“If you do not stand with us, we willallhave an issue with the Engrossians.” I pointed to the note. “She is only beginning.”
“That remains to be seen, Ophelia?—”
“It’sRevered, sir.” Tolek’s harsh voice echoed between the pillared wall, carrying out over the mountains. “I advise you respect the name of the leader the Angel has chosen.”
The Mindshaper looked Tol up and down, eyes narrowed, and I hated something within that stare. “Should I now?”
Aird crossed one knee over the other, leaning back. His thick frame filled the wooden chair as he stroked his beard, platinum hair falling in a curtain around his shoulders.
I gave Tolek a grateful look but shook my head for him to back down.
“Thank you for your opinion in the matter of my appointment, Chancellor.” I turned away from Aird, folding my hands atop the table. “Are there any who are in agreement?”
My heartbeat thundered so loudly behind my ribs, I was certain everyone would hear it. At my elbow, the Bind tingled. A hint of encouragement from Malakai that lifted my chin.
“The Soulguiders’ position hasn’t shifted since yesterday.” Meridat stared at the note from the Engrossian queen, eyes as sharp as the scythes of her people. When she looked at me, sweeping her long braids over a dark shoulder, the many rings and fine bronze chains across her body caught the sun. “We stand with you, Revered Alabath.”
My chest loosened a fraction.
One vote. Two with my own.
“Thank you.” A blush warmed my chilled skin.
I looked to Brigiet and Ezalia—the Bodymelder and Seawatcher I’d told my father would be our most ambiguous opponents—and silently willed every bit of hope into my gaze. It all rested on the shoulders of these two women, and the Starsearcher beside them.
Brigiet’s eyes flickered around the room, landing on a map of the continent hung at one end. Her movements were precise as she rose, the fluidity of the Bodymelders marking each step. She didn’t sayanything, running a finger along the painted white flowers bordering the image, then the gold frame surrounding it.
As the Bodymelder considered, Ezalia lifted her pointed chin, breaking her thoughtful trance with Kakias’s note. Dark brown hair framed her sun-tanned face. She looked directly into my eyes with a sea-glass stare, voice as crisp as a breeze off the Neptitian Sea. “I’m not sure if you know this, Ophelia, but my family has always supported the Alabath line. We’ve led the Seawatchers in a nearly smooth rule dating back to the Angels.” I held my breath as she scanned the room. “The Alabaths are the most historically strong, diplomatically fair, and utterly proven bloodline of the Mystique Warriors. That much is not up for debate between us as members of the Rapture.”
“No one has argued against the Alabaths, Ezalia,” Aird scoffed. The glare she cast him could cut glass.
The Mindshaper withered.
“As I was saying.” Ezalia looked back to me. “The Seawatchers cannot offer you much by way of resources. But we can offer you support. You have my vote for appointment.”
She rose, coming around the speckled marble table to shake my hand. The bracelets adorning her wrists chimed against each other, coral and sea-green stones matching the ones embedded in her leathers.
Heat bloomed behind my ribs—a tumble of pride, surprise, and joy. I hadn’t expected Ezalia to be able to commit, not with how thin her ranks were. It wasn’t an alliance that would benefit my people much, but it mattered in this moment. It demonstrated a united front.
That only left Brigiet and Titus. The Bodymelder had been warming to our persuasions since her arrival, and with Santorina worming her way innocently into their hearts?—
But her full pink lips turned down, snapping my last stretch of hope.
“I’m sorry, Ophelia,” she began. The rest of her words reached me as though from the opposite end of a tunnel. “There doesn’t appear to be enough evidence from the logical perspective.”
Logic. Rina said present facts.My mind raced to gather them, but the conversation continued over me.
“Must every decision be made from a logical stance?” Meridat asked.
“My people don’t worship our Angel in the same way you do, Meridat. Neither do we hold allegiance to the Goddess of Death, like you; though I’m sure Artale appreciates your vote to support Ophelia. Our decisions are practicum fatale, a pillar of our practice.” Brigiet swallowed, but fixed her round eyes on me, apology thick in her voice. “I’m sorry about this.”
The meeting was slipping away from my control.
“Titus?” I stalled as I gathered arguments for Brigiet. Facts. Proof of my accolades and my ancestors’ before me?—
But when I turned to the Starsearcher, his grim nod froze my efforts.
“I’m aware many of you don’t understand the nature of Starsearching. Our readings are handed to us, much as the Soulguiders’ predictions of spirit deliverance are passed down from their Angel and Artale, but we deal in larger fates than one particular soul.
