Prince Severin stirred from his position at the head of the room. “Baris has proven its exceptional strength and its power of foresight. But not every country can do what Barisdid.”
“Arcainia did.” Princess Astra shifted her gaze from Angelique to Gabrielle and then Elise. “Twice. Once with the ogre, and once with awitch.”
“Indeed,” Puss all but chortled with glee. “But Arcainia has proven to have an exceptionally smart royalfamily.”
“Puss,” Gabrielle hissed. “You’re nothelping!”
Thankfully, Crown Prince Steffen—Gabrielle’s husband—smiled handsomely and chose to break the growing tension. “May I assume that I am included in my family as being exceptionally smart?” the princeasked.
“On average, no,” Puss said. “However, youdidmake one brilliant decision in your life which negatesthat.”
“Marrying Gabrielle?” Crown Prince Steffenguessed.
“Naturally,” Pussagreed.
Many laughed—as the prince likely meant for them to. He dramatically rolled his eyes, until Gabrielle took his hand and rested it on the table. His warm love and affection for his wife broke through the act, and he raised Gabrielle’s hand to kissit.
“Please, continue, Emperor Yevgeniy,” Prince Severin said when the laughtersubsided.
“I stand firm on my previous statement. If Kozlovka is to help with the efforts of this Summit, the sorcerer must be taken care of,first,” the emperor said. “Afterwards, we can provide troops and supplies, but I am not willing to discuss how many until a plan is put into place to eliminate thesorcerer.”
“Have you any other threats?” asked the bushy-haired King Godfrey of Torrens. (His presence alone was enough to make Angelique groan, for is was the King’sparentsthat Angelique knew quite well. Godfrey had been a mere child when she met his parents—who were blessedly still alive but had followed the Torrens’ custom of passing off rulership and abdicating before reaching their dotage.) “Any problems besides thesorcerer?”
Emperor Yevgeniy briefly bowed his head. “There has been an infestation of mountain hags for the past few winters, but they don’t concentrate in Kozlovaka. Rather they travel from the northern mountains and pass through, journeying south to otherlands.”
“This, Loire can confirm.” Severin shifted through several sheaves of papers. “Previous generations rarely saw mountain hags in our lands, but we’ve seen a marked increase the past fewyears.”
The debonair Colonel Friedrich rested his forearms on the table. “We’ve seen a few in Erlauf, aswell.”
“We can help combat them,” Emperor Yevgeniy said. “My troops are specially trained to fight them. But the sorcerermustbe taken care offirst.”
“We gotthat. You’ve told us at least three times now,” Prince Nickolas—aka Broken Nose Twin—scoffed. He grunted slightly when his youngest brother kicked him under thetable.
“I agree,” Princess Astra tilted her head back to study the Emperor with glittering eyes. “Though my feelings on the matter have already beenvoiced.”
Yevgeniy’s frown became morepronounced.
However, just as Angelique feared things might turn ugly, Prince Severinintervened.
“Kozlovka does indeed need help,” he said. “I acknowledge Baris’s strength and bravery, but the entire central government of Sole is shut down due to a curse cast by one rogue magic user. We must proceed withcaution.”
Most everyone nodded, and Severin’s shoulders relaxed. “Mage Firra and Mage Donaigh are present as unofficial representatives from Sole. They are tracking down the aforementioned rogue mage. Could the two of you give areport?”
“Certainly,” Donaigh said. “It’s going poorly, and we haven’t caught him. Theend.”
Though it sounded like a joke, no onelaughed.
“Not all of the Magic Knights of Sole were bespelled to sleep in Ciane,” Firra said, starting their real report. “They are forcibly holding the lines while the royal familysleeps…”
As Firra continued, Angelique felt the prod of eyes on her. She glanced around and met Severin’s cat-likestare.
The prince’s eyes flicked from Angelique to Emperor Yevgeniy and back again, before he finally settled his attention onFirra.
Angelique pressed her lips together.What are the chances that little eye flickdoesn’tmean the sorcerer is going to become a magic user’stask?
* * *
Angelique’s suspicionswere confirmed thatnight.
