The Dragon Queen and her mates.
Chapter 286: Staking a claim

Chapter 286: Staking a claim

Bree turned to look at the woman who stood behind her and sighed heavily. She knew that her night was ruined; even without the stars telling her, Bree just knew that her good mood was not going to last any longer.

"Lady Evelyn," Bree greeted the woman back for there was nothing wrong with the etiquette of the woman.

Lady Evelyn came to stand in front of Bree. With her hands held in front of her, Lady Evelyn parted her painted red lips and said, "I will get straight to the point and not waste any more of your time, your majesty." She batted her baby blue eyes at Bree as if she was a man that needed to be charmed.

Of course, Bree didn’t notice the hint of contempt in Lady Evelyn’s eyes when the woman swept her eyes up and down at her attire.

Bree looked down at her periwinkle blue dress and frowned. She didn’t think that there was anything wrong with what she was wearing; after all, she was not the star of the party. She was here to attend a banquet that had nothing to do with her. Why would she dress as if she wanted to outshine even the host of the banquet?

This was something that Bree would never understand.

"That would be nice." Bree brought the glass to her lips and sipped on the wine.

Lady Evelyn clenched the fan in her hands and raised her head to fully face her. Bree had to admit that the woman was gutsy because not just anyone raised their heads and looked at her in the eyes like that. She heard Lady Evelyn say, "Your majesty, did you receive the memorandum that my brother sent you the other day?"

"Which one?" Bree asked as she swirled the wine in the glass. "The one where he whined that his fief didn’t have enough grains and needed the help of the imperial family or the one where he claimed that there was an epidemic in the outskirts that turned out to be just a small matter of flu? Or the one where he claimed that you and the Sceptre family had a kind of engagement between the two of you and now that the illegitimate son has run away, you want the older one to fulfil the contract?"

She shrugged and remarked, "Something just keeps happening every day with your brothers; I apologise for I cannot keep up with them."

Her words were a silent slap on the face of the woman in front of her. Bree’s refusal to accept the contract and bringing up the two failed lies were clear. she didn’t believe the claims that Lady Evelyn had placed forth on Yakov and had no intention to investigate it as a truthful allegation.

That brought a rush of anger into the heart of the woman and the curl of her lips went down by a notch. Lady Evelyn’s finger tightened even further and she stated in a cold voice, "Your majesty, let me be very clear. I know that my actions are rude and rather rash but you have to accept that it was the Sceptre family that let me down."

"They engaged me to Lord Yakov and promised me a dreamy wedding. In the end, they retreated under the pretext that Lord Yakov found his mate and that is you. I, as the young lady of my house, accepted their apology and understood their predicament but their younger son, who was supposed to be married to me, has run away."

"When I was betrothed to Lord Yakov, I was just sixteen. And now I am twenty-four; no young man in the empire wants to marry me. Isn’t it because of Lord Yakov’s irresponsibility and carelessness? I just want him to take responsibility for his actions; is it wrong for me to want that?"

"If he didn’t pull back from the engagement, then nothing like this would have happened; I wouldn’t be treated with humiliation like I am now and I would have been a happily married woman, your majesty."

"But you also accepted getting engaged to his younger brother, didn’t you?" Bree asked Lady Evelyn. She dramatically batted her lashes and questioned, "You agreed to break the engagement and in return I handed your brothers fief. Whats this? Now you regret it? Then are you prepared to hand back the fiefs that were given to your family?"

Lady Evelyn’s cheekbones tightened when she heard Bree’s words. "Your majesty, I believe this is —"

"Too much?" Bree smiled and finished the sentence for her; she drowned the wine in her glass and said to Lady Evelyn, "But I believe its not. Lady Evelyn, do not forget that the position you are in at the moment is due to the sacrifice of your father and the compensation that I gave you. When I found out that Lord Yakov was your mate, I did give you an option and you made your choice."

"You knew the risks so what’s the point of causing unnecessary trouble now? I and the Sceptre family listened to your conditions and accepted them. Even though you have been causing trouble for us, we didn’t release a fragment of the past to make sure that your reputation will not suffer."

"What else do you want? Don’t tell me that you want to keep the compensation and also the man? This is not how things are done."

Lady Evelyn’s face flushed red and she insisted, "Just because you are the empress, you do not have the right to judge me, alright? I was scared of you back then. I did some silly things but I regret it and I want my fiance back; he was supposed to be mine, your majesty. You snatched him from me."

Bree felt Saphira stir inside of her and let out a growl. She was not aware of the deal with this woman but she was furious at the fact that she was claiming Yakov as hers.