The Duke's Masked Wife 2: The Prince's Outcast Bride-Chapter 30: Plotting (3)

Solomon greatly disliked Tyrion’s attitude. He couldn’t place where the prince learned to speak like this and had only once come close to an answer by assuming the queen was having an affair with some rude bastard.

Tyrion was going to bring trouble, which the court wouldn’t stand for. There was a way of doing things which Tyrion was yet to learn.

"This won’t make me change my mind, Prince Tyrion. The court has all agreed that you should distance yourself from the young lady. Just for a moment," Solomon said, to sway Tyrion. "We have all noticed your interest in Miss Penelope Collins."

Solomon understood why a man like Tyrion would be so invested in a young woman like Penelope. There was no denying that Penelope inherited her mother’s beauty, which made her stand out among her peers. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

If Solomon were a few years younger and Duke Collins were not a difficult man, he would ask for her hand or consider arranging something with his son.

"She is a beautiful woman, but right now, bad gossip follows her. The town has already made up its mind that she is cursed like her mother once was. We don’t need you to be the hero to save her from this gossip," said Solomon.

"Duke Collins will find a way to shield his daughter from the town. We are certain of it," Arthur said to back up Solomon. "You must focus on finding a young woman without any incidents, the palace will need to explain. The sooner you marry, the better."

"It is not the court’s place to get involved in who I will wed. You may only offer advice, and I can choose to ignore it. I am choosing to ignore it. This meeting is done," Tyrion announced, so everyone could proceed to leave.

"That girl is going to ruin you," Solomon warned Tyrion.

No one in the court wanted the daughter of Edgar Collins to become queen. It would make the Duke more powerful than he needed to be.

When the court had a hard time controlling the prince, they could not have someone like Penelope here as well.

Tyrion chose not to respond. He would rather kill the men standing before him instead of speaking since there would be silence after.

If they paid attention to their crown prince as much as they claimed they did, then they would have noticed that Tyrion would be all for Penelope ruining him as long as she would finally accept his advances.

"With all due respect, I wish for you not to be a fool like your father. You may send me to the palace dungeon if this offends you," Solomon said, looking down at the floor.

Queen Hazel wasn’t the courts’ choice for the king in the past.

Tyrion walked away instead of responding. He had already wasted so much time speaking to the old fools who thought they knew best.

They were seeking to find a woman from their homes to place on the throne, so, regardless of drama, Penelope would be no good in their eyes.

"What are we going to do?" Arthur whispered, watching as Tyrion walked away. "We cannot tame him. What if he gets rid of us once he becomes king?"

"Impossible," Solomon replied.

"The prince has already spoken of using death as a way to get us out of the palace. I think that he is mad enough to do it. We must do something and fast. Think of it before he manages to bring that girl here to the palace," said Lionel.

Lionel was still trying to convince the others to make the judgment that Penelope was innocent. They could twist the evidence to say otherwise, but Lionel was worried about the prince dangling him from somewhere higher and dropping him this time.

"He will come after us if we claim that she killed the other one," said Lionel.

Solomon was well aware of that. If only Penelope didn’t have someone strong to back her, she would be a wonderful weakness to get Tyrion to behave.

When in the palace, it was best to hide who you cared for to avoid enemies hurting that person.

"Tell the town guards that we have decided she is innocent in the matter," Solomon said.

Arthur didn’t like the decision made. "Why? We have witnesses who claim they saw her push the girl. Surely we can find a way to form some agreement with Edgar to keep him out of the palace. When else will we have something to hold over him? I say that we will bring her here and threaten to lock her away."

Solomon looked to his right at the foolish man. "No. We don’t need this to ruin that girl. Claim that she is innocent, but feed more of what we found to the town. The young ladies who envy her for having the prince’s interest will ruin her. If we are lucky, it will send the Collinses out of Lockwood."

"But," Arthur said, still thinking his way was better. "Our other plan works better. It is only Lionel that the prince threatened."

"You old bastard!" Lionel yelled, angry that they would for a second consider letting him die.

"He might have only threatened Lionel, but the prince will come after all of us. I thought he was foolish for letting it be known that he cares for her so much, but we have never fully witnessed how far he would go to protect someone he loves," said Solomon.

It was strange how little they knew about Tyrion, even though most of them were around from the time Tyrion was a young boy.

They should know him like the back of their hands. They should know how to use him, yet the prince kept surprising them.

"We must keep watch of the prince and do what you must to prevent him from meeting with her. She will not be our queen. I refuse to stand by and watch her father grow more powerful. Is there no one we can send her way to distract her from the prince?" Solomon asked, looking around at the men.

"I know someone," Arthur said, grinning from ear to ear. "The future queen must be pure when she enters the palace. I know a man so bold he would court her right into her bed. He cares only about bedding the finest women and is slippery to get away from the duke."

"Get him here fast. If they are bold enough to show themselves, the Collinses will be at the garden party that the king and queen will attend. Introduce her to the fellow, then," Solomon said, leaving it all to Arthur.