Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 143 The Rogue King

**Rosalie’s POV

Soren was healing steadily, but the pack wasn’t too happy about his stay

“Your Majesty!” Cerina knocked at my open office door.

“Cerina,” I looked up from the piles of documentation and studying materials and greeted her.

“Where’s the prince?” The prince was my baby boy.

“He’s with Seraphine. Do you need me for something?”

Cerina breathed in deeply through her nostrils, held it for a moment, and then let it go. “Yes, Your

Majesty.”

I stood up from my desk and gestured for her to take the seat at the sofa with me.

“Is this about Soren?”

She nodded. It was obvious she wasn’t pleased with his presence, and I could hardly blame her.

I started, “I know that it’s difficult for anyone to understand why I haven’t simply locked him up or had him

executed. But our relationship is a complex one. He helped me when I was in

need of assistance, and I would like to do the same for him.”

“My understanding is that he helped you when you were in need of assistance because he had ordered

some men to beat you, isn’t that so, Your Majesty?” Cerina might be respectful, but she also didn’t have

any problem speaking her mind.

“Yes, to an extent,” I said. “There’s more to it than that. Anyway, he did take me in. He gave me a job and

cared for me while I needed it most.”

“He held you hostage so that he could use you and the prince as bartering chips. That’s how I see it,”

Cerina replied, folding her arms. “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I believe you may be more trusting than

is good for you.”

“I’m sure you’re probably right about that,” I admitted. “I do tend to forgive easily and think the best of

people.”

“And in many ways, we admire you for that. But in this case… he is a dangerous man. He needs to be

dealt with accordingly. He should be seen as a prisoner of war, not a friend visiting from out of town for

an unforeseen amount of time or a political refugee.”

I considered her words and realized she was right: “Very well,” I said. “Toward that end, I’d like to give

him someplace to stay. It should be somewhere that he will be comfortable but also where we can make

sure he is watched at all times.”

“We’ll take manpower away from the cause for that,” she

reminded me.

“And if we can win him over as an ally, he may be very valuable. Not to mention, he is a bargaining chip

now,”|| stated.

“He’s had a falling out with his uncle. It’s not as if we can ransom him back,” Cerina said with a shrug.

“No, but Soren knows about both the West and East kingdoms much better than us. I do believe that his

resources and intel could help us. After All, we need to know what King James and King Kal are up to.”

Cerina didn’t seem to be too convinced, so I added, “It’s better to have a friend than a potential enemy.

Worst case, even if he is a foe, wouldn’t it be better to keep him under our watch than letting him run

free?”

That seemed to be more acceptable to her. She sighed and finally gave in.

“There’s a small cottage on the edge of the palace grounds near the highest part of the wall. There’s no

gate there, so it would be difficult for him to escape, and it’s frequently patrolled.”

“That sounds perfect, Cerina. Thank you.”

A few hours later, I personally walked Soren to the cottage Cerina arranged for him. I’d already been

there to inspect it. “It’

s not as nice as the one you put me in, but I think it will work,” || told him.

“I really appreciate your hospitality, Rosalie… I mean… Your Majesty. Sorry. Old habits die hard.” He

laughed and looked a bit sheepish.

It was strange, hearing him talk to me that way. “You can still call me Ro or Rosalie when there’s no one

else around.” I did have my guard with me, as I always did, but they were in the distance, and they

weren’t listening that closely to our discussion.

Pushing open the front door, I said, “Here we are,” and gestured for Soren to walk in. “It’s just a small

living room, kitchen, one bedroom, and a bathroom, but-”

“It’s wonderful,” Soren said, looking around. “It’s perfect.”

My eyes traced over the old, dingy furniture. The walls were a light yellow and in need of a fresh coat of

paint. The kitchen cupboards were old, and one was falling off of the hinges. I knew the other two rooms

were not much better.

This was a man who owned an island and lived in a mansion…

“I’ve had some clothes hung in the closet for you. The toiletries are in the bathroom, and there’s food in

the kitchen.”

“Wow, I’ve always wanted to learn cooking! Maybe one day, you’d be willing to come over and let me

cook you a meal?” he

asked pleasantly, and didn’t seem to be bothered by the outdated internal decoration at all.

I almost said yes, but reminded myself that I shouldn’t do that. Seraphine and Cerina had already made

their compromise, and I did think it was a good idea to keep my distance with Soren.

I shook my head, and turned his offer down. “I’m afraid I’ll be quite busy for a while. Sorry.”

“Please do say so, Queen Rosalie,” Soren said. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close.

For a moment, it was like I was hugging my old friend. “Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much I

appreciate your hospitality. Even if you can never forgive me,”

“Soren,” I pushed away so that I could look him in the eye. “Please give me some time. However,

regardless of what I think, you should understand that my people will be much slower to accept you. That

means, in the meantime, you must stay here and be my hostage. I can’t treat you the same way you

treated me.”

He nodded. “I understand. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I wanted to say more, but before I could get anything out, one of the guards knocked

on the open door. I turned my head to give him my attention.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty,” he said, “but we just received a

message that you’re needed in the war room.”

That was never a good summons to receive. “Thank you,” | told him and then turned back to Soren.

He chuckled. “Our roles really have changed. Gosh, I hope I’m not going to have a baby.” He put his

hand over his abdomen the way I used to do.

I bit back a laugh at his silliness. “Please behave and don’t do anything silly,” I warned him.

“Got it,” he promised me.

“Good. I’ll see you later.” I smiled at him and then left.

The guards escorted me to the war room where one of the commanders who had been at the front was

standing. Fresh from the battlefield, he was dirty, with sweat and blood caked to his face. He didn’t

appear to be injured himself, but he had surely inflicted some wounds.

“Commander Landon,” I said with a nod. “What is it that you have to report?”

He bowed to me and said, “Your Majesty, we‘ve been receiving word recently from our scouts and many

villagers that there have been sightings of a new threat.”

“A new threat?” I asked. I tried not to sigh. We were still managing the old ones.

“That’s right,” Landon told me. He was a middle-aged man with dark hair, graying at the temples, and

when he spoke, it was with great authority. “They are calling him the Rogue King, and though it’s unclear

as to his intentions, we’ve heard his forces are infiltrating our territories.”

SER

I stared at his face for a moment, trying to make sure I was clear on what he was telling me. It didn’t

seem like a lot of information at the moment. “A Rogue King?” I repeated. “Do we know where he’s come

from?”

“No, Your Majesty, only that he seems to be coming from the south, moving northward.”

“And… how many rogues does he have with him exactly?” |

asked.

Landon shook his head. “That is also uncertain, Your Majesty, but we‘ve heard reports as small as two

dozen to as many as two hundred.”

“That seems like a relatively small force,” one of the other leaders, Katherine, said, tapping her nails on

the table in front of her.

“It’s not a large force compared to the others we have encountered, but he is said to be a fierce warrior

himself, possibly stronger than twenty wolves combined.” Landon’s expression told me he believed this

could be true, though it sounded far fetched.

“What do you suppose we should do?” | asked Landon.

“I believe it would be smart for us to move our forces here,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map that

was a bit south of the castle. “If we can meet him there, we can potentially prevent him from invading our

territory at all.”

“What about the other rogues?” Katherine asked. “We can’t just forget about them.”

“No, we won’t leave them unattended,” Landon agreed. “We can use a smaller force against the Rogue

King and still keep our other forces in reserve against the other threats.”

I considered Landon’s plan. We needed to be careful not to stretch ourselves too thin.

“Very well,” I told him. “Let’s move forward with your plan. We‘ Il need to do our best to keep our forces

as centrally located as possible so that they can go where they are most needed. But we can’t allow this

Rogue King to simply walk into our territory without confronting him. Whoever he is and whatever he

wants, if he is coming into our territory, he will need to show that he is not a threat.”

h emia

“And if he is a threat?” Landon asked, raising an eyebrow.

My answer was simple. “Then we eliminate him.”

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