"On what grounds does the Commander make such an accusation?"
The voice belonged to Elder Zhao Bo. Li Lian's uncle from her maternal side. The old man's voice trembled—whether from genuine concern for the clan or fear of the man before him, it was hard to tell.
"How do you know for certain that she was the one who leaked the strategy? Why is this little girl paying the price of something so abyssal?"
Commander Yan didn't answer immediately. Instead, his cold gaze shifted toward General Wei, his future Beta.
The General gave a single nod to the commander. He stepped before the Elders and Grand Empress Dowager, bowing slightly, "I saw her slipping out of Commander Yan's private study mere minutes before the first strike hit the pack square. I hadn't intervened then, because of the respect I have for the Zhao clan... I apologize for failing her highness."
The silence that descended over the crowd was a testimony that Li Lian was found guilty!
In a fit of pique, Elder Zhao Bo collapsed beside Mu Zhao. "Commander, I beg of you! It is unheard of—it is a death sentence for a lady to be sent to the war camp. What does a noblewoman know of steel and blood? She has nothing to offer. She will be nothing but a liability to your men, a weight that will drag the front line down!"
"Heh… heh-heh... hah!"
Carrie stared up at him. So this was it. This was what that scripted "hehehehah" actually sounded like in the flesh.
He was laughing because every word they spoke only fed his twisted amusement.
But she more concerned about how the Zhao family thought they were helping, throwing words like liability and weakness around, but they weren't the ones feeling the hot sting of the lash or the weight of Yan Liang's gaze.
"A liability?" he repeated, the remnant of that heh still around his lips. "On the contrary, you misunderstand, Elder Zhao Bo. I have no intention of her carrying a sword. My men will provide all the protection she requires."
He turned his gaze back to Li Lian, and his smile widened into something predatory. "Heh. Indeed. She'll be quite busy."
From the edge of the pavilion, the Grand Dowager leaned forward, her eyes narrowed with sharp authority. "Your words carry weight. Do tell us what you mean, Commander."
Commander Yan kept his eyes locked on Carrie, watching the way she struggled for air. "The warriors at the front give their blood to the pack. In return, the pack must provide for their… vital needs. Comfort. Sanity. A reminder of what they are fighting to protect."
"Li Lian has proven she has a silver tongue and a wandering eye. Since she loves the company of powerful wolves so much that she would sell our secrets to them, I shall grant her wish. She will serve the needs of the vanguard. She will be the 'Morale' of the front lines."
A horrified gasp broke from Mú Zhao, but Yan's gaze remained predatory.
"She will be the one to tend the fires, to wash the blood from the armor, and to satisfy the primal hunger of the men who sacrifice for this pack. She will go as a servant, the lowest of the low. If she survives the winter, perhaps I will allow they keep her skin intact."
"If she doesn't…"
His eyes flashed that sudden, bestial amber as he leaned down, his face inches from hers.
"Then she was never meant to be part of the pack to begin with. To survive the front should be your main goal, Li Lian."
Letting his gaze sweep over the Elders, "Now, any more objections to my law?"
The courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
No one dared defy Commander Yan. Not even for an execution as outrageous as this!
Carrie gritted her teeth, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. She already missed the Western world; a world where evidence mattered more than a tyrant's whim.
'Heh. Look at you,' she thought, watching him adjust his sleeves with sickening elegance. 'Posturing like a god in obsidian. Acting like this 'Trial' is your path to glory.'
He wasn't even an Alpha yet, and everyone was already shaking in their boots.
Commander Yan smiled yet again. "Since it is settled, continue the punishment. Don't stop until the count reaches two hundred."
Two hundred.
Two hundred would turn her into mincemeat. Though the original Li Lian had taken two hundred, Carrie felt she would die if this torment continued.
As Commander Yan turned his back to walk away, she acted on animalistic survival.
Commander Yan froze. The shock of the contact–grabbing his foot–was visible in the way his shoulders stiffened.
The touch triggered a snarl in his heart, not of anger, but of starving recognition.
He turned, looking down at the girl who dared to anchor him. No one—absolutely no one—presumed they could lay a hand on him.
"Oh, your majesty! I don't know how I got here." Carrie cried out, looking up at him, with wide eyes filled with tears. "If you let them strike me again, I'll die. I really will die!"
The Commander's shock quickly morphed into a cold, mocking sneer. He looked down at her as if she were a piece of dust on his expensive boots.
"And how is that my problem? You should have thought about your life before you leaked our war strategy. You put every person in this territory in danger. Why should I care if a traitor breathes her last?"
Carrie's fingers tightened around his trousers. "Anything! I'll do anything! Just... no more flogging. Please."
Commander Yan stared at her.
Something was wrong.
The Li Lian he knew would have been facedown in the dirt, begging for mercy from the ground. But this girl... Why was looking him in the eye?
Was she growing wings, or had she simply lost her mind?
There was only one way to find out.
"Anything." A dangerous glint reflected in his dark pupils as he repeated.
Looking at the guards, he gave a curt wave. "Stop the whipping. And take her to my study."