Finally feeling like myself again, I stride into the meeting with my spine straight and my head held high. Draven follows and closes the door behind us. Everyone else is already there.
On one side, Rin, Diana, and Ejnare are standing, wearing dragon scale armor in the color of their respective clans, while the leaders of the fae rebellion in the Seelie Court are clustered together opposite them. They’re casting wary glances at the many dragon shifters in the room before also shooting looks of confusion and disbelief towards the Dryad Queen and Lavendera, who are standing a short distance from them.
Our friends are spread out across the room. Galen is standing close to the door while Lyra has taken a seat at the table. Alistair is scowling at the nervous leaders of the fae rebellion, looking incredibly unimpressed. By the window, Isera and Orion are leaning back against the windowsill, their expressions unreadable as they watch the rest of the room.
“Alright, I know we all have history,” I begin as I come to a halt in front of the round table in the middle of the room. “Butlet’s put that aside for now and focus on what matters. Finishing this war.”
The leaders of the fae rebellion all snap their gazes to me, looking shocked that I’m taking the lead in this meeting. I sweep my gaze over the room. This very familiar room that I was never allowed inside.
We’re in a spacious meeting room upstairs from a tavern. A large, round table with chairs around it takes up most of the floor space, but there are a few shelves along the walls, as well as a fireplace at the back of the room.
I used to sit on a cold stool on the street outside, wrist-deep in fish guts, while the important members plotted and schemed in here. I wanted to help with that too, but because of my magic type, our leaders never trusted me, so they kept me stuck as a lookout the entire time.
But I have always wanted a seat at this table.
So now, I pull out a chair and take it.
The leaders of the resistance exchange a glance, but none of them dare to say anything. I deliberately turn towards them and lock hard eyes on them.
“Have a seat,” I say, a hint of challenge in my voice.
They clear their throats awkwardly and glance away before hesitantly drifting over to the table. Chairs scrape against the floor as they, followed by everyone else, sit down as well.
Once we’re all seated, I look from face to face. “We need to press the advantage. Right now. Before Jessina has a chance to recover.”
“She’s right,” Diana agrees. Her purple dragon scale armor shifts slightly as she leans forward and braces her forearms on the table. “I’ve never seen Empress Jessina this off-kilter before. We can’t give her even a second to catch her breath.”
“Was this part of the plan?” Vestra, one of the leaders of the fae resistance, asks. Her gaze darts to me for a second before shedecides to look at the others instead. “Kill Emperor Bane in order to make Empress Jessina lose her mind so that she becomes careless and out of control, which would make it easier to kill her?”
When she puts it like that, I feel like that probablyshouldhave been our original plan. But technically, we had wanted to kill Jessina first since Bane is easier to predict. Vestra doesn’t need to know that, however.
So I just reply, “Yes.”
“Jessina’s greatest strength is her ability to plot and carry out complex schemes,” Draven picks up. “But now that she has lost Bane, she will be reacting on pure emotion. It gives us an unprecedented opportunity to finish this war without having to play a careful, long-term game. We need to hit her hard and fast with everything we have before she can process her grief and shock.
Yerion, who is another leader of the fae resistance, narrows his eyes in suspicion. “Someone who is consumed by grief and revenge is a very deadly adversary.”
“Indeed,” Draven confirms. “Jessina is ten times more dangerous when she is this unhinged, but she is also more likely to make mistakes.”
“But wouldn’t it have been better to?—”
“Bane is already dead,” I interrupt in a hard voice, cutting Yerion off. “Now, we need to kill Jessina. And we need to do that before her unhinged rage sharpens into something more cunning and lethal.” I level a commanding stare full of challenge on all of my former leaders. “Get on board or get out.”
They all gape at me, wide-eyed. As if they can’t believe their eyes or their ears. To be fair, I don’t blame them. The last time they saw me, I was an anxious people pleaser who never stood up for myself and always twisted myself into knots trying to get people to like me. I have come a long way since then.
Tension crackles through the room for a few seconds as theyjust continue staring at me, their expressions full of confusion and hesitation.
Then they clear their throats and drop their gazes.
And damn it feels good.
For years, I have craved power and respect. I want the acknowledgment I never received. I want them to realize that they made a mistake when they sidelined me.
It’s petty and vindictive, but I don’t care. The rage that I have been holding back for decades is already roaring freely in my soul. There is no putting it back now. I resent the way these people treated me, and it’s time they know that.
“We need to draw her away from Frostfell,” Galen picks up, smoothly moving the conversation along after my interruption. “Not only because fighting over a city is problematic, but also because we need to meet her on terrain that suits us more than it suits her.”
“Agreed,” Draven says. “We should?—”
