Lady Kenneth stacked the books and lifted them,holding them tight to her chest. “I’m going to research counter-rituals and protective measures in the library. If the historical accounts are accurate, I may discover evidence of previous courts forming defenses against The Purists.”
“How effective might they be?” Dominic asked. “We don’t have much time.”
“I’m not sure that I’ll be able to find something that might be helpful.” She strode toward the door. “But I’ll do what I can and return with anything useful.”
After she left, silence settled inside the office. Dominic went over to stare out a window while I organized my notes, trying to process the scope of what we’d learned.
The most dangerous enemies are those who hide in plain sight, Savory said, flapping her wings before tucking them against her sides.
“Our trap could trap us instead,” I said quietly. “This person has had years to prepare. Our plan with the fresh flowers suddenly seems much too naive.”
Dominic turned from the window. “Should we cancel the festival?”
“And give them exactly what they want?” I shook my head. “If we back down, we become a court cut off from emotional celebration, already weakened and demoralized. That might be even better for them than the Grand Severance ritual.”
“So we should proceed.” He walked back to the desk. “But how do we catch someone this sophisticated with a plan they may see coming?”
I tapped my pencil against my notebook. “Perhaps we should set more than one trap, create multiple contingencies, layers of surveillance and intervention.”
“The fresh flowers are still useful bait.Even someone this careful will have to respond to new plants being introduced.”
“But we can’t rely on that alone.” I made quick notes. “We need magical monitoring, physical observation, and backup plans if our primary trap fails.”
We spent the next hour working through possibilities.
You’re both thinking too small,Savory said.This person has spent years building toward this festival. That’s when they’ll make their move, not before.
I told Dominic what she’d said.
“She’s right.” My sigh rang out. “The fresh flowers might draw them out long enough to note where they are and how they might access them, but I bet the real confrontation will come during the celebration itself.”
“We need to be ready for both,” he said. “If we can catch them before the festival, great. But we should have contingencies in place for during the event itself.”
“Our emotional connection counteracts the dampening. If we position ourselves strategically throughout the celebration, we might be able to protect the court’s emotional magic even if we haven’t caught them yet. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than letting the Grand Severance succeed.”
The stakes had grown impossibly high. This wasn’t just about solving a mystery or saving a festival. We were fighting to preserve the emotional magic of the entire court.
A knock at the door interrupted us. The gardener stepped inside at Dominic’s call.
“Your Majesty, I’ve brought the fresh plants you requested,” he asked. “Where would you like them placed?”
Dominic and I exchanged a look. The traps were ready to be set, whether we felt prepared or not.
“The greenhouse,” Dominic said. “We’ll replace the dying ones with the new ones.”
“Very well, Sire.”
“We’ll be down shortly to supervise their arrangement,” Dominic added as the gardener backed into the hall.
After the door had shut, we finalized our plans in hushed voices. Magical surveillance spells keyed to alert us of any activity. Savory positioned for aerial reconnaissance. Us remaining close enough to respond right away.
“This feels inadequate against someone who’s been planning for years,” I said. “How can we make it better?”
“I think this could work.” He stroked my back. “We have something The Purists didn’t account for.”
“What’s that?”
“Genuine partnership. Real emotional connection. Their whole philosophy is based on emotional magic being a weakness. They won’t expect it to be our greatest strength.”
