Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 215 Bartholomew’s Help and Support
“Nobody will force you to change who you are Lexi. I would never allow that.” Ann said as she and Lexi clasped their hands together.
‘I forbid it too. Life would be insufferable without her backing me up when you need some sense knocking into you…’ Maeve nodded wisely.
‘Hey! That was one time!’ Ann protested.
‘Yeah… and the rest…’ Maeve sniggered as Ann fumed silently and blocked her out, a sullen pout forming on her lips as she turned back to Lexi.
A halfhearted smile finally graced Lexi’s lips as she saw Ann’s expression.
“I suppose I have to stick around and at least try it for Maeve’s sake. She’d go mental if she was left alone to handle you.”
Ann scowled at her and pushed her shoulder in mild irritation.
“You two are going to drive me to insanity, do you know that?” she said finally as she wrapped her arms around Lexi and hugged her tightly. “You won’t be alone in any of this Lexi, I promise you.”
She nodded silently into Ann’s shoulder, her face still a little pale as she seemed to find the strength to pull herself together. When they eventually released each other, she stood and smoothed her clothes down with a sniff and fixed a sardonic smile on her face.
“Well, I suppose there’s no sense in moping. Papa would encourage me to just get on with it, so I will. It’s not like I can fight fate really, is it?” she said with forced enthusiasm, “So, no ripping Felix a new arsehole just yet, got it. So, what am I supposed to do with all of this pent-up anger?”
Ann chuckled.
“Well, I intend to interrogate Linus myself today…” Ann began with a sly smile and a wicked glint in her eyes before Adam interrupted her.
“Ann… don’t you think you should rest… you still need to recover…” he interjected with a heavy edge of worry to his voice.
Ann glanced across at him slowly and smirked.
“I don’t believe interrogation requires the use of my lady bits, does it?” She quipped sweetly as Lexi sniggered. “Suppose it depends if your name is Ada or Narcissa…” she muttered with a smirk as Ann snorted. Adam frowned at the two of them stood together. “You two are most definitely going to cause chaos here…” he grumbled as Allen clapped him on the back in commiseration.
“At least we can drown our sorrows together at the end of a long day, Adam.” He grinned teasingly as Lexi stuck a middle finger up at him.
“If you can’t handle the heat puppy then go find some traffic to play with,” Lexi grinned sweetly.
“Lexi and I will head off to interrogate Linus. You both are welcome to accompany us, however, I want to see his behavior towards us without your presence in the cells. Feel free to wait outside whilst we get what we need from him.”
Adam and Allen exchanged a look that told them they weren’t happy about it, but neither of them protested, instead nodding curtly with a grim expression that mirrored each other
As they moved to leave the office, the door swung open and Bartholomew greeted them with a wide smile. “Ah, my queen! How lovely to see you up and about already!” he beamed as his eyes shone with anticipation.
“It’s good to see you too, we were just on our way to the cells to pay Linus a visit.” Ann explained apologetically, “I feel terrible for having been called away from my duties so soon I hope things haven’t been too difficult with my short absence?”
“No no, not at all. Lord Brarthroroz continues to be quite the entertaining companion despite the subject matter.” Bartholomew chuckled.
“Nice… images of Papa dressed as a clown and juggling heads just flashed through my mind…” Lexi muttered quietly to herself, shaking her head in disbelief
Bartholomew raised a questioning eyebrow at her as she met his gaze with an exasperated sigh. “It’s shaping up to be a long day Barty boy, don’t question the insanity…aII of it is Queenie’s fault though… just so you know…” Lexi added as she poked Ann in the side.
“You seem to be quite fond of nicknames.” Bartholomew observed dryly with a chuckle as Lexi shrugged. “It makes life interesting for everyone involved. Variety is the spice of life, am I right?”
“Anyway…” Ann interrupted impatiently as she scowled at Lexi in irritation, “I was wondering if you could manage to pull together the Elders for a report on their proposals for dealing with the rogues’?”
“Well, of course, that shouldn’t be an issue. When were you thinking?” Bartholomew answered with a sweeping gesture.
“As soon as possible. Preferably today,” Ann answered him coolly with no hesitation.
Bartholomew glanced at her cautiously and seemed to swallow nervously as he realized that her smile had disappeared into the recesses of her very serious expression.
“Ah I’m afraid today may be a little difficult. Some of the Elders may have prior engagements… it’s a little short notice your Highness.” He tried to explain before Lexi’s incredulous snort cut him off
“So, let me get this straight. Queenie wants a report and not one of them thinks that it’s appropriate to drop everything that they’re doing and do as they’re commanded?” she asked as she fixed him with a questioning glare.
“Well… of course, they’ll try their best to rearrange anything that they have planned but it’s highly irregular…” Bartholomew protested, a little thrown off by this sudden change in attitude from, both of them.
“So is letting Rogues settle down within your borders and doing f**k all about it, Barty” Lexi snapped with a scowl, “Come on now, I actually quite like you Barty-boy. I really don’t want to lose the admiration that I have for you if you’re going to keep making excuses for Elders that can’t prioritize their duty to their kingdom.”
Bartholomew looked to Ann for some sort of input but found no support in her calm gaze. “I actually agree with her, Bartholomew. You have done your job as expected, but unless these Elders have incredibly pressing business that simply cannot be rearranged, then I expect them in attendance This needs to be resolved quickly. I will not have a single person die at the hands of these rogues again. I want them gone.” Ann stated calmly, yet her seriousness was not lost on Bartholomew.
After a second’s thought, Bartholomew nodded in resignation, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
“I will try my best, my Queen, but I cannot promise that all will be in attendance that should be.”
“Thank you, Bartholomew,” Ann said gently, the smile that reappeared on her face diffusing the tension that Bartholomew had felt rapidly rising, “Your help and support are much appreciated. Let me know when my presence is required and I shall make my way there.”
Bartholomew nodded as Ann, Lexi, Adam, and Allen swept past him and closed the door behind them, leaving Bartholomew scratching his head in a mild daze and wondering what exactly it was that he had missed that would have caused their emotions to be so volatile at that very moment that he had walked in.