Ignacio snorted as he tried to find a space to put the flowers. Elva wasn’t wrong. Since I’d returned to Elysia with Gray and announced my decision to accept the position as leader, our house had been inundated with guests. Gray, ever the social butterfly, looked ready to tear his hair out as his peace was invaded, but he put on his best grimace and directed people to me. Flowers and hugs. There had been a fair amount of cakes and pastries that had lifted Gray’s mood imperceptibly.
“You survived various attempts on your life and are now going to lead us all,” Ig said, finally finding a spot for his sunflowers after elbowing a vase of peonies off the mantlepiece.
“Asshole,” Gray muttered, clearing up the mess.
Ignoring him, Ig continued, “You have plenty to be proud of.”
My smile was tight. The achievement was a difficult one to swallow. Whilst everyone else was celebrating, I felt like a fraud. Throughout my life, I’d worked hard to get to where I was. This had been handed to me. I didn’t feel like I deserved to take on the role, but I knew there were good reasons to accept it.
“Ignacio is right.” Elva’s smile hadn’t faded. “Without you, Quentin, we’d have struggled for much longer. All the underlying resentment, all the fear and guilt, it would have eaten us away. We would have ceased to exist one by one and now, faith is strengthening again.”
“I keep telling people that you have James to thank for that,” I told her.
“We’ll be sure to favour him if he prays to us,” Elva assured me.
“Anyway,” Ig drew out the word. “We’ll keep this visit short and sweet because Gray is bordering on murderous again.”
Gray was leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. He didn’t look murderous, not like when others had stopped by and he wanted them gone, but something was clearly playing on his mind.
“I wanted to offer my services,” Ig started, and a black tendril creeped towards him.
“He’s definitely going to be murderous if you open the conversation like that.” I nodded my head back to my bound. “Behave.” And then to Ig, “Try again.”
“You’ll have a coronation,” Elva cut in. “A celebration for you and your council.”
“I haven’t even thought about who’ll be on it yet.”
“That’s okay. You still have time. I think Elysia is understanding that you’ll take longer since you don’t know everyone well enough yet.”
I hummed, pushing down on my discomfort. I knew the gifts were in part a way for the Gods to ingratiate themselves. A chance for them to put their faces in front of me in hopes of being chosen for one of the coveted seats.
Ig took a few steps towards me. “But for when you have everything sorted, you’ll need a crown.”
“A crown.”
“Yes, and I’ll be happy to help you design it. If you’ll let me.”
“You want to help me?”
“He’s one of the best,” Gray said, pushing himself away from the wall. “As much as I hate to admit it.”
“I mean, sure. I’m happy to accept any help that’s on offer,” I told him.
Elva shifted slightly in her seat. “We’ll do whatever you need to make this easier for you. Why don’t you come over tomorrow and we can go through some plans?” She looked up at Gray. “You’re welcome to come over as well, Gray.”
“As if I’d let her go anywhere on her own,” Gray muttered.
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “Thank you, Elva. I appreciate that.”
“We don’t want to overstay our welcome,” Ig said, throwing a look at Gray. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ig held out a hand towards Elva. She ignored him momentarily to pull me into another hug.
“I am proud of you, no matter what you think,” she whispered. “We can’t wait to see all you do for Elysia.”
I wasn’t capable of words, so I hugged her back and hoped that would be enough. Elva pulled away and joined Ig, wiggling her fingers in farewell before they both disappeared from our home. Without their presence, a silence settled in the room.
As I pushed myself off the sofa, Gray spoke. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
