1

Belle flashed the guards with a polite smile with a subtle bow of her head as she entered the grand hall. Her electric blue hair danced down her back as she sashayed her hips, strolling in with an appearance of much more confidence than she was currently feeling.

Her mother turned her head away from their guests to greet Belle with a welcoming smile, holding out her arm to embrace Belle as she took her place beside her mother. A young man, who couldn’t be much older than Belle wandered around the conference table and pulled out Belle’s chair as a gentlemanly gesture.

Belle took a moment to take in his appearance, noticing every feature from his icy blue eyes, his chiselled cheekbones, the dimple on his chin, his wavy white hair which fell past his shoulders. He wore half of his hair in loose bun at the back of his head, in a sort of half up half down feature with a few loose waves dangling in front of his face.

He was certainly the most beautiful man she had ever seen, perhaps in another life he was the first born of the Gods, Adonis and Aphrodite. He had both the devil and an angel written all over him, tempting her to be a sinner and a saint.

Belle curtly nodded her head as she took a seat. “Thank you.” The trail of his green full-dress uniform followed him as he strode to his seat. Belle remembered the royal colour of Avalon was Emerald and she wasn’t shy of admitting his realms colours suited him.

He took a seat beside his father, King Eryek, who was engaging in polite conversation with Belle’s mother, Queen Serena. Belle wasn’t too sure why her presence had been requested at this meeting, she barely had any free time due to her upcoming coronation.

Being both the Queen of the werewolf world and the Midsummer realm had become too much for Belle’s mother, who was needed more at Amaris with her husband, the Alpha King and Belle’s father, meaning she was unable to provide Midsummer the attention they deserved.

With her eldest brother, Arlen, involved in other affairs and her youngest brother, Cobi, set to take over from their father when he decided to step down, Belle had always dreamed of the day she would be named the Queen of Midsummer. She loved the people with her whole heart and knew since her parents first brought her to the castle that this was where she felt most at home.

Being a hybrid, and a royal one at that, gave Belle an advantage as she was much stronger than your average wolf or faerie. However, she wasn’t ignorant to the fact that faeries from other realms only believed in ‘pure bloods’ ruling.

Which is why Belle was presuming she had been called to this meeting. King Eryek and his son, Prince Layke, were ‘pure bloods’ and having their support would make Belle’s life as Queen much less complex. Initially, Belle had worried about becoming Queen, especially if she had taken a werewolf mate. But she had already taken care of this with the help of their family friend, Gladdis.

Gladdis was the high priestess of the most powerful coven across all the different realms and both herself and daughter, Maddie, were close friends of her family. Belle refused to allow anything to hold her back from reaching her full potential as Queen and this also meant being able to put the people of Midsummer first. If she took a werewolf mate, the people of Midsummer would never feel truly cared for.

Besides, over the years Belle had come to learn that many take advantage of her status, never truly caring about her for her but to gain status themselves. She’d experienced enough of that for a lifetime and had no interest in history repeating itself.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness. Thank you for welcoming us into your lovely home.” King Eryek smiled. He was a kind looking man, features very similar to his son, but there was a glowing warmth around him which Prince Layke didn’t have.

Queen Serena grinned. “Thank you both for joining us. Belle, Prince Layke, I’m sure you’re both wondering why your attendance was requested today?”

Prince Layke chuckled as he nodded his head. “My father has been rather tight lipped.”

Queen Serena nodded in understanding. “I’m sure you have both heard the rumours with regards to the Gylandies making their way through the realm. They hold different beliefs to how the realms should be ran and are slowly wiping out each of the monarchies in order to get what they want.”

The Gylandies were the faerie version of rogues. Each fallen as an outcast to their coven, banished from their realm. Usually, a faerie gets banished for practising dark magic and not drawing power from the earth, but instead drawing their power from scenes where mass destruction has occurred. Using the blood and death of other faeries to provide yourself strength was the biggest crime a faerie could commit and most often, what caused fellow coveners to be ex-communicated.

Over the years, the exiled faeries have been gathering and forming their own coven called the ‘Gylandies’. They have their own versions of what they believe the rules governing faeries should be and have been threatening to overthrow all the monarchies until they have the ultimate power.

Another important point is that each realm is only as strong as its leader. Whilst faeries draw their power from the earth, the skill and strength of the Monarch is what fuels the strength of kingdom. With Queen Serena being Queen of two different species, the Midsummer realm was the strongest of the four. Due to Belle being a direct descant from Queen Serena and still royalty in the werewolf world in her own right, this will remain the same when Belle takes the crown.

Avalon is the second strongest realm as both King Eryek and his wife, Queen Lissa, are pure bloods. With Queen Serena and her three children being an exception, there are no stronger faeries than pure bloods. The Queens of the Moonbeam and Willowisp Realms were both half-bloods, and although both King’s were pure-bloods, they weren’t as strong as Midsummer and Avalon and were much easier to take out.

“Willowisp was taken over a few days ago. The Gylandies caught them by surprise and with their abilities being diluted, they were easier to overthrow.” King Eryek explained. “We believe Moonbeam will be next.”

“Then they’ll head to us..” Belle pondered aloud.

“Even if they do, we’re much stronger than them. They would struggle to overthrow us.” Prince Layke shrugged, not quite grasping the concerned look on his father’s face.

“That would have been true if they hadn’t killed so many of the Willowisp faeries, but now they have more dark energy to channel from. If they take over Moonbeam, there’s no guarantee we can still challenge them and win on our own.” King Eryek sighed to his son, a deflated look written across his face.

“So why aren’t Moonbeam here? Should we not regroup with them and strategize?” Belle questioned, confused as to why the next target wasn’t involved in the conversation.

Queen Serena sighed, pressing her lips gently together. “They weren’t interested in working with us. They don’t agree with the whole ‘hybrid’ thing, remember?” she scoffed.

Belle creased her forehead, momentarily too stunned to speak. “They would rather more than likely die.. than work with us?” Her mother shrugged in response. “Well they’re idiots.” Belle muttered.

“Look, here’s the situation.” King Eryek began. “We’re the only pure-blood monarch, and whilst most of Midsummer’s faeries are pure-bloods, Midsummer is still the strongest realm due to Queen Serena’s and Princess Belle’s hybrid nature.”

The King was met with three nods of understanding. “Together, we could end the Gylandies before they try to take over Avalon or Midsummer. Midsummer may, and that’s a big may, have a chance on their own, but we certainly won’t. Not if they overrule Moonbeam.”

“What do you suggest? How can we work together?” Belle asked, prepared to protect her people and join forces.

“You need to get married.” The Queen bluntly blurted out.