Page 207 of Bride By Coronation

"What's wrong?" Kirill asks with alarm.

She stops in front of us, breathing hard.

"Are Sean and Zara okay?" I fret.

Brax closes in, stepping beside Valentina and affirming, "They're fine. Living it up with the hanging corpses and declaring a national chastisement for trying to overthrow you."

My heart speeds up again.

They almost beheaded us.

I blurt out, "Thank you for saving us! Both of you." I say the last part while looking at Valentina with gratitude.

Brax puffs his chest out, boasting, "Piece of cake."

"Then why did my wife almost get beheaded?" Kirill seethes, holding me tighter.

Valentina slaps the back of her hand into Brax's stomach.

I glance up, softly scolding, "He's being funny."

"There's nothing funny about it," Kirill warns.

"Kirill—"

"He's right. It's horrendous, and we need to weed out the rest of the traitors. And that's why you must give us their seats," Valentina announces.

Kirill and I stand in stunned silence.

"Please," she begs.

Kirill sighs and closes his eyes.

"Of course you can have them," I offer.

Kirill's body stiffens. "No. Unfortunately, you can't give them the open seats."

"Why not? They saved us," I cry out.

Sympathy blooms on his expression. He states, "There has to be a cleansing ritual. You know this, Valentina."

I scrunch my face. "What does that mean?"

"It was one of the missing sections in your Royal Doctrine. It's Amendment 666," he informs me.

I scoff. "The same amendment that almost got us beheaded?"

"Yes."

"And what is so special about this amendment?"

Kirill glances at Valentina and Brax, then pins his gaze on me, answering, "Seats must be refilled with the same status as those who left."

Lost, I ask, "Meaning?"

"If an individual dies unmarried, another unmarried individual takes the seat. But if a couple dies, then another couple replaces them."

I wrinkle my nose. "That's stupid."

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