Merrick’s heart swelled in his chest when Lessia’s eyes landed on his for a moment, her taut shoulders dropping an inch, before she spoke again, her voice lowering. “As you can see, I do not seek power. I amgladIviry is the one to shoulder the responsibility of leading Vastala for now, and you should all know that had I been offered a vote that day, I would have voted for her. For too long the Rantziers ruled with their iron fist, and that rule ended with my uncle. My sister and I are the only ones left of the bloodline, and neither of us, nor any of our children, will seek a throne ever again. That I promise you.”
When Lessia mentioned children, her eyes found hisagain, and he fought the urge to sprint to her side, taking her into his arms and never letting go.
They could have that now.
A family. Children. A future.
He’d barely dared to believe it whenever he woke up with her in his arms the past few days… but every morning there she was, her long hair tangled and eyes sleepily narrowed when she peeked at him.
A lump wrangled its way into Merrick’s throat, and as he tried to clear it, Loche of all people clapped him on his back, whispering, “She’s pretty amazing.”
Catching the regent’s gray eyes, Merrick nodded, and when Loche shot him a quick smile, not the smirk Merrick had gotten used to, he realized… the human had somehow become a friend.
Stepping forward, Loche declared, “She is telling the truth. Elessia has confirmed to both me and the leader of Vastala that she and her sister have decided to give up the Rantzier name—to let it fade into oblivion. However, I and…”
Merrick could tell it took Loche a lot of effort to meet Iviry’s eyes, and he wondered for a moment what had happened between them since the battle, but the thought slipped away when Loche continued.
“Iviry and I have asked Elessia to be part of a council we hope to build, one that spans both Vastala and Ellow—at least until the threats against our realm have been quelled. She agreed under one condition: that we have a hard and honest conversation about what to do with the prisoners. That is why she is here leading the conversation today. That is also why we need to begin with this matter.”
More whispers and hushed conversations mountedacross the room, people looking at each other, tension clawing its way through the room as they tried, from the fragments Merrick picked up, to understand what a joint council meant.
He caught Raine stepping closer to Lessia’s sister when the murmur increased in volume, the people seeming to close in on them as some of the more outraged calls began bouncing against the black walls.
“A joint council? But it was the Fae who tried to kill us!”
“Why would we let out the prisoners? They’re a threat!”
“We should kill them all like they tried to do to us!”
“We can’t trust anyone but our own kind!”
Merrick rushed to Lessia’s side when a few humans broke from the crowd, waving their fists toward Loche, the firelight flickering over their furious faces.
Ardow and Amalise followed the men approaching the regent, but it wasn’t anger that twisted their features or drove their feet to nearly fall into a run until they sidled up beside him.
It was worry—worry for the incredible female by his side. One that resounded within Merrick as more of the whispers included Lessia’s name, and he stepped closer yet to her when he caught more gazes drawing their way.
“Stand down,” the regent growled when the men nearing him came too close. His masked soldiers crowded around them, driving them backward. “I am still your leader, and I will decide what we do!”
But more humans started toward Loche’s masked men, and soon they were surrounded, forcing the dark-haired leader to shuffle backward to avoidgetting crushed by those slipping through the wall of men lined up to protect him.
“Enough!” Dedrick Reinsdor—the Fae noble who’d been trapped between the wave and the inlet on the island—called over the ruckus of the Fae, who also pressed forward, primarily toward Merrick and the rest. “The Reinsdors stand with Elessia. We came only as witnesses, and she saved us! When we wouldn’t fight for her, she died for us! And we saw… when death chased us toward the humans and shifters and half-Fae, we saw that we are one! We die and hurt and fear as one.”
“You betrayed your own kind, Reinsdor,” someone snarled beside Dedrick, and Merrick pulled Lessia behind him when a torrent of wind rushed through the room, making the sparks from the fireplaces fly higher. “You swore an oath to our king, and then you betrayed it! How do we know you won’t do the same thing again? That you won’t turn on your people for a halfling?”
Another Fae chimed in. “We’ve heard of her mind games, that just meeting her eyes means you fall under her influence… Does she have you under her spell, Dedrick? Is that why you chose to side with her?”
Concurring calls echoed amongst the Fae, and Merrick’s head whipped back and forth as more magic tinged the air, sparks of fire, drops of water, and other, stranger kinds sticking to the wind as the Fae moved as one into the room.
“Watch out!”
“That’s magic! They’re breaking the treaty!”
“They’re going to kill us!”
Several humans began drawing their weapons, calling out to each other to be ready over the rattles of metal, even as Iviry and Loche tried to calm their people,screaming out orders into the chaos as both sides drew toward the middle of the space.
Merrick’s muscles locked and unlocked, his gaze flying everywhere to ensure no one would surprise them, and his fingers twitching toward the sword on his back, ready to cut down anyone who even breathed too close to Lessia.
