The Bride He Hates-Chapter 85: Choosing Her

Lyanna woke to cold sheets beside her again.

She lay there for a moment, trying to remember the last time Azrael had woken up next to her.

Three days ago? Four?

For the past three days, she had been waking alone, finding notes, and waiting for explanations that came hours later.

She sat up and, as usual, found a note on his pillow.

"Sienna’s Crimson Cross contact sent urgent intelligence during the night. Meeting with her now to assess the threat level. Will brief you at breakfast. Should be back within the hour."

Lyanna crumpled the note in her fist. This was the third note, about the same thing: urgent intelligence, meeting with Sienna and promises to brief her after.

"Your Majesty?" Clara’s knock interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in."

Clara entered and immediately understood from Lyanna’s expression that she was in a bad mood.

Lyanna tossed the note aside and stood up, moving to wash her face.

"How long has he been gone?" Lyanna asked.

"I saw him leave with Lady Sienna about four hours ago, Your Majesty. They went to the small war room."

Four hours, and he had promised one.

"Did he say anything about breakfast?"

"No, Your Majesty. But I have asked the chefs to prepare your favourite dishes. Should I bring it here or to the dining room?"

"The dining room. I’ll wait for him there as planned."

On her way to the dining room, she passed the small war room. The door was closed, but she could hear voices inside; Azrael and Sienna were talking and laughing.

Lyanna paused outside the door and raised her hand to knock. Then she dropped it and continued walking towards the dining hall.

The servants had set the table beautifully with fresh flowers from the garden, her favourite wine, and pastries she still enjoyed, even though she no longer needed human food. Everything was perfect except for the empty chair opposite her.

Lyanna waited as time passed. After thirty minutes, she stood up and walked towards the war room in anger.

She knocked once and opened the door without waiting for their response. Azrael and Sienna were bent over a large map on the table. They both looked up as the door opened.

"Lyanna." Azrael said, straightening immediately. "I’m sorry. I lost track of time. The intelligence was more complex than I expected, and we’ve..."

"It’s been four hours." Lyanna cut him off. "You said you’d be back in one for breakfast.

"You’re right. I apologize. We just got so involved that I didn’t notice..."

"You didn’t notice?" Lyanna smiled. "This is the third morning in a row, Azrael."

Sienna cleared her throat.

"Perhaps I should give you two some privacy..."

"No." Azrael said, still focused on the map. "We need to finish this analysis." He looked back at Lyanna. "Can we discuss this later? This is actually urgent."

"Funny how urgent matters keep coinciding with our scheduled time together."

"Her intelligence has been accurate so far, and if it says there’s a troop movement towards our borders, we need to check it immediately."

"I’m not saying not to check it." Lyanna said, walking towards the map. "I’m saying include me. You promised me after the last incident that we’d handle these briefings together."

"Your Majesty, I understand you. But my sources risk their lives to get me information. If word spreads that I’m sharing their intelligence openly, they’ll stop communicating with me."

"I’m the queen. I’m supposed to be part of security briefings."

"Of course you are." Sienna agreed. "For verified intelligence. But what I bring to His Majesty initially are unverified reports. Once we’ve verified the intelligence and assessed the threat level, we reveal it to everyone."

"How long does verification usually take?" She asked.

"It depends." Azrael said. "Sometimes a few hours and sometimes days. Also, the intelligence is time sensitive. If we wait to brief you, we lose time we might need to respond."

"Then wake me up when you wake up." Lyanna replied. "We can go to the briefings together."

Sienna spoke before Azrael could respond.

"Your Majesty, I mean no disrespect, but my contacts are extremely paranoid. They barely trust me. Introducing new people into the intelligence chain, even the queen, could spook them."

"So you’re saying that your sources will only talk to you, and you’ll only talk to Azrael?"

"Your Majesty, I hope you understand that during wartime, some protocols must be followed even if they’re inconvenient for personal relationships."

"Lyanna, you’re right that I should have woken you this morning. I was just trying to let you sleep. You’ve been tired lately and I thought I’d brief you at breakfast as I promised. I didn’t mean for it to turn into four hours." Azrael said, sensing the tension between the two women.

"I think you need to discuss these things privately. I’ll take my leave." Sienna said and left.

"I’m not trying to interfere with your security work." Lyanna said once they were alone. "I’m just trying to be part of your life again. We’ve barely spoken in three days. We haven’t had a meal together without interruption in a week. I feel so hurt and upset."

Azrael walked towards her, reaching for her hands.

"I’m sorry. I never meant for you to feel that way."

"But I do feel that way." Lyanna replied. "You say I’m your priority, but your actions say the Crimson Cross is your priority or maybe Sienna is."

"Sienna is just a source of intelligence. Nothing more." Azrael said. "Let me fix this. We’ll go have breakfast together. It’s probably cold by now, but we’ll have the chefs prepare something fresh. We’ll spend the day together, no Sienna, no Crimson Cross, just us."

The offer was tempting. But Lyanna knew promises made in the heat of an argument were rarely fulfilled.

"And when Sienna knocks on our door three hours from now with urgent intelligence that requires your immediate attention?" She asked. "What then? Will you tell her it can wait? Will you prioritize our time together? Or will you apologize to me and go with her?"

Azrael’s expression hardened.

"If I dismiss something as not urgent and it turns out to be important, people will die. I can’t afford to gamble with our people’s safety just because my wife is jealous of the time I spend with an intelligence source."

"You think this is about jealousy. You think of me as an insecure wife who can’t tolerate her husband working with another woman?"

"Aren’t you?"

Lyanna felt as if he had slapped her.

"You really believe that? You think this is all about jealousy?"

"I think you’re mixing two separate issues. Yes, I’ve spent more time with Sienna but it’s because of genuine security concerns, not because of anything romantic or because I’m choosing her over you."

"Then prove it. Tell Sienna that from today forward, all intelligence briefings happen with both of us present. Her contacts will have to accept that the king and queen come as a package, or they can find someone else to share their intelligence with."

Azrael hesitated.

"You can’t do it?"

"It’s not that I can’t. But if her sources stop talking because we expanded the intelligence circle..."

"Then let them stop." Lyanna cut him off. "We have Victor’s network or we find other sources."

Suddenly the door opened. Both of them turned to see Sienna standing there.

"I’m so sorry to interrupt." She said, holding up a sealed letter. "But this just arrived from my contact. It’s marked urgent. We need to review this immediately."

Lyanna and Azrael stared at each other. This was the moment.

"Lyanna. I need to..."

"Go. I understand it is more important than us."

"It’s not about importance. It’s about..."

"Just go, Azrael." She turned away. "I’ll be in the gardens if you remember I exist later today."

She walked out, refusing to let either of them see how much it hurt.

"I’m truly sorry about the timing, Your Majesty. Should we postpone?" Seinna said.

"No." Azrael replied. "Show me what you have. Let’s make this quick."