Rejected, Broken And Forgotten
Chapter 17

Third person’s POV

“I can not believe you will force me to learn the history of the kingdoms. I am still tired, and you wake me up at four in the morning to learn about people I do not even know!” Paris complains.

“It is the King who ordered me to do it as my punishment for aiding you and London in your plan,” Jeffrey says. He is also not in the mood for history lessons, but he loves the history of the kingdoms. Not at this time in the morning, but he needs to do it as it was the order of the King.

“Can I at least have some coffee first?” Paris asks. Jeffrey hands her the cup of coffee as he has already prepared her one. He knows how much Paris loves her coffee.

“Thank you, Jeff,” Paris says and plants a k**s on his cheek.

“Well, the sooner we start, the better for us. I cannot tell you everything in one day, but we will work on it if we have time. We will start with the first two kingdoms and later move on to how Mercia started,” Jeffrey says. He loves Paris as she is so plain and does not care to show her love for him. He knows she loves him like a child will love a father, and Jeff is honored to have Paris’ love and trust. Jeff did not sleep as the King kept him up all night and asked him about Paris and what had been happening in America. Jeffrey told the King everything, from the first time they met Paris, who was running away until they came to the palace. He left nothing out, and the old Wolf King could not help to laugh out loud a few times. Jeffrey had not seen the King and Queen laugh in a long time, so it did his heart good. Jeffrey is a good storyteller, and the King and Queen felt like they were there. Jeffrey starts his story about the kingdoms.

The start of the kingdoms:

It was the year four hundred and fifty. Our ancestors came to England from mainland Europe. We were running from the hunters who were very active at that time in Europe. Werewolves were almost extinct, and we needed a safe place to stay. As we believe there is strength in numbers, we decided to stay on the island we called Anglia, but soon the humans followed us, and the hunters came with them. We had to move inland, and we settled near a river. We called the river, River Lia. The Alphas of all the packs came together and decided that we should somehow be linked to each other. We decided to start a Kingdom so all the wolf packs could be together under one King. The packs will still rule themselves, but the King will unite every pack under his Kingdom, and all packs will be able to communicate as they will be one but also separate. Of course, all the Alphas wanted to be the King, but they knew the strongest must become King as he would be responsible for training the Kingdom’s army and protecting all werewolf packs within the Kingdom. They decided to hold the Alpha trails to see who was the strongest. Everyone had the right to participate as long as they were the Alpha of a pack. There was one female Alpha. Her name was Katherine. She took part in the Alpha trails. The trails were not for the faint of heart. It lasted for two weeks. The Alphas were put through a lot of tests. They had to fight hunters, each other, and even vampires. After many deaths and packs without Alphas, Katherine and Frederick were the last Alphas standing. They fought for hours but could not defeat each other. So the werewolves decided to make two kingdoms—one under Queen Katherine and one under King Frederick. The wolf packs were many, and the land was ample. So the two kingdoms would live in harmony next to each other. Should one Kingdom need the help of the other, they would be close to each other to help.

Queen Katherine named her Kingdom Essex, and King Frederick called his Sussex. So that is how The Kingdoms of Essex and Sussex came to exist. Essex had the river Lia, and Sussex had the mountains. It was peaceful and beautiful. Queen Katherine kept her word, started the Essex army, and protected the wolves within her Kingdom. King Frederick did the same. Frederick wanted Katherine to become his mate, but she refused as she knew they were not mates and not meant to be together. She refused Frederick’s offer, but she did bring in the rule of royal weddings. There were no ceremonies for a new King or Queen if the King or Queen found their mates. Katherine made it like the Luna ceremony, and the b***d rituals are still part of it, but instead of doing it in front of one pack, they will have a “wedding” in front of the whole kingdom. Instead of the elders of a pack performing the ritual, the high priest or priestess of the Moon Goddess will perform the wedding ceremony.

“So you see, Paris, the wedding is not taken from humans as you think. Your great-great-great-great-great grandmother did it, and Katherine was the one who introduced the werewolf wedding to the werewolves of Essex and Sussex. Here is a photo of the first Queen of Essex. Well, it is a picture of a painting of her,” Jeffrey says. He puts the photo on my bedside table.

“So my family was crazy from the start. It is interesting, and the first ruler of Essex was a woman,” Paris says.

“Yes, but I will tell you more about history as we have time. You have to get ready for breakfast. The King does not like to wait. Please, put on a dress, Princess,” Jeffrey says as he walks out of Paris’ room. Paris looks at the picture of the old painting Jeffrey left on her bedside table. She stares at the young girl. The girl looks like her, and her left shoulder is exposed. On her left shoulder, the young woman has a birthmark in the form of a crescent moon. It looks like her birthmark! The young woman called Katherine, the first looks just like her and London. Paris feels her hands trembling as she looks at the eyes of the young Queen of Essex.

“I am not you reincarnated! I do not believe in that bullshit,” Paris says as she goes to the bathroom, takes a shower, and gets dressed in a dress and high heels. She needs to act like London, so the guards and other members of the royals and the royal pack do not know that she is not London but Paris. Paris walks downstairs and has to use her memory of the maps Jeffrey showed her to remember where the dining room is. She sees Jeffrey standing at a door and walks towards him. He shows her in, and the King and Queen are waiting for her. She knows she is in time for breakfast. The food looks and smells great. Paris knows she will have to eat like a lady and not like she is used to eating.

“Good morning, Your Highnesses,” Paris greets The King and Queen.

“Good morning, London. I hope you slept well,” The Queen says.

“Yes, I slept like a rock. I had a few eventful days,” Paris says.

“Good morning, London. I am glad you slept well,” The King says at last when he looks up from the newspaper. The servants serve breakfast, and Paris has to keep her mouth shut as they serve her tea with her breakfast. She hates tea, but she knows London loves her tea. Paris drinks the tea and manages not to pull a face. They eat in silence. Paris does not know what to say as she is unsure if she is allowed to ask about the news and the newspaper the King is reading. She wonders if it is a human newspaper or does the Kingdom have its own newspaper.

“Leave us alone,” The King orders everyone in the room. He wants to talk to Paris and find out more about her. Everyone leaves and Jeffrey and Wallis make sure no one is listening to the conversation.

“Did you enjoy your history lesson?” The King asks.

“Yes, very much. Jeffrey is the best storyteller I know,” Paris says.

“He is good at telling stories. You know your history will also be written in our history books. You look like Katherine, the first Queen of Essex,” The Queen says. She is more talkative this morning. Paris nods as she starts eating like someone that is staving. The King smiles as he sees Paris’ healthy appetite.

“I see you are enjoying the food. It is good to have someone that is not worried about watching their figure,” The King says.

“I can not starve myself, and I need all my strength to fight when I have to,” Paris says. She also leaves the tea and drinks some orange juice.

“You are indeed a warrior princess. In the last few years, the she-wolves have become ladies and do not fight anymore. It is refreshing to see someone willing to fight. Your grandmother was the last of the she-wolves that fought for the Kingdom. Your mother was useless, and London is not good at fighting. She is more useful as a student,” The King says.

“Well, I am going to study medicine. I want to become a doctor. My grades are good, and I got a scholarship to Stanford University. I knew my parents would not pay for me to go to university, so I studied hard to get a scholarship,” Paris says. She is not bragging. She is just stating facts.

“I am proud of you, Paris. You did it all on your own. You did not have parents that cared about you, and we were not allowed to see you. We promised your mother that we would take London and give her freedom, but if she set foot in the Kingdom, I would throw her in jail. She is the reason we are in a war, and she needs to be taught a lesson if she even tries to return,” The King says.

“Yeah, that is clever. She is a troublemaker, and she does not love her children. She uses us as pawns in her life to get what she wants,” Paris says. She tells her grandparents what Meran was planning, and the King is furious when he hears she was planning on killing her daughters so she and her son could return to the Kingdom. The King and Queen would have to accept her back, as she would have the only heir to the throne with her.

“She was willing to kill her daughters to come back and live in luxury again! It is unheard off! What kind of mother is she?’ The King says. He is furious, and Paris knows he will kill Maren if he gets his paws on her.

“She can not kill me, and some of your men, my father, and Nathan, are with London. Meran is not a very strong wolf. She will not be able to kill London or Ben,” Paris says.

“After this is all done and it is safe to tell everyone in the Kingdom about you and Ben, you can all come and live here,” The King says.

“I will be glad if you take Ben and London, so they are not my problem, but I am not going to live here. My mate and I will return to America. I am sorry, but this does not feel like my home. I can not live here,” Paris says. She is sure she will not last long. The people of England are snobbish, or it seems like it. Paris does not want to judge them since she does not know them well enough. However, she would love to see more of England and Europe while she is here, but she needs to end this war her mother started. Paris feels it is her responsibility. She needs to show the wolves of Essex that her family is not all as bad and crazy as her mother. Paris also wants to know more about her heritage, as Jeffrey’s story makes her curious about Katherine and the rest of the history of Essex. Paris can not wait for her next history lesson with Jeffrey. She wonders if he will tell her more this afternoon before she sees her mate again tonight. It is raining, and Paris does not feel like going outside to train in the rain.