“Why him?” Evelyn asked.
“Moeller is the councilor we’ve traditionally worked with,” Lord Grégory explained. “He’s quite knowledgeable and trains fae in Lochmatten on how to use their magic.”
“Not everyone on the isle is willing to collaborate with outsiders,” Lord Nicolas added.
“I’ll give up drinking the day Wendell steps foot on the continent,” Lord Robert said, slumping into the chair on Evelyn’s other side.
“And Ritter is too young to be especially helpful,” Lord Stuart said.
A shiver went up Evelyn’s spine at the mention of Haydn.
The night of the ball, he told me, “I haven’t lied to you. Can you say that about everyone else here?” That was before I found out the truth about Leo.
Haydn asked me to go to Lochmatten and marry him. I won’t, obviously. I barely know him. But at least Haydn knows what he wants.
Evelyn shook the thought out of her head. “What about the fourth councilor?”
“Heinrich,” Lord Grégory said. “He’s… I don’t know. Robert?”
“No one bloody knows what Heinrich does,” Lord Robert grumbled through a mouthful of food. “They never gave us any explanation after he blew up that ship.”
“He destroyed a ship?” Hannah asked. “Whose was it?”
“One of King Nolan’s, actually,” King Tristan said. “It was centuries ago. Lochmatten swore up and down that it was an accident, some experiment gone wrong, but wouldn’t say anything more than that.”
“Where did it happen?” Evelyn asked.
“The ship was docked near Darstellen, Lochmatten’s capital. Thankfully, only a couple people were on board at the time.”
Evelyn gasped. “Heinrich killed two people?”
“That’s why the Kennedys didn’t work with Lochmatten much after that.”
“So how do we know they will help us now and not blow up the palace?”
“We trust Councilor Moeller,” Lord Grégory said kindly. “Many of his former students live and work in Gryon, like the Spell Breakers who have been helping us already.”
Leo walked into the room.
“Good morning!” Hannah’s voice was sickly sweet.
Leo gave her a small smile and Evelyn’s anxiety made another appearance.
He doesn’t want to be with her. He wants me.
“Are you hungry?” Evelyn asked. “Lord Robert ate all the bacon, but there’s still plenty of food.”
Lord Robert snorted unapologetically and cleaned bacon grease off his fingers with a cloth napkin.
“No, I’m fine,” Leo said.
Why won’t he look at me?
Lord Grégory cleared his throat. “There’s something we should all discuss. Do you have some spare time this morning?”
Leo sighed. “Sure.”
“Great! Let’s go upstairs,” King Tristan suggested. “Girls, you can keep yourselves busy for an hour, right?”
