Chapter Seventeen
Aster escorted me tothe meeting with the council. He took me first to Indigo’s rooms, where she led us through a secret tunnel hidden behind a bookcase.
I gasped as it swung open and glared at Aster in accusation.
He chuckled. “It’s one of our biggest secrets. Even the council members don’t know about it. Only our assassins, me, and her kindreds know about it. Our mother doesn’t know either.”
I had a thousand questions about the secrecy and how long it had been there, but Aster put his fingers to his lips. They’d have to wait.
Aster took my hand, and we followed Indigo and Lysander through the bookcase, Elora closing it behind us, remaining behind with Darius. How were things going with them? There hadn’t been time for me to ask Indigo or Elora how Darius was fitting in with their family. The three of them were already so close, did Darius feel left out? I’d caught Bastian watching me with my kindreds with longing several times. Maybe it was part of what was keeping him from giving into the bond. My kindreds were already friends and lovers before I found them. He and Aster had grown close during our nights in the library, but they lacked the ease and comfort the others had together. Hell, sometimes I felt left out of their long histories together.
When they laughed over their pasts and finished each other’s stories. I’d never had that with anyone before. My whole life I’d been on my own, no friends, no lovers. Just me and my parents.
And then, just me.
I wished Kira was here. I missed her. We’d formed a friendship so fast, but some part of me recognized her, and her me. Maybe she was a familiar soul from the stars as well, and we’d found each other just like we’d found our kindreds. I’d felt something similar with Elora as well. Perhaps I was merely starved for friendship, tired of my lonely existence.
As we walked, I inspected the passageway. It was like we were between the walls, the passage was narrow—so narrow my shoulders brushed against the sides. I was surprised Aster and Lysander fit. The air was stale and dusty, used little, the only light from the torch Indigo carried.
The passage brightened as Indigo pushed open a door and slipped through, the rest of us following. We were in a room I’d never seen before. Some sort of office. An empty one. We were the first to arrive.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“It’s the council chambers.” Aster smiled at me.
“Is it smart to meet here?”
He chuckled. “No one but the council who attend will know we were here. And the nobles on the council already meet here every day, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Don’t worry. Indigo took all the necessary precautions.”
Of course she did. This was a long time in the making. She knew what she was doing. I was the one out of my element here and unsure why my attendance was even necessary.”
Aster leaned over to whisper in my ear. “You’re here because you’re a future princess. And because you’re the one who found the journal.”
“Technically, Bastian found it. I just read it first. And he’s the one who found the old law book.”
When we met for breakfast, Bastian had shown us an ancient book filled with laws and records. That, plus the journal gave us everything we needed to get the council to finally take action instead of meeting in secret to complain about the king but doing little to stop him.
Indigo pulled out the chair at the head of the table. “Everyone take a seat. They’ll be here any minute. Let me do the talking. I’ll explain the situation and then Aster can explain what Rhapsody and Bastian found. Did you bring the books?”
I nodded and pulled them from my cloak. A new one. Sky bought it for me this time. A pretty silvery gray. The black one from the dragon lands had mysteriously disappeared. Sky and I still hadn’t found time to talk about whatever was going on with him. Soon, I needed to corner him and force him to talk to me.
Aster sat beside me, his warmth pressing against my side.
The main door opened and several nobles walked in. I recognized most of them from the ball, something that felt like it was a lifetime ago. Things had already changed so much.
Once the chairs were full, Indigo cleared her throat. “Thank you for meeting with us.”
One of the women I recognized from the war ministry meeting responded. “Of course. We’ve been incredibly curious to hear about your experience in the dragon lands.”
“My apologies it’s taken so long to meet you.”
The woman inclined her head. “We understand. The king has caused a bit of an uproar with his...current state.”
I held back a snort. Current state? They meant the utter hissy fit he had made last for almost a week.
Aster tightened his grip on my leg, seeing the amusement on my face. I fought to clear my expression. It was something I hated about politics. All the secrecy and pretending and careful wording. I wished everyone would just lay out everything on the damn table. My shoulders slumped a bit. I would be a terrible princess.
Once everyone was seated, Indigo launched right into it. “Right. Well, the dragons have no plans to help us. Not until the king is off the throne.”
“What does that mean exactly?” One of them asked.
“It means, we’re on our own. Once I take the throne, they are willing to discuss trade and opening borders, but they don’t want to risk war with my father.”
A small dark-haired man huffed. “Havisam decided the same.”
Indigo sighed. “I was hoping we’d have more luck with them since they aren’t closed borders on the other sides.”
Havisam only had closed borders with Faligrey. Because the mad king’s daughter shut them.
The war minister shook her head. “Unfortunately, the king has too many enemies in other lands. Ones who fear him. But like the dragons, they’re willing to consider change with you.”
“At least there’s that. Perhaps it’s better for us to handle this ourselves anyway. It shows strength.”
The war minister shrugged. “I’ve cautioned from the beginning that having other countries involved with the coup could leave us open and vulnerable to those same countries.”
Indigo nodded. “And I’ve come to agree with you. I did come with some good news though. I’m sure you all know Rhapsody, the prince’s kindred. She found some interesting information in the library I believe we can use. She brought it to Aster, who will explain it.”
I was glad they didn’t expect me to do it, having no interest in standing before these nobles and stutter out the story and information. If it was music, I’d have no issue, but I wasn’t one for public speaking. The meeting with the ministry of war had been stressful enough.
Aster cleared his throat. “The king of Faligrey from six generations ago was the one who enacted the kindred laws and his later actions caused his daughter to be the one who closed the borders. Rhapsody found his journal where it is clear he suffered from some sort of madness and passed his disturbing beliefs onto his daughter.”
I tuned Aster out as he described everything the journal mentioned, paying more attention to the reaction of the council members. Most of them seemed intrigued or horrified. All of them appeared shocked. This definitely wasn’t common knowledge.
“We’d heard whispers of a mad king generations ago, but thought they were merely gossip. How has the journal been lost for so long? Where was it found?” the war minister asked.
“It was found behind a shelf in the back of the library. Like it had fallen who knows how long ago. I don’t think it was hidden purposefully,” Aster said.
“That almost makes it worse. That by some strange accident, our history of that time was lost. I assume his daughter kept everyone quiet.”
Indigo nodded. “Probably.”
“Is that all?” the small man asked. “It’s certainly interesting, but I don’t see how it helps us.”
The war minster curled her lip. “It shows that the laws we’ve spent so long following were enacted by a madman. What we call tradition is mere foolishness.”
Another woman, a redhead snorted. “Yes. But we knew the law was foolish.”
Aster held up the books. “We also have a book of laws and histories. It says if a majority of fifteen nobles agree, a monarch can be forced to step down if there’s proof his reign is damaging to Faligrey. Which this journal helps to prove. Also, his position on dragons when we’ve returned with proof there are more kindreds out there for everyone. So many of our people are forced to live their lives alone because their kindreds aren’t Faligrean. Not to mention trade between the countries would make us all more prosperous. With the closed borders, that’s impossible.”
The war minister tapped her chin. “So we need six more to make this work.”
Indigo nodded. “Yes. If everyone here is on board.”
“It’s going to take more than just fifteen nobles to agree. We can easily find another six.” The war minister spoke in a warning tone.
“What’s the problem?” Aster asked.
“The royal guards and the military. Even if fifteen of us and the two of you go before the king and demand he step down, he has the loyalty of the soldiers. We’ll all end up in the dungeons.”
Frustrated silence filled the room for a moment.
Aster broke it. “I have an idea for that.”