He cleared his throat, his head marginally dipping towards the tabletop. “Not much besides dust and your…body.”
A phantom pain cursed my shoulder.
Being crushed by stone and wood had never been on my bucket list, but I suppose surviving a near death experience would be worth adding simply to check off.
My father grinned apologetically when he noted the sudden look of queasiness on my face. “If Beaumont did escape, then this battle is far from over. Especially if he finds out that Maeve is still alive. And now that Lumosia is no longer hidden behind any wards, there's nothing stopping outsiders from entering,” he addressed the rest of the room.
“You said it was unlikely for anyone to discover this land anytime soon,” Kohen countered from across the table.
“It’s not likely, but it’s also not impossible,” Archer replied. “I’m sure it will take a while before any travelers stumble across this land—this part of the continent is not widely explored, but it will happen as time goes on.”
“We need to find out if Beaumont is still alive. If he isn’t, thenboom. Threat eliminated.” Sawyer demonstrated a fake explosion with his hands.
“Threatnoteliminated,” Sebastian countered, clasping his palms on top of the table. “There's plenty of others who would kill to have Maeve under their control. And if word gets out of what she can donow, there will be even more who want her.”
“How would the word get out? She killed the Draemornians who were there with us in the courtyard,” Pia joined the conversation.
Archer pinched the bridge of his nose, contemplating for a few seconds. “We should assume that at least one survived.Hopefully not, but erring on the side of caution is always good in a situation like this. And if Beaumontisalive, I have no doubts that he will be more than willing to share his knowledge of Maeve’s new gift. I agree that the first thing to do is figure out if Beaumont breathes. If he is, we need to change that.”
My father casually suggesting murder was something I never thought I’d experience, but I didn't totally hate it, either.
The front angles of my hair skimmed my cheeks as I shook my head. “I disagree. I think the first thing we should do is find any survivors in Caelestis and bring them here. Enough people have already been hurt. The least we can do is try to save anyone who survived.”
“And risk blowing our cover and your safety?” Sebastian raised his brows as if my suggestion was completely out of line. “No fucking way.”
I avoided his direct gaze, but still rolled my eyes in his general direction. “It’s not fair that innocent people lost their lives because of me. And it's not fair that the ones who survived have to suffer, either.”
“I don’t care about anyone else except for the people in this room,” Sebastian snapped, his tone crisp and lethal.
I shot him a brief glance that swallowed him whole. “I don't think you even care about the people in this room, anyway.”
A voice broke through the cloud of anger in my brain. “Come on, guys. Is this how it's going to be from now on?”
“Stay out of this, Kohen,” Sebastian threatened, his eyes darting to his friend for all of a second before they settled back on me in a steady, unwavering glare.
Archer interrupted, shutting Sebastian and me right up. “In all honesty, I don’t think many survived, Maeve. After the castle fell, I am confident that the Draemornians started working their way around the rest of the villages and cities. Their army is quite large, and I would imagine that if they haven’t yet, they will soonhave worked through every square inch of Caelestis, convincing civilians to accept Beaumont as their ruler and killing all those who deny. We can discuss searching what remains of the land later, but right now, we need a solid plan to handle Beaumont should he breathe.”
“Caelestis is just as large as Draemor—our army, too. Just because the castle fell doesn’t mean this is over. It doesn’t mean they won,” I argued, my voice rising in pitch. There was no way Beaumont's army managed to destroy an entire kingdom in the matter of days. No way.
“Actually, Maeve,” Pia began, softening her voice. “In Cicily's journal she hinted at this happening. Remember?”
It felt like a hand squeezed the life from my heart.When the castle no longer remains, the rest will fade.
My voice fell to a nearly inaudible level. “Yes. I remember.”
Sawyer cleared his throat. “If Beaumontisalive, he obviously returned to Draemor. Right?”
“More than likely,” Archer agreed.
“So why don’t we go there? See if we can catch a glimpse of him,” Sawyer suggested.
“That’s too risky,” Pia countered, tucking a chunk of her strawberry-blonde hair behind a pierced ear.
Sawyer scrunched his nose, shaking his head. “No, it's not. We’ll stay hidden. Talk to a few Draemornians and see if they know anything. If he is alive, then we can come back here and craft a solid plan on how to kill the fucker. Make it fun, too—he is not getting a quick and easy death out of me.”
“But that still only solves the problem for as long as people think Maeve is dead,” Kohen pointed out.
“So we let them think I’m dead.” I shrugged. “What does it matter?”
