Chapter 2

I could tell Henry was on edge. I could hear it in the monarch’s heartbeat. I could smell it in the scent he gave off. Selina of Rozenberg, his future bride, was visiting Aldervolf to study. The Crown had planned a State Reception for her, complete with ceremonies, dinner, and gun salutes, but she was days late, rendering everything they had planned useless. The reception would still happen, just not today, when she finally arrived. All kinds of gatherings were prohibited once the monthly lockdown was in effect.

“I hope Selina doesn’t mind,” Henry muttered under his breath as he twirled his pen in his fingers repeatedly while he read file after file of paperwork. He must be desperate to finish all of it by tonight. I mean, he should, but whatever.

I stopped bouncing my rubber ball on the wall of my sister’s laboratory to stare at the overworked king. I heard from other people that the Destined Queen—that’s what she was called around here— was pompous, self-obsessed, and overbearing. She must be hot if Henry was willing to put up with that, but then again, the child king would bend over backward if it meant the safety and prosperity of his empire.

I sighed before grabbing a metal stool from underneath a granite counter and placing it on Henry’s table. I sat in front of my friend, grabbing a stack of file folders to read. Henry smiled gratefully at me before looking at his wristwatch, eyes widening before focusing on his task again. Hardly. He still kept looking at his watch every ten seconds.

I was halfway through the report I was reading when a thought occurred to me… the future queen may also be dreadful-looking, owing to the inbreeding of royals to preserve their bloodlines. Was that the reason the Princess of Rozenberg was so difficult to deal with? She was masking her shortcomings and imperfections? I remembered the portraits of the past rulers that I saw in a museum once. They had obvious deformities no amount of makeup could hide. Historians wrote they lack intelligence as well. I shuddered at the picture my mind was giving me.

Poor Henry.

“Eureka!” an excited voice said, and it snapped the heir apparent—and me—out of our thoughts. Henry whirled around while I just looked up and our eyes landed on a girl wearing a short white coat.

It was my twin sister, Jade. She was standing near her laptop on the far side of the granite counter. She had papers and Petri dishes with tissue and blood samples piled high on her table. I always assumed scientists were orderly, but she was the opposite. When there was chaos, Jade thrived and could think more clearly. Or so she says. Maybe she’s just untidy and lazy.

Jade looked at me in annoyance.

‘What?’

She just rolled her eyes at me.

“What happened?” Henry asked, standing up and walking towards the girl while I remained where I was.

It’s nerd stuff, and I wouldn’t lie; even if I tried, I’d have no idea what they were talking about. I just knew they were making some kind of drug to help werewolves and other supernatural creatures… the Occults. Since the beginning of time, humans have referred to us as such.

I returned to the report in my hands, and it didn’t take long before the task engrossed me. I used to be a castellan for my father when he was alive, so the work was not unfamiliar to me, but holy sh*t. The paperwork from the nobles alone... They demanded higher taxes from the people while requesting that their own estate taxes be reduced. Unbelievable, entitled, whiny p*ssies. I tossed those folders into the trash pile. Before I knew it, I was done with my stack and was already halfway through Henry’s pile. I was stretching my stiff limbs when I heard my sister’s voice again.

“Henry.” Jade’s voice sounded softer; a touch higher in pitch than normal. She was clutching a metal clipboard to her chest. When speaking to the king... or any other person who wasn’t her brother (me), she seemed and sounded more feminine. The absurdity of it made me laugh.

“Hmm?” Henry was spacing out again. He really needed sleep.

“You don’t have to be here, you know,” Jade said, smiling. “We’re just doing some tests. I’m sure we’ll manage without you.”

“No, no, sorry.” Henry shook his head. “I want to be here. I want to know if it works.”

“I’m afraid I have to insist, your head is in the clouds. I’m sorry, but you’ll just get in the way.”

“How dare you kick me out of here?” Henry asked playfully. “I am your King!”

“You may be the king of the realm, but this is my lab. Here, I am the king.” Jade was giggling. “So, what I say goes. And I say, you’re a nuisance. Adorable, but a nuisance.”

I was torn between puking and feeling sorry for them. I concluded that it’s the latter, and it’s time to put an end to their innocent flirting before it turns into something they’ll regret.

“She’s right,” I butted in. “It’s time to meet your girlfriend... before it gets dark. Jade can handle the tests and their results, can’t you, Jade?”

I emphasized the word ‘girlfriend’ and just as I thought, it wiped the smile off their faces. Blood rushed to my twin sister’s face and she could only nod in agreement.

‘Did you forget I am here?’ I asked her, and Jade’s blush deepened. Because of our mind link, she could hear me clearly even if we were at opposite ends of the room. Perks of being a twin. ‘The man’s taken. Besides, he’s just seventeen. Get ahold of yourself.’

‘I am not doing anything wrong, Jasper,’ my sister answered in the same manner, but indignant. She was careful not to let the young monarch be aware of our conversation through her expression. ‘Don’t speak to me that way.’

‘Then stop doing whatever it is you are doing.’

“Thank you, Jade,” Henry said, touching the girl on the shoulder, making her jump. “I appreciate it. Will you text me the results later?”

“S-sure!”

“I’ll wait for you outside, Henry,” I announced, slapping the table to draw their attention again. I looked at Jade meaningfully, and she scowled at me in return.

“Hey, Jay, you know a lot about girls...” The young monarch took his coat off the table and shrugged it on.

“So?” I eyed my friend skeptically.

“What can I give Selina as a present?”

At the mention of the future queen’s name, Jade bit her lip and lowered her eyes to the floor.

“This again?” I asked back, a little flippantly. Henry can be dim sometimes. Although it’s Jade’s fault for having a crush on him—his too, for unknowingly stringing her along—it still annoyed me to see my sister sad. “What can you give to someone who already has everything? What is this about this time? Have you not already showered her with gifts?”

“Well... This will be my first time seeing her after years apart.” Henry fiddled with his coat buttons; beads of sweat formed on his brows. “The State Reception was cancelled. And because of the… lockdown, I won’t be able to be with her for three days. I don’t want her to get mad at me.”

“Just give her whatever,” I said, nonchalant. Other people’s relations don’t interest me. “Flowers. Isn’t it customary to greet guests with bouquets or something?”

Henry beamed at that. “What kind?”

“There’s a literal girl here present. Why are you asking me?”

Jade looked up at me in shock before her gaze turned almost murderous. I smirked at her in return. Maybe this was the rude awakening Jade needed to snap out of it. I just shrugged before walking out of the room.

“Roses,” Jade piped up. I could still hear their conversation, even though I didn’t want to. Lycan abilities were both gift and curse.

“What?”

“Girls like roses,” Jade clarified. “Well, not every girl, especially not this girl, but… you know what I mean.”

“Yes.” I imagined Henry nodded at that. “Roses are Selina’s favorites, especially pink ones.”

“Wow, that’s… pretty basic of her,” I heard Jade say, and I let out a chuckle.

‘That’s not very nice,’ I told her through our mind link.

“No offense,” my sister quickly backtracked. “I mean…”

Henry did not even seem to notice what she did, though. “She’s not called the Rose Princess for nothing.”

“I thought she was called like that because her kingdom exports the best roses in the world?”

“Hmm, yeah.” I saw Henry make a face through the square window of the laboratory door. He turned to go, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Not that I’m interested in knowing, but why don’t you like roses?”

“Oh, I don’t like all kinds of flowers, not just roses.” Jade moved around before settling to look through her favorite microscope and jotting something down on her clipboard. “I’m allergic to pollen.”

Occults in the Canidae family were. Mostly, because I was not.

“I see,” Henry said thoughtfully. “I am too.”

“Twinsies,” Jade said with fake enthusiasm before turning to the king with hands on her hips. “What are you still doing here? Go, shoo! I’ll summon you when something interesting happens.”

“Okay, thanks, Jade.”

My sister pretended to ignore him and looked through her microscope again, adjusting the dials, but when Henry turned and left, she looked up to see the door of the lab swinging on its hinges. She stared a little more before turning to her work again.

I was leaning on the white wall of the hallway, pretending to text someone, when Henry stepped out of Jade’s laboratory.

“Jay, you’re coming with me to the border, right?”

“Of course.”

“Great! I’ll just go buy a bouquet of roses first and then—” The younger boy was smiling from ear to ear until he stopped to retrieve his cellphone from his coat pocket. It was vibrating like crazy.

“Everything all right?” I straightened when the monarch’s face turned white.

“No,” Henry said, looking up from his phone. “Selina is not at the border.”

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