"Casualties?"
"Two villages razed. Refugees flooding toward the Alacakaranlik Kiyilari. Lord Riza requests permission to engage."
Lord Riza. Whose loyalty shifted so unexpectedly.
"Tell Lord Riza to hold position. I don't trust anyone whose spine is that flexible. It's unnatural."
"My lord—" Emir hesitates in that way he does when he's about to annoy me. "If we don't reinforce the eastern provinces, you'll lose Dogu Gölgeleri and Gece Daglari. That's a third of our military."
"Then Taren times his attack beautifully. Someone should send him a thank you note. 'Dear Father-in-law, excellent strategic planning. Your daughter says hello and also she hates me. Warmest regards, The Monster.'" The joke tastes bitter. My shadows curl tighter around my boots, seeking comfort I can't provide.
Emir doesn't even crack a smile. No sense of humor, that man. Decades of friendship and he still doesn't appreciate my comedic genius.
"Lord Riza's loyalty is questionable," Elçin interjects, her voice cutting through the tension. "But his strategic position makes him essential. Isolate him now, and the eastern lords will interpret it as weakness. They'll fracture." She turns from the window to face me directly, unflinching under my shadowed gaze. "You need to make a show of unity. Summon all the faction lords. Remind them exactly who holds power here."
"I was just about to suggest that," I lie.
Her mouth twitches. "Of course you were."
"The declaration," I say to Emir. "Show me."
He slides a scroll across the table. I break Lord Taren's seal—that insufferable sun and shield—and read.
To Kaan Karanlikoglu, self-styled Lord of the Shadow Court...
"Self-styled?" I interrupt my own reading. "I murdered the previous Shadow Lord in single combat and took his throne. That's not self-styling, that's hostile acquisition with excellent follow-through."
...we hereby declare the blood covenant null and void. The death of the innocent heir—a child of prophecy whose life you willfully extinguished—constitutes breach of sacred trust.
My vision goes pleasantly red. Willfully extinguished. Charming.
Lady Nesilhan Alari is to be returned to her rightful family for her own protection. Your blight of the prophecy cannot be allowed to stand. You have until the next new moon to comply.
I read it twice more, searching for the real message beneath the formal accusations. Someone fed Taren this narrative. Someone wants war.
The door crashes open. Zoran strides in wearing Shadow Court blacks that still look wrong on him, like a priest trying on executioner's robes. My brother-in-law. The man seeking redemption for betraying my wife.
"I'll lead your forces," he announces. "Against my father's battalions. I'll prove my loyalty."
I blink at him slowly. "That's adorable. Really. Do you have any military experience beyond 'looking impressive in armor' and 'disappointing your sister'?"
Zoran's jaw tightens. "I commanded a unit in the Light Court for?—"
"A unit. Fascinating." I circle the table. "I'm about to mobilize seven armies from seven factions and defend against a three-pronged invasion. But sure, your experience with a unit is definitely relevant."
"I know their tactics," Zoran insists. "Their formations, their magic patterns. I can?—"
"You can betray them?" I stop close enough to see his pulse jumping. "That's what we're discussing, yes? You are raising a blade against your own father, your own people, to prove you've picked a side?"
"To protect Nesilhan." His voice drops, fierce and raw.
Well. That's almost touching. If I wasn't dead inside, I might feel something.
"He's right about the tactics," Elçin says, her tone pragmatic. "I've seen him fight. He knows Light Court formations better than anyone in this room except possibly me. His knowledge is valuable." She pauses. "Trust is a different question. But usefulness? That's quantifiable."
I study Zoran for a long moment, then turn to Elçin. "And you? What's your assessment of his loyalty?"
"Loyalty to Nesilhan? Absolute. He'd burn the world for her." Elçin's storm-gray eyes are clinical. "Loyalty to you? Irrelevant. He'll fight because protecting your kingdom means protecting her. That's enough."
