Chapter 122
One week passed in a giffy, and finally it was the day of the public execution of the traitor who betrayed his kingdom and harmed his king. People flocked to the gallows to witness the fate of the family of an elder who had also served as the royal beta of the former king.
It had been tens of years since someone committed a crime as abysmal as treason, but it wasn’t what left the civilians of the capital city surprised but the high rank of the culprit that committed this crime.
People who were supposed to protect them turned their backs and tried to harm them in the name of power struggle and this made all of them spat at the culprit as the guards dragged him to the execution pole.
“But why is he alone? Where is his family?” Someone from the crowd couldn’t help but notice this, which soon turned into full blown but whispered conversations among the spectators.
Yes, Leon was all alone, and almost half of the man he used to be, probably because of the special treatment he received during his stay in the dungeon, while his family was nowhere to be seen.
The guards focused on their job, though and just like that they watched the traitor being whipped by a spiked cane until every drop of his blood was drained from his body, before he was beheaded.
They didn’t delay or hesitate to deliver the punishment, even though the man they were torturing in front of the crowd had been still someone revered highly by them all until a few days ago, and this made the people there feel both admiration and fear for the king.
Admiration because King Micah didn’t succumb to any invisible pressure and punished the wrong justly, but terror because the punishment for the traitors was so unmerciful it really served as an example for people out there as a reminder why they shouldn’t try to mess with the king.
Word spread in the capital city that Leon’s family rank had been reduced and they were no more than omegas that served in the royal kitchen of the palace.
After a little reconsideration, Micah finally agreed to spare the lives of the mother and daughter, but now they fell to the lowest rank among the shifters, in fact, they were even lower than omegas, because they weren’t allowed to go anywhere near the palace gates, let alone serve as servants in the palace.
“It would be impossible for them to enter the palace as they pleased now,” Alyssa reiterated to Abby as she helped her take a bath this morning.
Abby decided against going and watching the public execution so it was only Alyssa who went there, as Reyna stayed behind to keep her master company.
And now she was listening to her as she washed her hair, while Reyna went away to oversee her brunch preparations.
Because of the execution, Abby couldn’t sleep peacefully, as the thoughts of what Micah would decide for Ruby and her mother’s fates kept plaguing her mind. Micah didn’t give her any indication that he was going to revoke their punishment, and it made her restless a little.
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Even though she told Ezgar that she couldn’t be of any help in saving Ruby, she still couldn’t help but feel bad for the man. After all, he would have to watch his entire family breathing their last without being able to stop it and Abby felt it was a little unfair.
Such a good person he was, always smiling brightly and cheering everyone up but he had to go through something so devastating like this.
Abby wondered how many years it would take for him to come out of it, because she still couldn’t help but long for her father, even though she wasn’t brave enough to admit it to anyone. No matter what, it was her father…
From their few interactions, Abby could tell that Ezgar seemed to love his family very much, so when she finally heard that Ruby and their mother were spared, she felt happy for him.
However, she didn’t expect there was more to the revokement of their punishment until her other maid returned from the royal kitchen.
“My Queen!” Reyna rushed into the room as she shouted for her master.
Alyssa was brushing Abby’s hair, after she towel dried it for her as their queen sat in front of the mirror in the bedroom.
“Easy, Reyna! Why are you in a rush?” Alyssa chided her fellow maid, because she was being too casual for a maid serving the queen.
“It’s a big matter, they say Chief Ezgar was stripped off of his rank as well,” Reyna revealed, but there was no reaction from either Abby or Alyssa.
“Yeah, they were now omegas, and I already told Queen Abby about it,” Alyssa brushed her off.
“No, he has now been reduced to serving as a palace guard,” Reyna hurriedly explained, because she couldn’t understand why Ezgar was implicated all of a sudden.
He wasn’t even reprimanded when they first discovered who the traitor was, but all of a sudden he was ordered to step down from his position as one of the chiefs of the elite guards and it was definitely going to cause quite a stir.
On the other hand, Abby was dumbfounded to learn this turn of events, how come he got implicated all of a sudden?
It weighed on her mind all day, and she couldn’t help but ask Micah, what led him to make such a decision the moment they finished dinner later that night.
“Wasn’t it proved that he didn’t have any part in his father’s plans? So why was he punished anyway?” Abby was genuinely confused, because she believed Ezgar wouldn’t have done anything to deserve such a harsh penalty.
On the other hand, Micah didn’t answer her immediately but stared at her with this unreadable look in his eyes.
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“What? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Abby asked her mate, as she sat straight in her chair, which was across from his, at the table, where they just had their dinner.
“Were you distracted while eating because of this?” Micah asked her a moment later. His tone was too steady, Abby didn’t sense anything wrong with it.
“I was?” Abby asked, because she didn’t know she was being obvious about her concern for a man she saw as an older brother she never had. But then she really couldn’t hide anything from her ever observant mate, even if she tried.
“Yes, little one. As for your question, did he really not do anything wrong?” Micah asked her back, confusing her even more.
“What did he do?” She asked, not being aware of the small frown on her forehead, which didn’t go unnoticed by the king.
“He crossed a line and tried to manipulate you, by guilt tripping you, his queen.” Micah listed out one by one and Abby didn’t know whether she should agree with him or defend Ezgar.
Ezgar had been nothing but pitiful when he came to ask for her help, and she also felt there was truth to his argument, but then she did feel uncomfortable when he phrased his words in a certain way, but since he was worried about his family, she brushed it off as herself overthinking things.
But now hearing Micah explain it from his point of view, she felt like he was right.
Moreover, the man knew the decision lay in Micah’s hands, so what was the meaning when he came to beg Abby, Micah’s mate, to persuade to change his decision?
“He forgot his boundaries and had the audacity to demand something from his queen,” Micah said, his tone was still neither servile nor overbearing. “So I punished him to make him realize his place.”
“But isn’t it a little harsh?” Abby asked in a small voice.
“Harsh you say.” Micah brought his hands onto the table where he intertwined his fingers. “Let me put it this way, little one. No matter who it is, you don’t deserve any disrespect and what he did was trying to walk all over you…
“Even if he had several valid reasons to plead mercy for his family, he should have come to me, but he made an effort to find you alone, and exploit your kindness, because he knows you are softhearted…”
Micah’s tone took a hard edge, going up from his even tone as he explained why Ezgar deserved the punishment.
“If you let people walk all over you once, they will do it a second time, then a third time, until they forget who needs whose grace. So never accept any kind of disrespect from anyone, or forget to put them in their place the first time they crossed a line they shouldn’t.”
On the other hand, the more Abby listened, the more inclined she felt toward the possibility of Ezgar actually exploiting and manipulating her, but then there was this nagging feeling that he did
whatever he could to save his family.
It was quite conflicting, but her soft heart finally leaned toward how scared he must be at the thought of losing his entire family for one person’s mistake, and felt bad that he had to go through this punishment for fighting for his family.
Meanwhile, there was another reason for the king to punish Ezgar so harshly, which he didn’t want to dwell on so much, because the very thought of someone getting too close to his mate until they could manipulate her to take their side didn’t sit well with him at all.
Ezgar should be glad that he didn’t claw his face and whip him a hundred times, so that he would think twice before ever trying to approach his mate!