Quick introductions were made between Rowan, the general, and the commander.
“We have gone through the usual procedures so far,” General Savatier explained. “The borders are closed, no one coming or going by land or sea. The lords of the four courts have been given updates with essential information. The Royal Army and the armies of the courts are tasked with locating Councilor Heinrich and his wife.”
“Tasia,” Evelyn corrected. “We can at least use her name, since she’s trying to kill us.”
“Of course,” Savatier said. “How do you want to proceed with Lochmatten? Two of their High Councilors are responsible for hundreds of deaths in the kingdom.”
“Councilor Moeller is still our ally,” Evelyn announced. “Wendell, too, if he decides to care. We need to get in touch with them. Moeller may have more insight into Heinrich’s and Tasia’s abilities and where they might be. The Legislative Council also offered to help us if our situation escalated. I think this counts. Can we send a couple army officers to Lochmatten?”
My mother was on the council. If what Moeller told me about her is right, she would provide aid to the kingdoms.
Savatier nodded. “Certainly. We’ll have a small delegation sail out today.”
“Tasia is from Velletri,” Damien reminded them. “Are we concerned about that? They aren’t necessarily our enemies, but Tricksters don’t collect allies, either.”
The general glared at him for interrupting the meeting, but Damien was focused on Evelyn.
“We probably can’t expect them to help us,” Evelyn said. “But we should tell them the basics of what happened. We should tell all of the other lands, really. If Heinrich and Tasia leave the continent, wherever they end up should be aware of their crimes.”
“Are you putting a bounty on their heads?” Damien asked.
“Can we? Shouldn’t we?”
“We can,” Magalie confirmed, “if you want the world to know what happened here.”
“I want the world to know that the deaths of the Kennedys and Ducasses were because of Ritter and his accomplices, not because of something inherently wrong with our kingdoms.”
Damien smiled proudly at Evelyn’s declaration.
“We will notify the other lands,” Savatier agreed.
Rowan had the next question. “Did you already talk to the men we captured?”
“Yes. They are both originally from Lochmatten, as were the rest of the men. But they have all lived in Gryon for years.”
“Moeller needs to know about that, too,” Evelyn said.
“They seem to have very little information about the specifics of Ritter and Heinrich’s plans. We are trying to determine if the men’s loyalty was influenced by magic or bribery, or if they simply wanted to be part of a rebellion.”
“Ritter said he threatened fae with Vision magic into making the illusions,” Evelyn remembered.
“Fontaine mentioned that,” Savatier said. “We questioned most of Pointe-Rosemère after the missing soldiers were found, but no one said anything about being threatened.”
“They might be more willing to talk now that Ritter is dead,” Evelyn guessed. “I think we should interview everyone in the kingdom with Vision magic, not just those in the city.”
“That’s a quarter of the population,” Magalie said.
“Lord Nicolas will help us,” Damien promised. “The Vision Court’s army can do a lot of the work within their territory, leaving us to track down everyone else.”
“That sounds manageable,” Savatier said. “What do we do when we find the people who helped Ritter?”
“They didn’thelphim,” Evelyn snapped. “Ritter made it clear they didn’t have a choice if they valued their lives. The people who wereforcedto do Ritter’s bidding have our protection in exchange for information.”
The general looked appropriately chastised. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Can you send word to Carrowmore about how I ended up here in the middle of the night?” Rowan requested. “I assume someone noticed I’m gone and…” Rowan trailed off as his expression darkened.
Someone probably noticed the missing prince’s dead girlfriend covered in blood in his bed.
