The Broken Halo

Chapter 986 - 985: At The King’s Table [Spacecraft Bonus - ]

[This bonus Chapter is thanks to Kollum!!!!!]

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SLAP!

Celeste’s head turned with the blow.

Her hair fell across her face. She stood beside her father’s chair, one hand half-raised before she lowered it again.

Drop

A drop of blood fell from her chin.

King Edmund Montclair stood over her, his hand yet to return to his side. He was a broad man with pale-gold hair greying at the temples and a close-trimmed beard. The same blue eyes Celeste had inherited were fixed upon her without affection.

He was far stronger than she was. He hadn’t softened the blow because she was his daughter.

Four people remained seated around the breakfast table.

Second Prince Julian Montclair, the second son, had stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. His dark-blond hair was combed neatly back, exposing a high forehead much like their father’s. He stared at the hand that had struck his sister with slightly wide eyes.

Across from him, Second Princess Isabel Montclair had caught the stem of her glass with both hands. Her long golden hair lay over the shoulders of a green dress. She was the second daughter, the only sister present.

The youngest, Fourth Prince Felix Montclair, stared with the widest eyes. He had their mother’s brown eyes and a face that hadn’t yet lost its boyish roundness.

Queen Helena Montclair watched Celeste with open disgust.

Her dark hair was pinned above her neck, exposing pearl earrings. She set down her cup with a sharp click, her tongue clicking as she looked at the blood on the floor.

The dining room overlooked the palace gardens. Morning sunlight fell across polished silver, covered dishes, and the white cloth beneath them. A painting of the God of Light occupied the wall behind the king’s seat.

Six members of the royal family had gathered for breakfast. The eldest son, Crown Prince Cedric Montclair, and the eldest daughter, First Princess Evelyn Montclair, were absent. So was Third Prince Oscar Montclair, Celeste’s third brother.

Of the king’s seven children, only Felix was younger than her.

”Repeat what you said.”

Celeste heard her father clearly despite the ringing in her ear.

She kept her mouth shut. Her tongue touched the split inside her cheek, and she swallowed blood.

Edmund leaned closer.

”I told you to repeat yourself!”

Isabel’s glass trembled against its saucer.

Celeste watched a red drop gather at the end of a strand of hair. She could feel the heat spreading across her cheek.

The folded application lay beside her father’s plate.

She had brought it with her that morning, along with the information she had gathered about Haven Academy. She had thought the request would be difficult. She had prepared to argue about the expense.

But she didn’t expect her father to stand and slap her before she could even finish her words.

”You want me to make that village rat a citizen of Aurelia?”

Edmund jabbed a finger toward the application.

”Full citizenship. Not a commoner’s registration. You bring a foreign peasant into my capital, put him in a residence at our expense, and now you expect me to sign this?”

Celeste’s fingers curled against her skirt.

Citizenship would have given Rowan a recognised place in the kingdom and access to support she could not arrange for a passing guest. She had asked for it openly because she wanted his future here settled properly.

Now his application lay beneath a smear from her father’s breakfast knife.

”Look at her,” Helena said. ”She doesn’t even think she owes you an apology.”

Celeste did not turn toward her.

The servants had been dismissed before she made her request. Sir Luke was waiting beyond the family wing, where she had asked him to remain. The dining room’s privacy wards kept voices from carrying into the corridor.

She had wanted to speak to her family without an audience.

”For weeks, I’ve let your behaviour pass,” Edmund continued. ”Every time someone brought me a report, I decided you would eventually remember whose daughter you were.”

Bang

He struck the table with his palm. A spoon slid from the edge of a plate.

”You left Aurelia without my permission. Went straight to the Northern Carpathian Front, in the Eastern States, as though you had no obligations here.”

Felix lowered his eyes to the spoon.

”And you didn’t even go alone. You took the White Cross Guard. Soldiers, mounts, equipment. An entire squad, and I had to hear about it after you’d already left!”

Celeste lifted her head enough to speak.

”The White Cross Guard is my squad.”

Her voice was quiet.

Edmund slapped her again.

SLAP!

Her foot slipped backward. She caught the edge of the table before her knee could give way, and blood spattered beside her shoe.

For several seconds, she could only hold herself upright.

Isabel made a small, breathless sound.

Then she snickered.

She hid her mouth behind her hand, but her eyes shone as she watched Celeste recover. The shock had left Julian’s face too. He put his fork down and settled back in his chair.

Felix glanced at his sister, then at their father. When Edmund made no objection to Isabel’s laughter, the youngest prince’s mouth curved.

Helena scoffed.

”Perhaps now you’ll listen.”

Celeste straightened without looking at any of them. Her hair covered the swelling along her cheek and the blood at the corner of her mouth.

”They are MINE!” Edmund roared.

He pointed at the closed doors.

”Every soldier in this palace. Every guard at the gates. Every warrior who serves this kingdom. They answer to me!”

Celeste said nothing.

”I don’t care who trained them. I don’t care who selected them or paid for their equipment. You could have raised them from children, and they would still belong to me. I am the king!”

A chair creaked as Julian shifted.

Celeste’s hands hung beside her, clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

She could have told her father about Rowan’s talent. About the physique that had left Sir Luke speechless. Perhaps those details would have interested him more than a request to help a boy who had lost his family.

She had left them out of the application for a good reason.

And seeing her father’s reaction, she was certain that she had made the right choice.

Edmund watched her, breathing heavily through his nose.

The silence dragged on until he turned away.

”That gutter-born stray will receive no citizenship,” he said. ”No royal recognition, no affiliation with this kingdom. You will not put our name behind him.”

Celeste’s fingers tightened further.

”And you can forget about Haven Academy.”

Her head lifted a fraction.

Edmund noticed.

”Yes. I read that too. You want access to our collections, suitable manuals, skill books, funds for his education. What else were you planning to ask for?”

He pushed the second document across the table. It stopped beside Isabel’s plate.

The princess glanced down at it and smiled.

”I will not support him at Haven,” Edmund said. ”Or at any other academy.”

Celeste pressed her lips together. Pain shot through the cut, but she refused to give him another sound.

”He is barred from Light Academy as well. If you intended to settle for enrolling him there, don’t bother. I’ll have the headmaster informed.”

Edmund pulled his chair back and sat.

Julian reached for his fork again. Felix followed, though he kept watching Celeste over his plate. Their sister left the academy documents where they were.

The king took his wine and drank.

Celeste remained beside his chair.

He set the cup down.

”Do you know what you and that boy have done?”

She looked at him through the hair hanging across her face.

Only her eyes were clearly visible. They were cold, and the anger in them had become difficult to hide.

Edmund saw it but he didn’t care. He took another mouthful of wine before speaking.

”You and that little wretch have angered the God of Light.”

Celeste didn’t answer.

The king placed his cup beside Rowan’s application.

”And the God of Light wants him dead.”

Celeste raised her head in shock.

”What?”