The Bride He Hates-Chapter 87: Court Whispers

The attack turned out to be real. Lyanna stood in the war room with Azrael, Victor, Adrian, and Sienna, watching as scouts confirmed the intelligence. Crimson Cross forces were indeed preparing for an attack at dawn, exactly as Sienna’s source had warned.

"We have three hours until sunrise." Adrian said. "If we send forces now, we can defeat them."

"Do it." Azrael ordered. "I want evacuation routes cleared for civilians and our fastest riders ready to call for reinforcements if needed."

The order spread quickly. Within an hour, reports came back that their forces had reached the territory. Dawn arrived. The Crimson Cross attacked and was defeated. The casualties were minimal, and the attackers retreated defeated.

"We saved them." Sienna said as the final report came in. "If we had waited for verification, and delayed the response, people would have died."

Lyanna couldn’t argue.

"You were right." Lyanna admitted. "The quick response saved the lives."

"I take no pleasure in being right about this, Your Majesty. I want to protect Thornfield."

"However, I should point out that our own scout network had also informed us about a suspicious activity yesterday evening. If we had correlated intelligence sources as the queen suggested, we would have had even earlier warning and could have done better." Victor said.

Lyanna gave him a grateful look.

"The point is that we need both; Sienna’s source intelligence and Victor’s verification network." Azrael said.

"Agreed." Lyanna said. "And proper coordination means all of us working together. This worked because we were all here, analyzing the intelligence together. That’s what I’ve been asking for."

"I can accept that. Though there will be times when immediate action is required without time for committee analysis." Sienna said.

"Then we need rules." Lyanna said. "Victor, can you create guidelines for what constitutes immediate action urgency and standard intelligence processing?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. I’ll start working on it."

As the meeting ended, and everyone left, Azrael touched Lyanna’s arm.

"You handled that well. Both the confrontation and the acknowledgement that Sienna’s approach was right for this situation."

"Because it was correct." Lyanna said. "I’m not trying to be right all the time, Azrael. I’m just trying to be included."

"I know. We worked together tonight and that’s how it should be."

Lyanna wanted to feel happy with his words. But she had seen Sienna being praised by everyone for her strategy and quick response, and she knew that would make it harder to maintain boundaries in the future.

By midday, news from now onsful attack had spreas we advance the castle, along with Sienna’s role in providing the intelligence that saved lives.

Lyanna was in the library that afternoon, reviewing more intelligence, when she overheard a group of nobles talking in the next room.

"Lady Sienna’s intelligence saved that territory." Lord Cassius said. "If not for her quick action in bringing it directly to His Majesty..."

"Exactly." Another noble agreed. "I heard the queen wanted to implement new protocols that would have delayed the response by hours."

"The queen is young. She doesn’t understand that during war, speed sometimes matters more than process. She’s thinking like a peace administrator when we need wartime decisiveness."

"His Majesty seemed to understand that. During the planning, he worked with Lady Sienna and Adrian. The queen was present, of course, but the real strategic coordination was between them."

Lyanna’s hands clenched around the book she had been holding. She had contributed to the analysis. But apparently, to the court, she was just present while others did the real work.

"I wonder, if Lady Sienna might be better suited for the role of advisor than.... She has the experience, the expertise, and clearly His Majesty trusts her judgment."

"She can’t be an official advisor. She’s a refugee. But if His Majesty wants..."

"Would the queen allow that?" Cassius asked. "She isn’t very fond of Lady Sienna."

"Because she’s insecure. She can’t tolerate her husband working closely with a woman who is his equal. It’s rather sad, honestly. Here we are facing a threat, and the queen is more concerned about her marriage."

Lyanna had heard enough. She stood up and walked into the room. The nobles’ faces turned pale as they realized she had heard everything.

"Your Majesty, we were just discussing..."

"I heard what you were discussing. And I’d like to clarify a few things. First, the protocols I suggested weren’t about delaying responses. There were about coordinating intelligence sources to provide better and faster analysis."

"Of course, Your Majesty." Cassius said. "We didn’t mean..." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Second." Lyanna continued. "I was not just present during the meeting. I contributed to the strategic analysis, coordinated with Victor’s network, and worked with my husband as his partner. The fact that you didn’t notice my contributions says more about your assumptions than my capabilities."

"We didn’t mean any disrespect..."

"And third, my feelings towards Lady Sienna have nothing to do with insecurity about my marriage. But I think it’s easier to dismiss queen’s strategic concerns as jealousy than to consider that those concerns might be right."

She left before any of them could respond.

That evening, Azrael called a formal council meeting to discuss Crimson Cross’s strategy. It was exactly what Lyanna had been asking for. But when she arrived at the council chamber, she found Azrael and Sienna already there, deep in discussion, with maps and documents spread between them.

"You’re early." Lyanna said.

"Sienna wanted to review some of the intelligence before the formal session." Azrael explained. "To make sure she could present it perfectly to the full council."

"How considerate." Lyanna said. "And how convenient that this pre-meeting briefing is yet another private session between the two of you."

"It’s not a briefing." Sienna said. "It’s preparation. You understand the difference, right?"

"I understand that you’ve found another loophole in the protocols we set up." Lyanna replied.

Azrael looked uncomfortable. But before he could say something the rest of the council began arriving.

Sienna presented the intelligence comprehensively, impressing everyone.

That night, Lyanna woke in the middle of the night to find Azrael’s side of the bed empty again, with a note on his pillow.

Couldn’t sleep. In the library reviewing intelligence. Didn’t want to wake you.

She lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling. She tried to sleep but couldn’t. Eventually, she got up and went to find him. The library was empty. So were the study and war room.

Finally, she heard voices coming from one of the strategy rooms. It was Azrael and Sienna.

"We can’t keep doing this." Azrael was saying. "We need to include Lyanna..."

"Of course. But Azrael, she doesn’t have the experience to contribute at the level we need. She’s trying, and that’s admirable, but when we’re analyzing complex military patterns, do we really need to slow down to explain basic strategic concepts to someone who’s been a vampire for a few months?

Lyanna waited for Azrael to defend her.

"She’s learning quickly."

"But still not at our level. I’m just trying to be practical. You have a kingdom to protect and a war to manage. Do you really have time to also manage your wife’s demand for inclusion in matters she’s not yet qualified to handle?"

There was silence.

Lyanna didn’t wait to hear his response. She walked back to their chambers and lay on the bed in the dark until dawn. She had heard everything she needed to hear.