Mated To The Barbarian King Who Is My Ex-husband's Father.

The king sent for Aunt Freya and she arrived immediately. Yet despite the tension, she held her ground firmly, refusing to back down from her claim that Maria knew exactly where the missing necklace was hidden.

​Arianna’s heart broke as she watched Maria being dragged into the center of the pavilion for public questioning. No matter how damning the evidence placed against her seemed, Arianna knew in her core that Maria was innocent. The girl would never steal from anyone.

​"The maid is refusing to speak, Kane! Why waste precious time when we should be forcing a confession out of her?" Aunt Freya demanded furiously, casting a disdainful glare at the girl. If it were up to her, she would have ordered the guards to beat the confession out of the maidservant long ago.

​"Mother is right, Cousin," Samantha chimed in, spitting in Maria’s direction. "This maid should be bound and flogged. Only then will she spill who sent her and where she hid the necklace."

​"I forbid it! You cannot jump to such conclusions," Arianna snapped, thoroughly sickened by their cruelty. She felt her fingers trembling with fear, so she pressed them against her stomach to quiet the sudden wave of nausea washing over her. "This entire matter requires a proper investigation."

​"What investigation? Are you serious right now, Queen Arianna?" Aunt Freya asked, her voice sharp with rising anger. She seemed utterly incensed by the queen’s defense of the girl. "Do not force me to believe that you are involved in this theft."

​"I wouldn’t be at all surprised," Samantha added, letting out a sharp, mocking laugh.

​"How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" Arianna’s brows furrowed in a mix of confusion and indignation. She turned toward the king, who sat quietly on his iron throne, resting his chin on his fist. "Kane, did you hear what your aunt just said?"

​"I said nothing untrue, Queen Arianna," Aunt Freya answered before he could. She looked up at the king. "Did I, Kane?"

​The king merely shook his head, keeping his face entirely unreadable and silent.

​Arianna’s jaw dropped. Was he truly taking his aunt’s side in this? Her heart burned with rising anger as she pressed him, "So I am the one who has said something wrong?"

​Kane slowly shook his head once more, offering no further explanation—leaving Arianna, his family, and the gathered crowd completely bewildered by his silence as they waited for his ultimate judgment.

Samantha couldn’t make sense of whose side he was taking. She took a tentative step forward. "Forgive me, Your Highness... but I am thoroughly confused as to what you mean."

​"He clearly agrees with both of them. Are you blind not to see that?" Ragnar chimed in, standing beside the king. To his right stood Cassius, who had remained stoically quiet throughout the ordeal.

​"You are saying nothing, Your Highness," Aunt Freya remarked, confusion written across her face. She studied Kane’s unreadable expression, inwardly wondering what was passing through his mind. Was he furious or merely indifferent?

​"What can I say, Aunt?" Kane finally spoke, his deep voice commanding total silence as he shifted his position on the iron throne. "Both you and my wife are exchanging heated words. It leads me to believe you both wish to handle this matter yourselves, and I am simply here to spectate."

​"No, Your Highness," Aunt Freya answered swiftly, bowing her head. She had no intention of upsetting him, though the princess had thoroughly gotten under her skin.

​"Forgive me, Your Highness," Arianna murmured softly, lowering her head as well. A flush of embarrassment touched her cheeks for losing her composure in front of the entire pack, but she simply could not stand by while they openly framed her and her handmaiden.

​"I apologize for stepping in, Cousin, but the queen is blindly taking her maidservant’s side instead of seeking the truth..." Samantha began, only to be sharply cut off.

​"Who gave you the authority to accuse my wife in front of the entire pack?" the king demanded, his tone shifting from deceivingly calm to lethal frost in a fraction of a second.

​Samantha flinched, taking an instinctual step back, the words catching in her throat. She had never anticipated him turning his anger onto her so fiercely.

It felt entirely pointless to reason with Kane when he was so obviously blinded by the foreign queen’s charm.

​"You seem to have forgotten your place, Samantha," Kane continued, his eyes narrowing as his voice echoed across the pavilion. "You will show respect to your Queen now, tomorrow, and forever. Do I make myself clear?"

​"Your Highness, I do," Samantha stammered, bowing her head, utterly stunned that he had taken her words so personally.

​"Now, apologize to your Queen," Kane ordered flatly.

​Samantha’s heart sank in disbelief that he would force her to humble herself so publicly. She instinctively turned to her mother, but Aunt Freya stood completely speechless. And Cassius? Ragnar? Her own brother seemed entirely unbothered, standing firmly on the king’s side.

​Suppressing her humiliation, Samantha turned toward Arianna, swallowing hard before speaking with a low head. "Forgive me, Queen Arianna. I should not have said those things."

​"Do you accept her apology?" the king asked, turning his gaze toward Arianna.

​Aunt Freya opened her mouth to intervene, but Kane silenced her with a sharp, outstretched hand without even looking her way. "I was not speaking to you, Aunt unless you also intend to apologize to my wife."

​Aunt Freya took a quiet step back, forced to watch her carefully laid scheme unravel in the worst possible direction.

​"What say you, my wife?" Kane asked softly.

​"I was deeply offended by what was said earlier, but I am no longer," Arianna replied, keeping her voice steady and graceful. "I hold no grudge against them."

​"Good. Now, can we address the matter before us?" the king declared, gesturing for the guards to bring forward the suspect.

​Maria was dragged into the center of the pavilion and forced to her knees before the throne. Her hair was disheveled and her clothing torn from the rough handling.

​Arianna gripped the fabric of her dress tightly, her knuckles turning white. It pained her deeply to see her handmaiden handled so roughly, but since the missing ring had been discovered among her belongings, she knew the girl had to endure the questioning to clear her name.

​"State your name," the king commanded, his focus shifting entirely to the girl on the floor.

​"M-Maria, Your Highness," she sobbed, tears spilling down her dirty cheeks.

​"Maria, head handmaiden to Queen Arianna... is that correct?"

​"Yes, Your Highness."

​"Did you steal the ring?"

​"No! I didn’t, I swear it!"

​"Then how did it end up inside your chest?" he asked, his voice laced with quiet curiosity.

​"I-I have no idea, Your Highness... I don’t know!" Maria wept, pressing her hands together in desperate plea. "I didn’t do it, Your Highness! I swear on my life!"

​"Ah, so the ring simply sprouted wings and flew from my box straight into yours," Aunt Freya muttered, rolling her eyes in disgust at the girl’s tearful defense.

​"Listen to me carefully, Maria," the king said, leaning forward slightly. "If you confess now and help us recover the missing necklace, I will lessen your punishment. Once this moment passes, I will not offer you such grace again."

​Maria blinked through her tears, momentarily paralyzed by confusion. She instinctively glanced up at her queen. Arianna gave her a tiny, barely perceptible shake of the head—a silent command not to claim guilt for a crime she had not committed.

​Taking a trembling breath, Maria looked back at the king. "No, Your Highness. I did not steal the ring, nor did I take any other item."

​Kane gave a single nod, gesturing to the guards. "Take her back to the cells."

​The guards bowed and dragged the weeping handmaiden away.

​Arianna watched her go, a knot of dread tightening in her chest. The king hadn’t delivered a clear verdict, leaving her anxious about his intentions. "She didn’t do it, Kane. If she had, Maria would have accepted your offer to save herself."

​"How can you be so certain?" he asked, his expression completely blank.

​"I have known her my entire life! She would never..."

​"You know her, Arianna, but we do not," the king interrupted flatly.

​An icy shiver ran down Arianna’s spine at his sudden shift in tone. She hadn’t expected him to turn so distant so quickly after defending her.

​"I cannot simply dismiss this case on your belief in her innocence," Kane added coldly, his eyes locking onto hers, "not when the stolen ring was found directly among her personal belongings."

​Arianna stared at him in utter disbelief, unable to process the harsh reality of his words.

******

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