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“Yes, it is too late, and if you asshats had hurried back when I called for you the first time, we might have been able to interrupt the meeting. But now, they are gaining support for their cause through the Lower Houses. There are more than twice as many Lower Houses than Higher Houses, and you know how power hungry they are. If Valtinin and Luzak promise them seats, they might win enough support to overthrow the current council,” she warned.
Viktor smiled proudly at her. “I am still drunk, so there is no way I would ever say this to you sober. You are a better strategist than I was at your age.”
Her eyes rolled, then she leaned forward, dropping her tone so low it scraped against the floor. “And I’ll be twice as good by the time I am old like you.”
Endre snorted and Vadim whistled as her words hit Viktor like a whip.
Viktor glared at them, then announced, “I am going to puke up all this alcohol, then we need to plan our counterstrike.” He strode to the bathroom and made good on his word as retching reached our ears moments later. When he returned, he grabbed a plate full of sandwiches to soak up the rest of the alcohol. Unwilling to purge my stomach, I stuffed my mouth full of food from his plate. Endre and Vadim did the same.
“Liliana, what do you think our next move should be?” I asked, if only to temper the storm building in the small space.
She tapped her fingers against her arms as she considered. “Izidora is your mate, or will be once you accept the bond. She has a lot of popular support among the common Fae, whocurrently are unaware of yourengagement,” her nose crinkled as she spoke the word, “but are preoccupied with the death of King Zalan. I’d assume not many other details have been shared widely. Make a public statement announcing the war council, and that you are working tirelessly to retrieve your mate, their queen. Wrap up all the big shit in one speech, but leave out the bit about the engagement. If Valintin and Luzak manage to sway the Lower Houses, popular support will not be in their favor, especially once the common Fae know who sits on the war council.”
Vadim spoke around a mouthful of food. “Let’s gather our allies and inform them what the traitors are up to.”
Viktor remained quiet, but his expression told me that he was plotting. Finally, he spoke. “First, let’s gather them, but Liliana, can you get your friends to snoop on their parents and find out where their loyalties lie? We might have common support, but the Noble Houses still rule. If most of them choose the traitors, they have enough force to shutter any rebellion. Second, we need eyes on Luzak and Kamilla at all times. Vadim, can you trail them? Run interference if you feel it necessary for our goals. As a backup option, someone needs to pull the records for delaying a marriage without the direction of a monarch – the librarians are a good place to start. We need time to send a message to King Airre and Queen Immonen. They will be sympathetic to our cause and likely will end the engagement.
“Now that I think about it… they will likely ally with us against the Iron Realm, especially since Kazimir and Izidora are mates. Once we’ve got this mess sorted out, we should make our way to Vlisa with our army. We have to pass through both Crystal and Day Realms to reach the Iron Realm. I would rather not get caught up in Zherza Pass where the Iron Realm would surely slaughter us.”
“Béke is also in the Iron Realm this year, and the time is fast approaching,” Endre reminded us.
Viktor slapped his forehead. “Fuck, yes, this is exactly what we need. The monarchs are already preparing to leave anyway, why not show up with an army too?” His white teeth flashed as an impish grin rounded out his plan.
“I’d like to get going so I don’t have to marry against my will,” I announced, rising to my feet. My clothes were soaked from yanking them on after our swim and still stained with blood from the feast, but at least my skin was clean.
Liliana took a judgemental perusal of my attire. “Uh huh, but first you need some dry clothes. Appearance is everything.”
Viktor barked out his orders: “Let’s take the passage to our rooms, then grab whomever we can find and herd them to the council room. Liliana, head to the library and ask for help with delaying the marriage. Then go spy on the Lower Houses and meet us in the council room once you have intel. Vadim, track down Luzak and his daughter.” Viktor swayed slightly as he dropped his wool blanket and teetered in the direction of the secret passage we’d discovered only days before in Izidora’s room.
“Fine,” Liliana huffed, uncrossing her arms and stomping along behind him.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I called as Viktor opened the door and my friends started down the path that led to the High House Wing. Once they were out of sight, I scoured Izidora’s closet, sniffing every piece of clothing scattered across the floor until I found a sweat-dried tunic that smelled as if it had been dipped in my mate. I selected the tunic and a few torn scraps of lace – entirely my fault – and bundled them together. Holding them away from my saltwater-filled clothes, I traversed the tunnel until I arrived at the entrance to the High House Wing, the door cracked a hair, my friends having left it open for me.Looking left and right, I slipped through then sealed the door before darting into my apartment to avoid curious eyes.
Lifting Izidora’s clothes to my nose for one last sniff, I stowed them in an empty drawer, promising myself to return to them later. Then, I hurriedly showered and changed into fresh clothes. Clarity returned to my head as the alcohol finally wore off, though my faculties hadn’t entirely returned. I bumped into a side table, knocking something off during my hurried exit from the room. On instinct, I caught the object just before it hit the ground.
My father’s journal.
Shaking hands lifted the leatherbound journal and I sucked in a few steadying breaths, both to calm the nausea rising from my belly and to lock down the grief that surged as the smooth cover pressed into my chest. I desperately wanted to crack the spine and soak in my father’s words, but there were too many situations warring for my attention, and assuaging my grief was falling further and further on my priority list. Gently tucking it into the couch where it would remain unseen, I promised myself to look through the journal later. His words would always be there to provide me comfort, but I urgently needed to stop some scheming lords from ruining my life.
I found Kaztar wandering the hall as the door to my apartment swung shut with a groan behind me. “Hey, we have a situation. I’m convening a meeting as we speak. Do you know where Jaku is?”
He furrowed his brows over his darkening jade eyes. “Is it Valintin and Luzak?”
Pinching my brow to stave off the oncoming headache, I nodded. “They’re working with the Lower Houses to ensure my engagement stands.”
“Fucking Fates,” he swore, then shook his head. “I’ll find him. I’m assuming you don’t want Valintin and Luzak there?”
“Just the war council. We have much to discuss.”
He nodded, running a hand over his close-cropped dark hair, letting it linger on the back of his neck. Blowing out a breath, he said, “See you in a few, Kazimir.” He spun on his heel and strode in the direction of the stairs to ascend to the second level of apartments.
Endre and Viktor emerged a minute later, followed by their grim-faced fathers. We fell in step as we marched through the marbled halls of Este Castle, passing servants bolting in every direction and markedly removing themselves from our path. The heavy wood doors of the council room clicked shut behind us as we settled in our seats, waiting for Kaztar and Jaku. Endre and Viktor shadowed the walls behind their fathers, welcomed as participants even though they did not have seats at the table.
Jaku nodded to me as he took a seat across from me. His heir, Havel, leaned against the wall behind him, followed by Kaztar, who leaned forward, elbows braced on the polished wood as they waited to hear why I’d called them together.
“It has been brought to my attention that High Lord Luzak intends to uphold my engagement to his daughter, despite the widely shared knowledge that Izidora is my mate. We discussed this earlier, so I won’t get into it again. Our laws state that it must go through without the intervention of a monarch, which we currently lack. Again, not going to rehash that.”
Especially because Izidora technically was not the daughter of King Zalan.
