Steward Solomon looked around uneasily. “Where are Lord Zlodia and Lady Korva? It is past the time to begin.”
“We cannot start without them,” Lady Iris said, but not many shared her sentiment. I noticed many members of the Circle relaxed as they heard the two were missing, while others even let out sighs of relief.
So Zlodia and Korva did have a strong hand on this council. Very unfortunate.
Lady Magdalina sniffed. She despised when her time was wasted. “I have other things to do. The university requires my presence. We simply can’t wait all day.”
“We will give it time,” Steward Solomon said. “But we will not wait forever.”
Time passed. The Circle conversed, while Lady Magdalina stewed and complained that it was rude to be late. I anxiously counted the seconds, hoping Odette and Theo were holding Lady Korva and Lord Zlodia off. Elijah visibly sweated from his place at the front, but Gabby remained cool. She sent an icy stare at me, which I returned dispassionately.
We waited for half an hour, but they never showed. Steward Soloman waved his hand. “Lock the doors. We can’t wait for them any longer.”
The guards moved, and Elijah paled. It was nice to see he didn’t think he could do this without his parents. Gabby, I noticed, didn’t appear phased at all.
Steward Soloman turned to me. “As is tradition, there is an amulet that has been passed down from king to king throughout the centuries, beginning with the trials of competency. King Lycus had such a thing in his possession, and as is his right, it now belongs to Elijah. Do you have the amulet on you, Prince Ethan?”
I swallowed down a bitter twinge of hatred, and nodded. I got up from my seat and took from my pocket a silver amulet that circled a blue sapphire. It matched the one in Emma’s sword, and hung from a thick chain. Elijah’s eyes glittered greedily when he saw it.
Little did he know, it was a fake. The real amulet was tucked away in a drawer, somewhere upstairs in my room. My father had been wearing it the day he died, and no way was I giving it up. I’d spent the entire semester sneaking to the forge to create a replica. It’d taken a heavy chunk out of my royal savings to find a near identical sapphire, but I’d done it, and set the stone in place. It was a blasphemous crime to do such a thing, but I prayed the gods forgave me for it.
The most crucial thing about the amulet was the enchantment I’d put upon it. It wasn’t exactly a truth spell, as Elijah wouldn’t be forced to spill everything, but more or less an enchantment of honesty. The illusion wouldn’t last forever, but it’d hold up until the end of the trials. The object would make Elijah state his true intentions to the Circle. His dastardly, sick plans would be exposed, and the Circle would think him a maniacal dictator. They’d refuse to give him the crown, and the monarchy would be safe. I’d heard him spouting his awful ideas to everyone at lunch for weeks now. Once the Circle became aware of such things, they’d deny him the throne. He couldn’t lie his way out of this one, and butter up the Circle to slip him through.
I handed Elijah the amulet, and he hung it around his neck. As I sat down again, Elijah took Gabby’s hand in his, and the smile they gave each other made my insides quiver. These two made even love seem wrong.
“Elijah Zlodia, we’ll start with you,” Steward Solomon began. He removed his glasses and leaned forward. “You risked your life to enter the King’s Contest. But the Circle doesn’t allow anyone to sit on the throne— weestablishrulers. Why should the Arcanea follow you into a new future? Why did you put your life on the line, in order to become king?”
Elijah drew himself up. “The Arcanea have always based their society on strength,” Elijah said. “Fae used to determine who deserved to survive by sorting out those who were valuable to our society, and left behind those who were not.”
“Whatever do you mean by that?” Lady Iris asked. She cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward.
Elijah cleared his throat. “My lady, if I may, we used to be a strong country. But we aren’t anymore. We’ve allowed our family values to erode and sensitivity to become the rule of law rather than righteousness. Malovia has transformed into a country that cares more about people’sfeelingsthan doing what is right. Emotions do not negate the truth. It is time the people saw that.”
“And what is the truth?” Lord Morgane rumbled. His tone was curious as he observed Elijah.
Elijah smiled. “That the fae are the supreme heads of the supernatural world. And we deserve to rule over it.”
I expected shocked gasps to run throughout the Circle, but there were none. There were a few thoughtfulhmphs, and saw a couple nods. Horror began slithering over my skin, curling around my guts to squeeze me tight.
The amulet was working. Elijah was telling nothing but the truth. But though his words should’ve shocked the Circle— they weren’t. He was gainingfavor.
Lady Magdalina, thank the gods for her, scoffed. “How ridiculous. Are we seriously considering these asinine ideas?”
“Let him speak,” Lord Radcliffe said. Unlike his wife, Lady Iris, he seemed intrigued by the words Elijah spoke.
“Why shouldn’t we be the head supernatural race?” Elijah asked. “We can create whatever we want, with illusions that can become whatever we come up with. If we’ve been given this magic by the gods, this kind of favor, wouldn’t it be a sin not to use it?”
“You can’t use some divine interpretation to spur us onward toward another conflict,” Lady Magdalina said. “Millions of fae died during the Great Supernatural War. Our nation was forever changed. Are you willing to risk such a thing again?”
“To restore our name? Absolutely. The other supernatural races humiliated us when we lost the Great Supernatural War. We haven’t earned back our honor since, and it is time we did so. Give me twenty years as king, and the fae shall rule the world,” Elijah said.
“And how do you plan to fund this war?” Lady Iris crossed her arms. “Wars take money, and the royal treasury is not open for pillaging.”
“We have all the funds available. We merely have to allocate,” Elijah insisted. “Malovia spends millions every year on our social programs, our sick, our elderly. These are all people who do not contribute to our society. If we cut these programs, limited healthcare and abolished our nation’s retirement fund for seniors, we’d have more than enough to build our army back up to the strength it once was. We will be so formidable the other supernatural races won’t dare to stand up against us. Not to mention we’ll finally be able to eliminate those bastard witches and warlocks in the West.”
A few notes of approval rang throughout the Circle. The thought of wiping out the Miriamic Coven, our greatest rivals, was a tantalizing treat for the Circle to savor.
But in exchange for what? Killing off anyone over sixty, anyone who couldn’t physically work or anyone who needed help? He was talking about taking away healthcare for people likeEmma, for the gods’ sake!
