The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 166

Fifty-Nine: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

The news was so shocking that I had difficulty picturing it. Cora and Talia. I didn't even know they swung that way, but if they were happy...But, I guess they weren't happy since Talia had chosen Queen Lillian's side during the war a few months ago, knowing it would result in Cora's death if they won.

It made sense for that to be who she had been talking about. But hell... Cora and Talia.

Two women so bitter and angry with the world, living in one house would have been like two angry hornets trapped in a box together. Did they live together? They didn't two decades ago when Aurora had noticed their relationship. Nor did they for the next decade while Talia lived in the tower and was in charge of taking care of me.

I would never forgive Talia for choosing to side with the previous queen and vampires in their attempt to take the crown out of the hands of the Lycans. She had raised me from when I was found at eleven years old until I was an adult.

Then Killian had chosen me to be his Royal Advisor. I was more of an advisor of magic, but I would never argue against the title; it made me feel badass. Talia was livid that she had to step down for the next generation.

Talia had been losing her mind for years at that point, though, and even if he had chosen someone else to take over, I would agree it had been the right choice to remove Talia from her position.

She had been best friends with the queen. Talia became furious, siding with the queen when Lillian went mad after her fated mate and unborn child were killed. The two women had joined together and created an army of vampires to remove Killian, Lillian's son, from wearing the crown.

I had been heartbroken that the woman who had raised me had so easily thrown a dagger into my back on that battlefield. Talia had been willing to kill me just as easily as my own birth mother had.

I had never been more grateful when Natalie killed her, heating her from the inside out until her organs burst and her blood boiled. It was part of why I would always deeply respect Natalie.

But to think that Talia might have been seeing Cora the entire time, and I never knew it...

Aurora's eyebrows pinched together as she eyed me with confusion as if I should have known. But I wasn't the only one in the dark here. Killian didn't know either. ’I don't know how long they were together. After that, I got pregnant, and my visits were few and far between, and I don't know of the others she had been with."

"No, no, no!" Cyrus’s pleading made me turn suddenly, but the healer had already injected the syringe into his arm.

‘What are you doing to him?" I snapped, walking over with a glare, but Tobias stopped me with an arm around my waist. I felt more protective over Cyrus than ever before, and I knew it was because of the guilt I had felt about his blood being stolen.

"His body and mind need to recover. It's a sedative that will put him out for a few hours." The man muttered, but Flora looked just as bothered as I was.

As Cyrus closed his eyes, I felt panic bloom in my chest. "Did you not hear him? He doesn't want the darkness! He could barely close his eyes before!"

"He needs to rest. If he were to force himself to stay awake, he would just exacerbate the situation." He meant well, but I was fuming. My hand shot out, and the healer flew back against the wall.

"Joselin!" Killian snapped, his voice deep and layered as his beast came forward. "Stand down. You're out of line."

I held the man against the wall for a few more seconds as I debated refusing Killian's command before giving in and letting the man drop to the floor.

’Let's take this somewhere else. We can get Cyrus to the infirmary with guards and have a private conversation in the office." Natalie's soothing voice called out, but I shook my head.

’Healers and guards won't be able to do shit if Cora shows up wielding her and Rona's magic,’ I argued, knowing Killian was right. I was out of line. They may have been okay with me speaking my mind in private, but there were healers and guards in the room with us, and I was being unprofessional and insubordinate.

’He's unconscious now anyway," Charlie said, stepping forward as she looked at Cyrus. "What is he?"

His identity was no longer a secret. We had been discussing his powers for a while now, so everyone in the room knew he had magic. Those that weren't in the room would know because he had used magic in front of the packed dining hall.

'He's a spell caster."

Her emerald eyes widened with surprise, and I was relieved that she immediately understood and didn't ask any stupid questions. "I haven't heard of a male witch in a long time. I remember reading about them when

I was a kid, but it was centuries ago that they were last seen."

Princess Charlotte, a fucking gift from the goddess. She may have abandoned both Killian and me for a life of chasing and hunting down monsters, but having her here was exactly what we needed right now. She had knowledge that no one else did, and her years of hiding from the toxic people of the court and reading books were now coming in handy.

I wasn't ready to forgive her yet, and because her hunting party hadn't been at Rona's cottage, the bitter side of me just figured she had abandoned them too.

‘Do you know what book that was in?" Natalie asked, looking around her study like the book would be there. If anything, it would be in the archives, but when Charlie shook her head, disappointment filled me.

’No, I went back for it a few years later, but I couldn't find it. But there had been a whole council of male witches. They had been wiped out, and the council had been replaced.’ Charlie moved further into the room, looking uncomfortable but forced a smile on her face and squeezed Natalie's hand in greeting before giving her brother a painfully awkward hug.

Killian wrapped his arms around her tightly, glad she was back. He missed her everytime she left, but when she returned and threw little comments at him about how he had let her down and wasn't a good king, he wanted her to leave again.