Enthusiastic clapping and foot-stomping sounded from the Cerulean side of the room.
“Notagain,” said a loud voice. A few laughed in response.
Scarlett’s eyes darted toward the man who’d spoken—a handsome and impeccably groomed Goldenrod sitting near the front. She didn’t need her powers to know his opinion. As expected, black smoke was dominant above his head. She smiled at him, but he didn’t meet her gaze.
On the broader Goldenrod side, there was a considerable amount of black smoke, but also more gold than she expected. Scarlett tried her best to memorize the faces of the opposition who might be open to working with her as she pivoted back to Soleil’s well-being. As expected of the hundred peers sitting on the Cerulean side of the room, gold smoke rose above the majority, with only a few wisps of black.
Scarlett went on. “In regard to the news about Sigur Viður, I look forward to seeing the evidence. I’m particularly interested in learning why it took weeks to have this breakthrough.”
She looked around the room and found all eyes on her. The murmurs had died down. Scarlett hesitated. Would what she wanted to say get Brayden in trouble? No—she’d seen in the news this morning that the situation in Evory was public knowledge now.
She continued. “I just returned from Clair de Lune, where their attention is on the escalation between Evory and Sigur Viður.Why would Sigur Viður want to make enemies of two powerful countries simultaneously? Separatism and warmongering are not how I wish to avenge my father.”
“It’s disgusting to hear you make excuses for your father’s killers,” said the same lord who’d spoken dismissively about her comments on the border. This time she didn’t even glance his way.
Her words were bold, she knew. She was far from the best briefed in the room—or was she? No one else had heard about the likelihood of war from the future head of the Clair de Lune military. The other peers stared back at her with shock and what looked like respect. A mix of black and gold rose above them, but to her satisfaction, the gold was more prominent. Not bad considering she’d just slagged off the Soleil Bureau.
“As I said, I look forward to seeing the bureau’s evidence. I’m still grieving my father’s death, but in spite of recent events, I believe in Soleil’s bright future. Lady Ashworth, thank you for the warm welcome. To all my peers, I look forward to working together.”
As she finished, the gold smoke overtook even more of the black.
Most of them liked my speech!
There was a round of applause and the thunderous noise of feet stamping the ground from the Ceruleans as she made her way back to her seat. All the tension left Scarlett’s body. She’d dominated her first parliamentary address. As she passed Moira, the woman lifted her chin, her lips pressed tight into a thin line.
“Exceptionally well-done speech for an off-the-cuff introduction,” Elestine whispered to her, looking pleased. “I don’t think Moira expected you to rebuttal her politicking. I’ll say, you’ve got all the charisma Jules had and maybe a touch more, if that was any indication.”
The compliment made Scarlett warm with pleasure. She lovedbeing compared to her dad.
“Thanks, although I still had a heckler. Who was he?”
“That’s Lord Federsin. You can give up on winning him over. He’s as dogmatic as they come.”
“Seemed that way,” said Scarlett. He’d probably be annoying her every day from now on.Welcome to Parliament.
“Well done, Scarlett,” said Alastair from her other side. Scarlett ignored him.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Thank you, Lady Heroux. Let’s get into the evidence,” said Moira as she shuffled some papers at the podium. “Operatives from Sigur Viður orchestrated the assassination on Lord Heroux. There are at least seven Sigur Viður agents implicated, and they snuck into the country via magical means.”
There were rumbles of anger from several peers. Scarlett listened to Moira’s rhetoric with rapt attention, dissecting each word.
“At first I thought they might have been terrorists acting alone,” she continued. “But the evidence described by the bureau shows the murder was premeditated, politically motivated, and sanctioned by their government. They don’t want Soleil allying with other countries. The appropriate response to such flagrant interference in our democracy is to declare war.”
The lords and ladies of Parliament listened as she went on to outline a detailed proposal for military action.
War? Oh no. She’s moving way too fast. We need to stop this.Scarlett clenched her fists as Elestine gave the Ceruleans’ rebuttal. Her stomach churned. If her father were alive, he’d be horrified to hear that bombs might be dropped in his name.
“Lady Ashworth is right. We should respond with strength,but we must also act with one hundred percent irreproachable certainty. Wemustbe sure, and how can we be, when we haven’t yet taken the time to view the evidence? I’m all for swift and decisive action, but we simply must shelve any vote to declare war until we’ve heard testimony from the bureau.”
“When will that happen?” shouted Lord Buckland.
“I shall arrange it for this afternoon,” said Elestine.
“Why aren’t they herenow?” demanded Lord Buckland. “We needimmediateevidence andimmediateretaliation.”
