Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord
Chapter 73: Bending rules (2)

Chapter 73: Bending rules (2)

"Why is everything acceptable for you but I must follow what the family wants? That doesn’t sound fair," said Xavier.

"This isn’t about me," Nathaniel replied, needing Xavier and everyone else to stay focused. "This is about you."

"I am making it about you. You’ve done the opposite of what you want me to do, which isn’t fair. Why should I follow what you want when you bend the rules to your liking? It must have been the princess you were trying to get me to marry. Wasn’t it?" Xavier asked, knowing a bit of what his father did. "First it was Vivienne then it was the princess."

"You could have had the queen at your side but you allowed her to go to Darius. We had to endure hearing him claim he stole her from you. I have never liked to hear you lose against him," said Nathaniel.

Nathaniel knew Xavier was better than Darius so if Xavier had listened then Nathaniel would have made him sit as king.

Xavier laughed at his father thinking he had lost. Again, how many times did he need to say his relationship with Vivienne was nothing by the time she got engaged?

"It certainly was a mistake letting her use my name to protect herself. Years later I have to deal with all of you thinking there was something more between us. If you looked at what happened and thought I lost to Darius then you are also a fool," Xavier said, disappointed his father wasn’t proving him wrong.

"So, for this marriage to end we will have to kill the girl but then you will come after us?" Ragnar asked, stepping in since Nathaniel was getting anywhere. "There are far more of us who oppose the marriage than those who accept it. No power you possess can protect you."

Xavier only smiled in response. Talking was pointless at times.

Camilla stepped out from the quiet corner she had been enjoying. "I think the best decision is to wake father to see what he thinks. Or, if we want to go further we should wake grandfather."

"Don’t be absurd," Nathaniel replied, fully against the idea.

Camilla frowned. Why was it that when it came to her ideas Nathaniel was so quick to dismiss them? "Why? Because you fear they will take Xavier’s side or speak of how you should have led by example? You still haven’t spoken about how you bend the rules to your liking."

Camilla walked to where Xavier sat. Seeing him alone while they were here to question him reminded her of the days her family would question her. She used to feel so alone which didn’t help with her outburst then.

Camilla stopped when she was closer to Xavier so he wasn’t alone. "All the elders aren’t awake therefore we cannot order Xavier to end his marriage. Besides, father was always the kind to tell us not to bow too fast."

"That was for dealing with people who are not from the family. This is different," Nathaniel informed Camilla. "He taught us to respect the family’s wishes. Leave for the men to speak."

"If you wanted only the men to speak then you shouldn’t have sent word to my home and told me to come here. Don’t bring that talk of men speaking to me or I will claw your eyes out. I am not afraid of you," Camilla said to Nathaniel.

Xavier smiled since it was always quick for the trio to turn against each other. One of them was going to stab the others in the back and while the first guess would be Nathaniel, Xavier had his eye on Camilla. Her temper was still there along with her dislike for Nathaniel.

"Stop it before it goes too far. You have him laughing at us," Ragnar stepped in. "It appears nothing we say will end the marriage. I wouldn’t like for the family to be divided because of this so I say we give Selene the chance to prove herself."

"Ragnar," Nathaniel turned to his brother. That was not the plan.

"Josephine was given the chance so it is only fair we give Selene a chance. She wasn’t listed as one of the traitors so we can’t curse her for her parents’ actions but we will still keep an eye on her. What do you say?" Ragnar asked Xavier.

"I don’t care for whatever plan you come up with. I don’t need any of you to give her a chance," Xavier replied. "Selene will always be my wife."

Those who were against Selene from the start would only do their best to make her life miserable, so as Xavier planned, Selene would be kept away from the family.

"But it would give you peace instead of us always coming to see you. I’m sure as someone without a family of her own by her side, Selene would enjoy having the Blackthorns open their arms to her," said Ragnar.

"Open arms?" Camilla laughed. "What relatives have you seen do that? They only welcome the people they look forward to getting something from and then their interest in you goes away."

"Still," Camilla continued. "You should like that we would consider giving her a chance to prove herself. Then she would be getting the same treatment your mother received. I want to meet your wife."

"No," Xavier flat-out denied it. "I already told you to ignore my father’s plans."

"I won’t kill her," Camilla promised.

Xavier stood up from his chair. "You are unpredictable. That side of you has cost you a lot."

"Haven’t you heard that I have gotten better? Those outbursts don’t happen anymore and like I said from the beginning, it wasn’t because I was losing my mind. Someone did something to me-"

"Enough of this!" Nathaniel ended the conversation about Camilla. "You have all gone against what we gathered here for. The princess would still be open to a marriage with you. I’m sure that with enough convincing she might allow you to keep Selene around as a woman to warm your bed."

Xavier laughed but to Camilla, it wasn’t a laugh where others could join to enjoy a good moment. Instead, she saw it as a warning that Nathaniel shouldn’t push it any further.

"Selene will remain my wife. I made a foolish promise not to hurt anyone today but I advise you not to get too comfortable suggesting that she be a mistress. I wish I could say it was good seeing all of you but it wasn’t. Don’t show up at my gates since I ordered the guards to aim for the head," Xavier informed the trio.

It wouldn’t kill them but it would make Xavier feel better.

Xavier left before his father could repeat what he wanted.

"Well, that went wonderful," Camilla was the first to speak. "Oh, don’t look at me like that, Ragnar. We both knew it was going to be this way. Since when have you ever been able to get him to just do as we say? Don’t approach his wife, for now, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel kept his eyes on Xavier as he walked away. "I didn’t agree to that plan."

"Well, your way of doing things wasn’t working. We said we would give her a chance. It isn’t certain we would accept her in the end. You need to have patience brother. Good things come to those who wait. What we need to avoid is Xavier being done with us for good," said Ragnar.

Camilla agreed with Ragnar. "That might wake father right out of his slumber without anyone needing to disturb him. I do wonder since you have failed, would you be so foolish to wake father?"

"Don’t be silly. That isn’t smart," Ragnar replied on behalf of Nathaniel.

Waking their father would get all three of them in trouble.

"It is not the time he asked to be awakened. We will wait for our chance," Nathaniel said, changing his approach. At some point in time, Xavier would be away from Selene.