton, if he would sign a truce with the enemy, then it must be for good reason, or it at least gives him an upper hand in whatever outcomes it brings.

“I heard their princess is of age, aside from people in the palace, no one knows what she really looks like and the ones that know dare not say a thing about her. From the things I heard, she is the beloved of the royal family. Why not ask for her hand in marriage to prove their loyalty. If they refuse, then we know they had ill motives for calling a truce, but if they agree you have their daughter has leverage over them and we can make them vouch for the land.”

This elder was trying to kill two birds with one stone, although his suggestion was a good one, he and a few elders saw this as an opportunity to get King Maxton to take a queen. The Alpha King has always declined pleas to look for his mate or taken into consideration the Lycan females in the pack.

Whenever the council member raised the issue, he always gave the same reply. ‘The goddess will bring her time at the right time.’

“That is a good idea, your majesty. With their daughter’s fate in the hand of the Lycans, they wouldn’t try anything to jeopardize her life.” King Maxton turns to his second in command at the words, taking a minute to process this suggestion and how well it would benefit the kingdom.

“Send in my response.” The sound of the heavy chair scraping against the floor filled the room as King Maxton stands on his feet, passing the letter to Alpha Callan and he exit the meeting room, without another word.