William's POV
The room stood when William entered. Any sense of conversation was forgotten and gone as if it was never there. They watched his every breath as if it would be the answer to every question they had.
The rulers of Eldon stood and gave their respectful bows. Their son, Daemon, watched William with a light in his eyes as if he knew something that William didn't. If he wasn't their son, he would have thrown him out the moment he met him.
"This won't take long, your majesty. We know you have a lot on your plate." The queen said as they all sat. William had three more meetings today after this and then he had to meet villagers that had quarrels in their neighborhoods. If he was lucky, he would get to spend time with his lady and baby before they were asleep.
"Going off of what we discussed yesterday, we gave it a bit more thought and decided that a shared trade route is necessary for our kingdoms." The king said. He slid William a piece of golden paper.
William took his time as he read through every bit. That always made them nervous.
"No." William slid back the paper. "That indicates that you will raise our prices to keep yours the same. My villages aren't going to suffer because you want easy access."
"It could bring more goods into your villages-"
"My villages can get the goods you mentioned just fine." William said in his tone of voice he had mastered since becoming a king. It left little room to argue with him.
The rulers shared a glance and the queen cleared her throat and threw on a new smile. "We will have to talk on that some more-"
"What else?" William asked as he clasped his hands on the table.
"Your villages aren't paying high enough dues to the borders." The queen said. Her smile became tight. "We saw last night that they owe more than a few years worth."
William stared at her for a long moment. She shifted in her seat under his gaze.
"Do you think I don't know about the dues in my kingdom? The villages have stopped owing that for over half a decade. The former king had those removed when they became too much and the palace has paid it instead."
The queen swallowed. "We must have missed that, your highness. We're trying to make sure that there are no bumps in the road to our unity."
William tilted his head a little. "I'm sure a little debt wouldn't get in the way of our kingdoms becoming allies?"
"Oh, no. Of course not!" The rulers laughed. Their son only watched William with an indifferent expression. When they locked eyes, he smiled.
"Is there anything else?" William asked,
"Can we join you for dinner later?" The king asked. "We know you're busy-"
"I'll be having dinner with my lady." William stood and the rest of the room stood with him.
"Perhaps another time, then."
Once William left the rulers, that edge of nerve still stuck inside him. He could feel their eyes on him even after he was gone from the room. His eyes looked over each guard he passed and tried to see if any of them would weaken under his stare. Could he trust any of them when there were snakes staying at his palace?
He went into a private room and sat across one of his most trusted members of the royal court. He has known him since he was a child and the man always stayed in the background of things to observe the world.
Mason had lines of age on his face. William tried not to think of his father when he looked at him.
"Did you find anything?" William asked once the room was cleared. Mason dipped his chin just slightly.
"In their room, they have a letter that was meant to go out today. I caught it before a mailer could pick it up."
"Did you get a chance to read it?" William whispered.
"I did. They've sent word back to their kingdom's court that they believe they have information on you that no one else knows. They want to alert your kingdom that you killed your brothers in the war for the crown and they hope that it will start the divide."
William curled his hands into fists. His court had covered up what happened to his brothers well enough. Many knew what happened to Martin, but not many knew about all the events that led up to it. They didn't know how his brother felt about Doris.
They knew that Luna Queen and Jack were killed, but who had done it was never revealed. William didn't regret either, but he knew how that would look to his kingdom.
The scandal was big and might put a dent in his reputation, but he could handle that. He's lost their trust and gained it back before. If those rulers thought he would fall to his knee for them, they were horribly mistaken. He'd rather cut off both legs before he did that.
"Why are you keeping them here, William?" Mason asked. He leaned back in his chair and studied William closely.
"They don't realize that I have sent my own men to spy in their kingdom. They stole the uniforms of their guards and I sent them to take their place. I need the rulers here until they get back."
"What do you hope to find in their kingdom?"
"Proof of their lies. They've been conning their people for a decade. I read the reports of their villages being shut down and money spilling out. They're letting their own people die in the streets and they want to do that to my kingdom too. They want to make my people distrust me and turn their backs. If they can gain their trust, money will follow."
"I thought the kingdom of Eldon was well off?" Mason said. "Why would they do this to their people?"
"I've been told that their kingdom has made bad deals with bad traders and alpha wolves to protect their palace. Those wolves will gut them if they come back empty handed." William sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. He felt as if he was going mad with how hard he had been working to figure them out without them realizing what he was doing.
"They spent more than what they had to have the best and now they are trying to gain it all back and by doing that, they think they can take my crown from me and make this land their own. If they did that, they would have more money than they would know what to do with."
"Well, they certainly picked at the wrong kingdom. Didn't they?" Mason smirked.
William stood and straightened his crown. "They'll regret underestimating me."