Raine didn’t have time to respond as he also walked through the door and was met by hundreds of Fae and humans standing on opposite sides of the war-torn ballroom—or at least he expected it was a ballroom, based on the stage in the back, the small balconies jutting out here and there above a circular floor, and the charred tapestries still floating in the wind that the broken windows let in.
A few steps ahead of their people, Iviry and Loche stood face-to-face, waiting for their group to take up their spots, judging from the looks they threw their way.
The two leaders weren’t facing each other in the way Raine had expected, though, given what they’d found out about themselves. No, Iviry seemed as if she wished to be anywhere but in Loche’s presence, and the regent… his gray eyes were everywhere but on the red-haired female before him.
That’s what idiots look like.
There was an ember of amusement in Kerym’s tone, one that Raine hadn’t heard in days, and he cast his friend a quick grin before following Elessia and Merrick as they approached the Fae and human.
It might not have been visible to everyone, but Raine noticed Elessia hesitate, her eyes moving between the side with humans and the one with Fae, before Merrick brushed his fingers across her palm and she inclined her head almost imperceptibly.
Elessia walked into the middle of the room and halted between the leaders, and they remained quiet for a moment, seemingly waiting for her to choose a side.
To her credit, the golden-brown-haired half-Fae only raised her chin, pulling Merrick up beside her and placing him at Loche’s side while she waved for Frelina to stand at her other side, closest to Iviry.
When Raine took the spot right behind her, Elessia opened her mind for a second to sayThank youbefore nodding to Kerym, standing behind Merrick, and the witch sisters, standing behind Frelina.
“Should we get started?” she asked.
Raine hid any surprise that it was Elessia’s voice that boomed through the room. She was apparently taking charge, and given Iviry’s and Loche’s mirrored nods… they were fine with it.
Perhaps they had even waited for it.
Chapter 3
Merrick
She was incredible.
He could feel nerves battling against the determination within her, but outwardly, Lessia seemed calm—seemed like the leader he had always known her to be.
Merrick remained still at Loche’s side as Lessia filled her lungs with air before slowly releasing it and stating, “I know we have many things to decide on today, but the most urgent is what we should do with the prisoners. They can’t stay in those horrible cellars, chained to the walls while this storm drowns them. Our cabins are wet and cold, but at least they have whole roofs. Those cells… No.”
Lessia shook her head as she cast a few glances over the crowd on either side, where low mutterings rose, whispering across the room. The Fae and humans shot distrustful looks across the space as they mumbled to each other, and Merrick didn’t bother listening to what he knew would be stupid fucking conversations.
Even though it was early afternoon, the ballroom was cast in dim light, with only the fireplaces on opposite sides of the room adding any brightness. It contorted the many faces on either side of them, making the people staring at the group seem almost haunting.
The tension in the room rose after Loche nodded at Lessia’s words, and Iviry appeared to mull them over, her eyes flying to some of the males she’d chosen to be part of her closest circle.
It was a charade he knew they needed to play, both sides having to cautiously listen to his mate because neither of their peoples trusted her, even if she’d just fucking saved them all.
It was a fragile truce that the humans and Fae clung to, and leaning on Lessia, the one person who ensured they were all here today, could be seen as choosing a side for the rulers. Which one, Merrick didn’t know, but it angered him to no end.
Humans and Fae were equally fucking stupid.
He truly understood today why Raine had run away to hide somewhere where he didn’t need to interact with either of them if he chose not to.
Merrick felt the air behind Iviry shift already before the Fae stepped forward, and he stiffened as his gaze locked with one of the Fae nobles, a tall male standing beside Dedrick Reinsdor.
“Why are you leading this discussion?” the Fae asked, his tone so superior Merrick hissed under his breath. “You’re… you’re not Fae, at least not entirely, and I understand you were cast out of Ellow? And it… it was your uncle who put us in this position.”
That fucking?—
Merrick took a step toward him, but froze whenLessia snarled “No” before stalking over by herself, and he had to fight for his life not to grin when she pushed her shoulders back, her eyes blazing not with fear but with resolve.
Driving a finger into the man’s chest, Lessia raised her voice enough that any lingering whispers quieted. “My name is Elessia, and I ambothFae and human.Iam one of the people leading this discussion because you all have messed it up for centuries, if not millennia.”
Lessia swept out an arm, first toward the Fae behind the male and then to the humans. “I took a dagger to the chest for you. I died for you. Forallof you. Fae and human and shifter… it doesn’t matter! When will you people see this? You keep making the same mistakes over and over and over! I am not here as a leader of either of the two peoples today. I am here to represent those who haven’t had a voice in Havlands: the halflings, the shunned ones, and yes, the shifters, because we drove them to this!”
