Next, Malachi moved on to the last vacancy that remained. “While we’re gathered, I need to name a new duke prime to replace Cassius.” When he looked to Isiadora, she sat up straighter in her seat. A thing he’d learned from Nychelle was that while fear was a powerful motivator, rewarding loyalty was as mighty a tool for a monarch to wield. He’d exercised an abundance of the former, and this assembly session was also about leveling things a bit with doling out the latter to those deserving and who he hoped would form the kingdom’s backbone in the coming war and beyond. To that end, Malachi declared, “Isiadora Diamundis is henceforth the court’s duke prime if she accepts the position.”
Isiadora’s eyes widened. “You honor me, Your Grace. I accept,” she said solemnly. She was a slight female whose voice matched her mien. But her reputation for not allowing anyone to push her around was fierce.
“Do you swear to place what you believe is the court’s and wider Apollyon fae’s best interest above your own and even that of the Diamundis bloodline if those two things do not align?” he asked Isiadora.
She dipped her head and repeated the vow back to him.
“Now, let’s talk war and how we’re no longer waiting for the Six Kingdoms’ armies to darken our territory,” he told the assembly that’d been cleared of any who’d chosen the wrong side. “Instead, we will start this war in the offensive position. I had intended to use the Aether princess’s presence here to draw Rishaud to me. But it seems the Hyperion king is using his previous tactics of sowing discord and civil strife within our court to strike at the heart of it. Learning that Rishaud helms the Cleric’s Rebellion changes everything, and he has sunkenhis claws too deep into our court. Further, inquisitions have returned that Rishaud and the Cleric’s Rebellion plan to move beyond the lord primes that they coaxed to their side and go after the common populace next. A threat so insidious must be quashed immediately before it burrows further and proliferates among our folk. Which means that the Apollyon Court won’t sit back and wait for Rishaud’s armies to arrive. Instead, we will prepare our armies to invade Hyperion lands soon after the approaching Winter Solstice. We will lay siege to the Hyperion Palace, and I’ll take the Hyperion king’s head during the attack. We will remove the hazard that Rishaud and the Cleric’s Rebellion poses to this kingdom and its people for good.” He would’ve liked to execute the siege sooner, but such an endeavor would take time to coordinate and solstice celebrations would be a distraction when he needed his lord primes and the kingdom’s military fully focused on the campaign.
Once he was done, he didn’t need to take the measure of Nychelle, Trystin, or any of his Cadre. He’d talked about this with his inner court prior to the assembly. He did assess the others in the room. How they responded would let him know if the gathered assembly had the makings to be lord primes who were a collective force that he could count on to bolster his rule and the continued strength and prosperity of the kingdom instead of being nuisances he kept in check. The newest occupants of the table were the first who didn’t disappoint Malachi.
“I am with you, Your Grace. You have the unwavering support of our bloodline and Diamundis soldiers,” Isiadora said.
The rest of the newly minted lord primes expressed the same. That then left the old guard. It took those six a bit longer to respond. Elias Omundiah, a tall, sturdily built male who’d sat as lord prime of his bloodline for six centuries and was knownfor his blunt but sagacious temperament, was the first of the crop to speak up. He stood from the table, bowed, and addressed his peers. “While I think all of us gathered here retain immense veneration for our former king, I believe that in light of recent revelations we also can see how a more stringent handling of those who seek to bring the kingdom harm from within and without is needed. I say this at the risk of offending you and losing my own head, King Malachizrien, but I’ll admit I’ve had my past misgivings about you due to the prophecy and then you taking the reins of the kingdom so young. However, it’s been proven that there are greater forces at work attempting to bring ruin to this kingdom. If Apollyon clerics who are supposed to be the link betweenourfaefolk and the divine Celestials in service to our people have bowed to Rishaud, then I, for one, cannot place any stock in some prophecy that the very same clerics claim to have been handed by the Celestials. It all lines up too neatly in service of nothing except the Hyperion king’s long-held ambitions to make us another of his dominions. Who is to say that Rishaud did not corrupt the former high cleric who spoke the prophecy about our future king to begin with.” Lord Omundiah bowed once more at the conclusion of his speech and retook his seat.
“I am not offended by earnestness, and I thank you for it,” Malachi told the Elder male.
The remaining primes among the old guard waffled slightly longer, but after a beat passed, they too echoed similar genuine and supportive sentiments as Lord Omundiah.
As it occurred, Nychelle caught Malachi’s eye, and his auntie allowed a wisp of a smile to play about her lips. Her gaze shone with approval and pride, and Malachi couldn’t deny that it felt good to sit among an Assembly of Primes that truly backed him as king.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
KADEESHA DIDN’T SEE MALACHI THE DAY AFTERthe challenge. He didn’t seek her out and she woke up feeling and looking wretched, so she stayed in her rooms to avoid being glimpsed in a haggard state. She attributed the exhaustion that lingered throughout the day to having burned through too much magic without eating properly during or after the challenge feast. Once she regained some vibrancy about her, Kadeesha emerged from her rooms a day later. She still didn’t cross paths with Malachi that next day or in the subsequent few days that followed. Nor did she complain when a handful of days turned into a full seven. She took it as a boon from the Celestials because despite her intentions to stay close enough to Malachi to have access to eventually kill him, she also greatly needed a few days of distance so she could quash the hazardous, conflicting feelings he stirred and make sure their dreadful Markings didn’t become a problem.
According to court chatter, Malachi’s blessed absence was due to the Apollyon king spending most of his time carrying out a full-scale inquisition against fae of several cardinal bloodlines, sparing only those whom a truth rune revealed harboredno ill will toward his reign. As for those he judged guilty, she imagined he added to the blood splatter that already drenched the throne room’s colorful flowers by holding public executions. Kadeesha hadn’t been surprised when she’d heard that tidbit float from a group of courtiers she passed one day in the palace halls. Of course Malachi wouldn’t pass up the chance of turning the complete annihilation of his enemies into a grand affair open to the masses.
She also wasn’t surprised by the other task she’d heard the Apollyon king had been devoting his time to with ruthless focus—he’d cranked up his efforts to hunt down those who remained within the Cleric’s Rebellion. Even today, an execution was set to start in under half an hour and a flurry of courtiers swept past her, walking in the direction of the throne room and guessing among one another who else from the Niyarre, Tareek, Uma, Windemyr, and Liander bloodlines had been found guilty of treason.
“They are like ravening wolves,” Rassa said, the horror clear in her voice. The younger female had grown up insulated from the most brutal aspects of court politics. Her parents were servants in Sylas’s manor house, which was far removed from court and that he’d visit whenever he needed a respite. Kadeesha had taken to doing the same occasionally, which was how she’d met Rassa, who’d wanted more out of life than to pass an eternity trapped in the monotony of the kingdom’s hinterlands. However, Rassa’s sequestered upbringing sometimes caused her to forget certain vital truths that were essential to survival.
“Brutality runs deep among fae ofanycourt, ours included,” Kadeesha said. “The only difference between southern and northern fae is that we southern courts let our savageries play out more quietly and we typically do not make spectaclesout of violence.” Although there were exceptions, such as her wedding.
“Right.” A flush colored Rassa’s tan cheeks at needing to be reminded.
“It’s okay. You’re still learning and there’s a lot of knowledge to accrue,” Kadeesha said soothingly.
“I’ve sat in on a couple days’ worth of executions,” Leisha said without a hint of remorse for those whom Malachi was offering up to Nyaxia. “Everyone who faces execution is a part of the cabal that tried to kill our princess twice and hurt Samira. The swift deaths Malachi and his Cadre are doling out aren’t nearly enough penance in my book.”
Kadeesha swallowed down the bloodthirsty inclination that she shared with Leisha. She had let that aspect of her run loose more than enough before and after the challenge. While it was necessary to go there at times, she was cautious not to make it an ever-present routine response, unlike Malachi who was completely comfortable with it being his default response.
And yet you yearn for him every time he’s near and even in his absence, so what does that say about you?asked a miserable voice. Kadeesha would’ve liked to shove it and any cursed thoughts of Malachi aside, yet it was an impossible task while she walked among his palace. Even when Malachi was nowhere around, his very energy seemed to saturate the place. Or maybe he’d become that extensively lodged into her psyche. Kadeesha scowled at the latter prospect as she and her Nkita approached one of Malachi’s Cadre. Since Malachi was preoccupied, he hadn’t been playing escort to Kadeesha and her squadron during training sessions with their kongamatos. For the last six days, he’d sent one of his inner circle in his stead. First, it’d been Trystin. The court’s grand duke had stood in the palace’s main entry hallafter a servant had delivered a note from Malachi to Kadeesha’s room that informed her of the meeting spot. She could freely admit that Trystin’s more affable manner while collecting the kongamatos from the aerie and then in the arena wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as ruffling Malachi’s feathers with Zahzah.
Next, it’d been the raven-haired Shionne—the female who bore a blade-sharp beauty and as lethal a bearing hadn’t been unpleasant, but she’d been mostly silent and aloof. So had the slate-eyed, hulking male with the short golden hair named Dedrick when he’d played escort the next day. And … once again neither individual was as rousing as having Malachi around; it was a revelation that needled Kadeesha to no end.
On the fourth and fifth days, Nychelle had been downright intimidating as an escort. The entire time in her presence, Kadeesha hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of needing to impress the regal Ancient fae, and it had been nerve-wracking enough to make her uncharacteristically nauseous during bouts of flying. She was relieved to see that Jakobi waited for them in the entry hall today. Leisha, however, had the opposite reaction. She made a sound of annoyance when beholding the handsome male with chiseled features, locs accented with a silver filigree, and a surliness that made Leisha bristle whenever the two came into contact.
“I would’ve taken anyone buthim,” Leisha spat without bothering to lower her voice. In fact, she made sure it carried across to where Jakobi leaned against a tapestry hanging from the wall, hands shoved into the pockets of his dark blue tunic.
He winked at Leisha as they approached. “Too bad nobody gives a shit about what you want around here.”
Leisha palmed the naked battle axes hanging at her sides. When they stood before Jakobi, she took an additional steptoward the male and told him, “I look forward to the day when I have an excuse to split you open like a boar.”
Jakobi’s broad, dimpled grin had Leisha working her jaw in a visible effort not to unhook her axes. “Only in your dreams. I am flattered that I take up so much space in your thoughts.” He raked a lascivious look down the length of Leisha that was meant to unsettle her.
Kadeesha assumed he thought he’d induce some appalled or abashed response, and she chuckled as Leisha returned an utterly unperturbed expression and said, “My dreams aren’t wasted on males with an overinflated sense of self that’s surely compensating for them severely lacking in other areas.” Leisha flicked a pointed glance at his crotch.
Jakobi swiped a thumb across his bottom lip, gray eyes darkening with fury. Leisha flicked her auburn braid over her shoulder as if suddenly bored. “We have someplace to be, so please get on with escorting us there,” she said succinctly.
