Most heads nodded back at me but, on the other side of Ephaltes, Marcella’s wrinkled face turned to a frown. She stood up and faced Eris. “House Aurap is not satisfied with the power such a council will give to the smaller houses.”
I groaned as Eris answered over her cousin’s head. “Only because you want to hoard the power for yourself!”
Marcella’s brother jumped to his feet. “Show some respect for the higher nobility!”
Across the table, Platano yelled out without standing, “Respect is earned. Prove you deserve it.”
Marcella sneered at the younger lord. “We don’t have to prove anything to you. House Volucris is barely even nobility.”
Platano flicked his fingers at Marcella and dust coalesced into six crickets that peppered her face before disintegrating and falling apart around her head. Marcella spread her hands, readying to retaliate with her own weaponized air.
I stood, flooding the room with my own magic. Black shadows curled around every house representative, reminding them exactly who had the most power in the room. The last thing thismeetingneeded was to devolve into a magical fistfight.
Darkness wrapped around every fae and pressed particularly hard against Marcella, her brother, and Platano. Everyone seated themselves again, facing me.
I eased the pressure from my magic, but did not allow the room to return to the full brightness it had when I’d arrived.
Dedalus slammed a fist against the table. “Burn it all, Bylur,” he grumbled. “This is absurd.” He waved at Marcella. “Two days ago, you argued in favor of the council when Sadina voiced the exact same concern about empowering smaller houses. Now you oppose?”
Marcella’s face twisted, as if she wasn’t quite sure of her answer. Her words came out prim and controlled this time. “I’ve reconsidered my position.”
Dedalus turned to me. “You should just announce the council as the next governance and force everyone to conform.”
I flexed my hand on the table in front of me, making sure my voice did not betray the extreme frustration I felt. “I will have an accord. If I force you all to agree, I might as well be king.”
Taedo stirred. “Nobody would complain about that. Everyone agrees you’re an improvement over the Snow Queen.”
I clenched my hand and watched their eyes shift to my fist. “I do not want to rule a coerced people. If the noble houses of Kalshana choose the council, the fae of this kingdom will abide by its governance far better than if they are forced to follow my rule.”
Heads started nodding again. I made eye-contact with them all, nodded back, and finally faced the scowling heads of House Aurap. “Marcella, what would alleviate your concerns about potential power imbalances?”
Marcella stood up and started making arguments that we’d discussed a thousand times. My mind drifted to the woman behind the wall behind my back. What must she think of this chaos?
Chapter 19: Auria
Iran my hand along the banister as I traveled the magical sconce-lit corridor toward what I hoped was the stairwell up to our rooms. I hadn’t been down this hall before but a map of the castle had been forming in my mind a little better every week, and I was pretty sure this direction took me to the tower.
My thumb rubbed over tiny bump after tiny bump on the railing as I walked. I expected to recognize the path soon, and the council meeting that had just ended intruded on my thoughts—the sixth council meeting I’d watched. They’d all been ridiculous. People would agree one day and disagree the next. I’d expected each meeting to be the last, but then the next one started with another complaint. If I were Bylur, I’d want to rip my hair out and send them all home.
They might all see him as a potentially powerful tyrant, but I could only respect the way he didn’t lash out—
My thumb hovered on a bump that was not set as tightly as the others. I bent over to get a better look at it. The bumps were not just texturing in the railing. They were little tiny diamonds.
Impossible. Who studded their railings with diamonds?
I needed to pull one out and look at it in better light to be sure.
Of course, the other five decorative diamonds I’d pulled out to examine had all been real. This was acastle, after all.
I couldn’t help it. I stuck one of my lock picks under the edge of the jewel and wedged it out of its setting. It popped out, and I tucked it into my pocket, along with the pick.Thank you, Brittania.I would take it outside tomorrow.
I turned to follow the corridor again, but tendrils of dark shadows curled around the railing. I pulled my hand back and clutched it to my chest. It had to be Bylur, but I would never get used to shadows that looked like they lived and breathed.
“Do not turn around.” Bylur’s voice was harder than normal, almost as stiff as when he’d caught me stealing.
Oh no. Not stealing again.
I grabbed the railing in front of me and gripped it hard. I would not turn around, not even with the threat of an angry Bylur.
