**Rosalie’s POV
Soren was healing steadily, but the pack wasn’t too happy about his stay.
“Your Majesty!” Cerina knocked at my open office door.
“Cerina,” I looked up from the piles of docuntation and studying materials and greeted her.
“Where’s the prince?” The prince was my baby boy.
“He’s with Seraphine. Do you need for sothing?”
Cerina breathed in deeply through her nostrils, held it for a mont, and then let it go. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
I stood up from my desk and gestured for her to take the seat at the sofa with .
“Is this about Soren?”
She nodded. It was obvious she wasn’t pleased with his presence, and I could hardly bla her.
I started, “I know that it’s difficult for anyone to understand why I haven’t simply locked him up or had him executed. But our relationship is a complex one. He helped when I was in need of assistance, and I would like to do the sa for him.”
“My understanding is that he helped you when you were in need of assistance because he had ordered so n to beat you, isn’t that so, Your Majesty?” Cerina might be respectful, but she also didn’t have any problem speaking her mind.
“Yes, to an extent,” I said. “There’s more to it than that. Anyway, he did take in. He gave a job and cared for while I needed it most.”
“He held you hostage so that he could use you and the prince as bartering chips. That’s how I see it,” Cerina replied, folding her arms. “Forgive , Your Majesty, but I believe you may be more trusting than is good for you.”
“I’m sure you’re probably right about that,” I admitted. “I do tend to forgive easily and think the best of people.”
“And in many ways, we admire you for that. But in this case... he is a dangerous man. He needs to be dealt with accordingly. He should be seen as a prisoner of war, not a friend visiting from out of town for an unforeseen amount of ti or a political refugee.”
I considered her words and realized she was right. “Very well,” I said. “Toward that end, I’d like to give him soplace to stay. It should be sowhere that he will be comfortable but also where we can make sure he is watched at all tis.”
“We’ll take manpower away from the cause for that,” she reminded .
“And if we can win him over as an ally, he may be very valuable. Not to ntion, he is a bargaining chip now,” I stated.
“He’s had a falling out with his uncle. It’s not as if we can ransom him back,” Cerina said with a shrug.
“No, but Soren knows about both the West and East kingdoms much better than us. I do believe that his resources and intel could help us. After All, we need to know what King Jas and King Kal are up to.”
Cerina didn’t seem to be too convinced, so I added, “It’s better to have a friend than a potential enemy. Worst case, even if he is a foe, wouldn’t it be better to keep him under our watch than letting him run free?”
That seed to be more acceptable to her. She sighed and finally gave in.
“There’s a small cottage on the edge of the palace grounds near the highest part of the wall. There’s no gate there, so it would be difficult for him to escape, and it’s frequently patrolled.”
“That sounds perfect, Cerina. Thank you.”
A few hours later, I personally walked Soren to the cottage Cerina arranged for him. I’d already been there to inspect it. “It’s not as nice as the one you put in, but I think it will work,” I told him.
“I really appreciate your hospitality, Rosalie... I an... Your Majesty. Sorry. Old habits die hard.” He laughed and looked a bit sheepish.
It was strange, hearing him talk to that way. “You can still call Ro or Rosalie when there’s no one else around.” I did have my guard with , as I always did, but they were in the distance, and they weren’t listening that closely to our discussion.
Pushing open the front door, I said, “Here we are,” and gestured for Soren to walk in. “It’s just a small living room, kitchen, one bedroom, and a bathroom, but—”
“It’s wonderful,” Soren said, looking around. “It’s perfect.”
My eyes traced over the old, dingy furniture. The walls were a light yellow and in need of a fresh coat of paint. The kitchen cupboards were old, and one was falling off of the hinges. I knew the other two rooms were not much better.
This was a man who owned an island and lived in a mansion...
“I’ve had so clothes hung in the closet for you. The toiletries are in the bathroom, and there’s food in the kitchen.”
“Wow, I’ve always wanted to learn cooking! Maybe one day, you’d be willing to co over and let cook you a al?” he asked pleasantly, and didn’t seem to be bothered by the outdated internal decoration at all.
I almost said yes, but reminded myself that I shouldn’t do that. Seraphine and Cerina had already made their compromise, and I did think it was a good idea to keep my distance with Soren.
I shook my head, and turned his offer down. “I’m afraid I’ll be quite busy for a while. Sorry.”
“Please do say so, Queen Rosalie,” Soren said. He wrapped his arm around and pulled close. For a mont, it was like I was hugging my old friend. “Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your hospitality. Even if you can never forgive —”
“Soren,” I pushed away so that I could look him in the eye. “Please give so ti. However, regardless of what I think, you should understand that my people will be much slower to accept you. That ans, in the anti, you must stay here and be my hostage. I can’t treat you the sa way you treated .”
He nodded. “I understand. Thank you.”
“You’re welco.” I wanted to say more, but before I could get anything out, one of the guards knocked on the open door. I turned my head to give him my attention.
“Pardon , Your Majesty,” he said, “but we just received a ssage that you’re needed in the war room.”
That was never a good summons to receive. “Thank you,” I told him and then turned back to Soren.
He chuckled. “Our roles really have changed. Gosh, I hope I’m not going to have a baby.” He put his hand over his abdon the way I used to do.
I bit back a laugh at his silliness. “Please behave and don’t do anything silly,” I warned him.
“Got it,” he promised .
“Good. I’ll see you later.” I smiled at him and then left.
The guards escorted to the war room where one of the commanders who had been at the front was standing. Fresh from the battlefield, he was dirty, with sweat and blood caked to his face. He didn’t appear to be injured himself, but he had surely inflicted so wounds.
“Commander Landon,” I said with a nod. “What is it that you have to report?”
He bowed to and said, “Your Majesty, we’ve been receiving word recently from our scouts and many villagers that there have been sightings of a new threat.”
“A new threat?” I asked. I tried not to sigh. We were still managing the old ones.
“That’s right,” Landon told . He was a middle-aged man with dark hair, graying at the temples, and when he spoke, it was with great authority. “They are calling him the Rogue King, and though it’s unclear as to his intentions, we’ve heard his forces are infiltrating our territories.”
I stared at his face for a mont, trying to make sure I was clear on what he was telling . It didn’t seem like a lot of information at the mont. “A Rogue King?” I repeated. “Do we know where he’s co from?”
“No, Your Majesty, only that he seems to be coming from the south, moving northward.”
“And... how many rogues does he have with him exactly?” I asked.
Landon shook his head. “That is also uncertain, Your Majesty, but we’ve heard reports as small as two dozen to as many as two hundred.”
“That seems like a relatively small force,” one of the other leaders, Katherine, said, tapping her nails on the table in front of her.
“It’s not a large force compared to the others we have encountered, but he is said to be a fierce warrior himself, possibly stronger than twenty wolves combined.” Landon’s expression told he believed this could be true, though it sounded far fetched.
“What do you suppose we should do?” I asked Landon.
“I believe it would be smart for us to move our forces here,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map that was a bit south of the castle. “If we can et him there, we can potentially prevent him from invading our territory at all.”
“What about the other rogues?” Katherine asked. “We can’t just forget about them.”
“No, we won’t leave them unattended,” Landon agreed. “We can use a smaller force against the Rogue King and still keep our other forces in reserve against the other threats.”
I considered Landon’s plan. We needed to be careful not to stretch ourselves too thin.
“Very well,” I told him. “Let’s move forward with your plan. We’ll need to do our best to keep our forces as centrally located as possible so that they can go where they are most needed. But we can’t allow this Rogue King to simply walk into our territory without confronting him. Whoever he is and whatever he wants, if he is coming into our territory, he will need to show that he is not a threat.”
“And if he is a threat?” Landon asked, raising an eyebrow.
My answer was simple. “Then we eliminate him.”
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