“So… what do we do now?” Chess asked, his tall formlookingsmaller thanI’dseen itbefore as he sunk into the lounge chair he rested on. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was just a couple of months younger than I was.
“We try again, right?” Quinn asked, sitting on the edge of her seat.
Teagan shook her head. “I don’t see how that would benefit us.”
The room broke out into multiple smaller conversations, eachfaetrying to find an alternative solution to our current predicament. Even Byn had decided to ask Teagan another series of questions.
I felt Matea’s presence behind me before I saw her.I shiftedin my seat to look at her, eyes holding a level of determination that I admired. She nodded slightly, letting me know I had her support in whatever I decided to do.
And I had decided.
“I’ll go,” I said loudly, in order tobe heard overall of the chatter in the room.
“Absolutely not,” Byn said almost immediately.
“Your Majesty, you can’t,” Laurence agreed.
“Aviva… is that such a good idea?” Chess asked.
All three spoke one after the other, each one meaning well, but nottruly understanding.
So I’d help them understand.
“You misunderstand me. Iwon’tbe going to the border and talking to the soldiersthere.I’llbecrossingthe border and finding my brothermyself. With the help of the shadows, of course.”
At this, the room erupted into a chorus of different agreements and arguments. Byn reached out a hand and gently took mine into his. I could feel his anxiety returning, bubbling up like a geyser about to burst. Meeting his eyes, I could see the pleading there. Thesilentbegging for me not to go through with this.
Gently, I cupped the side of his face in my hand and murmured so only he could hear me, “I can do this.”
He pursed his lips together tightly, worry etching everyfeature, when he slid hiskinglymask back into place and faced the rest of the room once again.
If Icouldn’tfeel his emotions in my own body, that move would have shut me out completely. He appeared calm,almost atease.
But I knew him better than that, and I could feel the distress he was emitting.
“We’ll put it to a vote,” he announced. “There’s a reason theValwainfunctions so efficiently, and I don’t plan on changing how it runs now.”
“All against Viva’s proposition?” Byn asked.
Chess and Laurence’s hands shot up, and a second later, Byn’s followed.
Iwasn’texactly surprised, but a small pang of disappointment rang out through my heart at the sight. I knew itdidn’tstem from a lack of trust in my abilities—I’dmore thanprovedmyself a few weeks ago. He was simply scared of losing more people he loved; that fear had taken root in his chest, and as a result, in mine.
But he couldn’t protect me forever.
“And all those for it?”heasked, and I could already see him deflating at the outcome as my hand shot up, along with Rayven’s, Quinn’s, and Teagan’s.
As guests, and not true members of the Valwain, the Ocrein royals and Matea didn’t get a vote. But even if they did, I was still fairly certain I’d have overruled Byn.
I watched as Byn’s shoulders sagged as he looked around the room, his eyes snagging on his sister for a moment, then meeting my gaze.
“The floor is yours, my love,” he said after a moment of silence.I knew this was something we’d have to talk about, but right now, we needed a plan.
And I just so happened to have one.
***
We took hours hammering out the details of my plan. It was more complicated than simply storming Gatlyn Castle—we needed a route to getthere,we had to pick the right people to join me, and we debated on how to handle Dimitrias a whole oncewe arrived.
