Deviation: Altera Realm Trilogy Book 2 (62 page)

Gabe leaned against the railing of the balcony of the coronation room, the same spot he had during Syney’s crowning the year before. Syney and Adam were down below, dressed to the teeth, standing alongside Adanna as she received her witnesses. This wasn’t part of his plan, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. All and all, however, he was pleased with the progress of the plan. He rolled his eyes at some inane speech when a sharp pain shot up his left arm. He gritted his teeth and looked down at his hand. It was stiff and had been for a few days. He had chalked it up to his lack of feeding, but he had made a point of getting some blood that morning, draining a sheep in one of the farms just out of the Village. Grimacing, Gabe flexed his hand with great effort. This wasn’t part of his plan either.

He looked back down at the ceremony and caught Adam’s look. The younger man pointedly looked at Adanna then back at Gabe with a frown.
He’s worried
, Gabe thought. About Adanna? That was odd. He shifted his gaze from Adam to the newly crowned seated queen and found himself staring straight into a pair of icy blue eyes. She smiled up at him before looking out at the crowd in front of her. Odder.

Gabe cradled his hand to his chest as he stared down at the three crowned royals. Syney was joined and was the ruling queen. Step ninety-seven complete. Although not perfect, his plan was moving along nicely.