Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, wemet Indigo and her kindreds in her rooms. My guys had wrapped me up and taken me to bed after I dropped the bomb on them about the guard and we helped each other forget for a little while.
But today, everything came back, and I was torn between worry and rage.
Indigo seemed to be in the same frame of mind as she paced the length of her sitting room, her shoulders stiff and hands clenched at her sides.
“I just got word that he has indeed rounded up those who were singing Rhapsody’s songs. The king’s been busy since he finally emerged from his rooms. And the nobles we were able to turn are backing out along with a couple members of the Council. The war minister who is on the council is no longer confident she can turn the rest of the ministry. The king refuses to see me and my mother is trying to calm him, but she’s having no luck. And those fucking royal guards refuse to let me into the dungeons on my father’s orders. Dammit.” She yanked at her dark hair, vibrating with her fury.
My own rose to meet hers, flushing me with heat and not the good kind. A sweat broke out along my back as I tried to get myself under control.
“What is he thinking? Has he completely lost his mind?” Sky asked.
Indigo threw her hands up into the air. “It seems so. And usually it would help us, but it’s so bad it’s done the opposite. It’s terrified everyone so they prefer to just keep their heads down until things calm.”
“But will they? He’s gotten steadily worse over the years. Some of the jobs he’s sent us on verged on treason. Just like with Rhapsody. We found ways around some of them, but a few we had no choice.”
I slid my hand into Whist’s hearing the uncomfortable and regretful tones in his voice. Focusing on him and his pain helped me calm down.
“So what now?” Saber asked. “We can’t leave them there?”
Indigo straightened. “We aren’t. I don’t care if we have to break them out ourselves, I’m not letting my father hurt them. Not just because they’re a part of our family, but because we cannot afford war with the dragons.”
Now that I’d seen the way they fought, I agreed. The dragons would wipe us out.
“But if we break them out without at least the support of the council and the rest of the fifteen nobles, you could be stripped of your crown. Or worse,” Lysander warned.
Indigo snarled. “I’m starting to regret my decision of a bloodless coup.”
Elora cleared her throat. “I have an idea.”
“What?” Indigo asked.
“It’s risky, but it has a high probability of working,” Elora said.
“What’s the idea?” Aster asked.
Elora fisted her hands on her hips, one of them wrapped around her sword. “Remember how powerful Rhapsody’s song mixed with Indigo’s speech was in the dragon lands?”
Sky chuckled. “Yes. I was willing to follow them anywhere they wanted to lead.”
Elora nodded with a slight smile. “Exactly. We should try that again. Maybe in the center of the capital.”
I frowned. “But it didn’t ultimately work with the dragons.”
Elora snorted. “Yes it did. If the two of you hadn’t been so persuasive, they never would have even considered a treaty once Indigo is queen. You two convinced almost half of the dragons who kill anyone to cross their borders to help overthrow a foreign queen. And you convinced most of them to open borders once he is overthrown. Think what you can do with people who already adore you.”
Whist shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. The crowd could turn on them or the guards could stop them or the king could get wind of it and have them arrested. Way too many variables and we can’t afford to have them thrown in the dungeons too.”
“Every option is too dangerous.” Elora said. “But this one has the best chance of working without violence or the lot of us having to go on the run and leaving Faligrey in the hands of the king.”
Aster frowned. “I don’t like it.”
“I do. We have to try something.” And it was kind of perfect, using my voice and song to bring the king down once and for all.
If it worked.
Indigo nodded. “I do too.”
Sky sighed. “It’s your choice, doll. And we’ll be right there to get the two of you out of there if things turn bad.”