Chapter 242


    #Chapter 32 a wavering vige


    William POV


    Alec had a habit of always sleeping during these meetings. His crib was set up close to William''s chair


    and no one was allowed to disturb him unless they wanted to be kicked from the room.


    William was impressed that he never woke even when the meetings got a little tense and loud, if only


    he could sleep that deep when his mind wouldn''t rest.


    "Where are they?" William asked his guards.


    They looked at each other and offered a small shrug before they turned back to their king. "We haven''t


    seen them, your majesty. This morning they went to the viges but they haven''t returned."


    William curled his hands into fists under the table. It wasn''t the first time the rulers had showed upte


    or tried to show some sort of sign that they were the ones in control. He knew they did this on purpose


    despite the way they always tried to act like it was an ident.


    N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    It was enough to make him want to throw them and their smug faces back to their kingdom, but what


    intrigued him more was their business in his vige. They were rulers of another kingdom, it wasn''t


    common to want to check out another vige unless they had a reason to.


    "Prepare my horse, I''d like to see what kept them in my vige." William said as he stood. He gathered


    Alec in his arms and went to take him to Doris before he left. If only he could remain unseen to the


    vigers, he didn''t want to cause a scene.


    When he entered their room, Doris was asleep on the bed. Williamid a sleeping Alec on the bed


    beside her and kissed both of their heads before he left. It was good she was getting sleep, after


    everything she had been through.


    A small ache formed in his chest with how much he missed her. He missed hearing about her day and


    all of her worries. He grabbed his most drab coat and nced back once more before he left. The


    guards had set up his horse along with four others to follow him. William pulled himself up on his ck


    steed and held up his hand. "Not too close to me. Fall back. I want to try and remain undetected if we


    can."


    They did as he asked without ament. They knew better than to question him and his requests.


    William guided his horse down the path towards the vige at a steady pace. Thest thing he wanted


    was to scare off his vigers or make them think that there was trouble if he came galloping down the


    road.


    When he first entered the vige, not one head turned towards him. The streets were crowded and


    filled with conversation. Dozens of people wandered in and out of stores and didn''t seem to have time


    to observe their surroundings. William stopped his horse and slid off before anyone paid attention to


    what he was doing.


    His guards came up beside him. "Sir, are you sure it''s a good idea to walk among the crowd?" William


    pulled his hood up the shield his face. " Yes. Don''t hover near me, blend with the crowd and find any


    answers you can. Don''t make it obvious."


    William didn''t wait for their response, he stepped into the crowd and they blended him in like he was


    one of them. His clothes were fancier, but they were hidden beneath his drab cloak he usually only


    used for riding.


    His wolf instincts caught the scent of the rulers instantly. They were like a rotted orange he could sniff


    out anywhere since he had spent weeks in meetings and lunches with them. They wouldn''t be able to


    hide from him if they tried.


    His only concern was that they might have sniffed him out too. He could only hope that they wouldn''t


    take the second to see if he was near them.


    Their scent led him to the middle of town. The gloomy sky promised rain and made his shadow follow


    him across the streets. His guards tried to hide their attire with their own cloaks and walked the streets


    as if they were one of them— William was only d that the town was busy otherwise he knew that


    they would have been caught with how hard they tried.


    Their scent stopped at a bar. William walked by the window and saw them in causal clothesughing


    with members of the vige as if they were part of the crowd. He didn''t know why that bothered him so


    much, he pulled open the door and slipped inside the busy space.


    Drunken people stumbled around the bar and bumped into him, he didn''t take his eyes off them for


    amoment. The music was too loud to hear what they were saying until he got close enough to touch.


    "isn''t that something?" Sailughed and pped one of the vigers on the back. "I wouldn''t make that


    foolish—"


    William pped Sail on the shoulder and he saw the light drain from his eyes when Sail looked up and


    saw him. "Join me outside?" William said calmly.


    It was crowded enough that no one paid them attention as they left the room. In the alley beside the


    bar, the two rulers looked stoned face as they followed him.


    "Is there a reason you found this more important than keeping your meetings?" William asked.


    "We were just enjoying your lovely vige, your majesty. I didn''t think you woulde down here to


    find us. We heard that you never visit your viges."


    "You heard wrong." William nced out into the street to see his guards lingering nearby. "I find it


    interesting that you have so much interest in my kingdom. It makes me wonder how much you miss


    your own." The rulers were quiet for a moment. "We were curious to see how your vigespared to


    our own. I assure you that we only came here because we miss our own kingdom."


    "They say a ruler should never stray from their kingdom for too long." William started to back away from


    them. His hood hid most of his gaze. They didn''t need to see it to know he was angry. "If you find


    yourself distracted from a meeting that you called again, I will have my men bring you back to your


    kingdom since you miss it so."


    He turned away and his guards fell into step behind him. Once they were far enough away, he nced


    back at the closest one. "What did you find?"


    "They''ve beening to the vige every day and meeting with store owners and other vigers.


    Apparently a lot of the people here already know them by name." William nced back to where he left


    the rulers, but they were already gone. "Do the vigers know who they are?"


    "Yes, they''re aware. They like that theye to them dressed as one of them and talk to them like


    they''re equals." William pulled himself up on his horse. Perhaps he had let them stay for too long.