Holding that baby hadn’t been awkward. It’d felt like the most natural thing I could do.
Perhaps it made me miss Casey. Though I’d never admit it to myself.
“Princess Ava!” I heard Kallie’s brother call for me over the noise of the camp. Kazim rushed toward me with a big smile, still wearing his gory battle armor, with Sigrid following. “I cannot thank you enough.”
He knelt before me, grasping my hand. “You made it so I still have a kingdom to rule over. Word will spread throughout Malovia that Fasva was liberated. The fae now have hope. I am forever in your debt.”
“I didn’t do it by myself.” I clapped my hand over his armored glove. “What’s more important than defeating our enemies is being there to help our friends.”
“Spoken like a true Empress,” Sigrid noted.
Empress. Did people really see me as such now?
“Are you two returning to the palace? I’ll have rooms prepared for you.” Fuck Cameron. He could whine about it, but the newest king and queen of Malovia were my honored guests. It wasn’t like anyone in the palace was going to kick them out even if he said so.
“We’re staying down here with our people,” Sigrid insisted. “They need us, so we won’t leave them.”
“Then I’ll have supplies delivered to you as well. Stay safe, my friends.” I raised a hand in farewell, and the two of them hurried off to keep helping their people, which was exactly how it should be.
Cameron had it all wrong. Rulers weren’t meant to be served, but to serve others. They gave up the best of themselves so their people could thrive. Kazim and Sigrid understood that.
Tonight I’d learned that, too. All too deeply.
I looked around the camp and saw that the majority of my friends were gathered around a makeshift military tent nearby. Chancey was waving me over. I rolled his way. My friends surrounded me, including Kallie, Marcus, Danny, and Abigail.
“Did you see Ivy? Did they get back okay?” I asked.
“They’re already back at the palace. They took out about a hundred Mission members on their own before the whole fight was over. I had to drag them back through the portal, because they weren’t done.” Chancey frowned. “Ives isn’t hurt… physically, anyway. Can’t say the same about what’s going on in their head.”
At least Ivy had made it out. “Did you check the camp for spies?” I asked, dropping my voice. Nobody needed to overhear this conversation. It was loud in the camp and there was a lot going on, but we still needed to be careful about people eavesdropping.
“We did, and we don’t have great news,” Marcus said, glancing to Chancey.
The angel’s tone was grave as he added, “I think my dad slipped through.”
“Your dad?” My eyes widened.
“Yeah. I got confirmation he was in Fasva and slipped through with the refugees, but if he’s here, I can’t find him. He ran away like a rat to hide.” Chancey spat on the sand.
“Is he on the Warden’s side?” Marcus asked.
“He ain’t on ours,” Chancey said. “My old man don’t like the Warden, but he don’t like us, neither. He still believes angels should rule the world; he just wishes it was another guy running the show. I still can’t get the truth outta nobody if he was a soldier for The Mission or a captive like the rest of ‘em. It’s not clear what he’s doing here.”
“Where do you think he might’ve gone?” I asked.
Chancey snorted. “A bar, probably. He’ll turn up drunk in a gutter eventually, but I don’t want to wait that long to figure out where he’s at.”
“Is he a threat?” Kallie asked.
Chancey shrugged. “Only if he runs his big fat mouth, which he’s good at. If he does, we’ll have problems, since we don’t know who’s gonna be listening on the other end. If he struck a deal with somebody to save his own skin and pass information down, the Warden’s basically got an earpiece inside the city.”
“We can’t have an angel that’s not loyal to us within the shield,” Abigail worried. “We must apprehend him, and fast.”
“I ain’t quitting until I find him,” Chancey promised. “I’ll yank his sleazy ass outta some hole in the wall somewhere, mark my words.”
“I’ll help you,” Danny offered. “It’s a talent of mine to rough up deadbeat dads.”
Chancey and Danny took off together, and Marcus came forward with his hands in his pockets. “Chancey’s dad isn’t the only one that got in. There weren't many, but I’m pretty sure we have a few people here that aren’t supposed to be.”
