Chapter 74
Queen
Viviane knocked on Evelyn’s door later that morning. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Your Majesty. General Savatier is requesting your presence in a meeting.”
“Why me?” Evelyn fidgeted.
“King Alexander is unavailable. You are the only royal in residence at the moment.”
Because Camille is dead and my father is at the hospital with Hannah. Where did Leo go?
“You can do this,” Rowan said encouragingly. “You’re the queen.”
That’s technically true, but I do not feel worthy of directing an army. Not after I nearly destroyed the kingdom last night. How do I even apologize for that?
Viviane led Evelyn and Rowan to a conference room on the second floor.
General Savatier and Commander Magalie were reviewing plans and maps laid out on the table.
Damien leaned against a wall. He wasn’t high-ranking enough to be officially invited to the meeting, but he was too involved to be excluded.
Evelyn approached the table with Rowan at her side.
“Queen Evelyn,” General Savatier said with a sigh of relief. “Thank you for joining us. We want to give you an update and get your opinion on next steps.”
“Of course,” Evelyn said. “Is it all right for my brother to be here?”
“Absolutely,” Magalie agreed. “It may be helpful to have Prince Rowan as a representative for Carrowmore.”
Quick introductions were made between Rowan, the general, and the commander.
“We have gone through the usual procedures so far,” General Savatier explained.
“The borders are closed, no one coming or going by land or sea. The lords of the four courts have been given updates with essential information. The Royal Army and the armies of the courts are tasked with locating Councilor Heinrich and his wife.”
“Tasia,” Evelyn corrected. “We can at least use her name, since she’s trying to kill us.”
“Of course,” Savatier said. “How do you want to proceed with Lochmatten? Two of their High Councilors are responsible for hundreds of deaths in the kingdom.”
“Councilor Moeller is still our ally,” Evelyn announced.
“Wendell, too, if he decides to care. We need to get in touch with them. Moeller may have more insight into Heinrich’s and Tasia’s abilities and where they might be.
The Legislative Council also offered to help us if our situation escalated.
I think this counts. Can we send a couple army officers to Lochmatten? ”
My mother was on the council. If what Moeller told me about her is right, she would provide aid to the kingdoms.
Savatier nodded. “Certainly. We’ll have a small delegation sail out today.”
“Tasia is from Velletri,” Damien reminded them. “Are we concerned about that? They aren’t necessarily our enemies, but Tricksters don’t collect allies, either.”
The general glared at him for interrupting the meeting, but Damien was focused on Evelyn.
“We probably can’t expect them to help us,” Evelyn said. “But we should tell them the basics of what happened. We should tell all of the other lands, really. If Heinrich and Tasia leave the continent, wherever they end up should be aware of their crimes.”
“Are you putting a bounty on their heads?” Damien asked.
“Can we? Shouldn’t we?”
“We can,” Magalie confirmed, “if you want the world to know what happened here.”
“I want the world to know that the deaths of the Kennedys and Ducasses were because of Ritter and his accomplices, not because of something inherently wrong with our kingdoms.”
Damien smiled proudly at Evelyn’s declaration.
“We will notify the other lands,” Savatier agreed.
Rowan had the next question. “Did you already talk to the men we captured?”
“Yes. They are both originally from Lochmatten, as were the rest of the men. But they have all lived in Gryon for years.”
“Moeller needs to know about that, too,” Evelyn said.
“They seem to have very little information about the specifics of Ritter and Heinrich’s plans. We are trying to determine if the men’s loyalty was influenced by magic or bribery, or if they simply wanted to be part of a rebellion.”
“Ritter said he threatened fae with Vision magic into making the illusions,” Evelyn remembered.
“Fontaine mentioned that,” Savatier said. “We questioned most of Pointe-Rosemère after the missing soldiers were found, but no one said anything about being threatened.”
“They might be more willing to talk now that Ritter is dead,” Evelyn guessed. “I think we should interview everyone in the kingdom with Vision magic, not just those in the city.”
“That’s a quarter of the population,” Magalie said.
“Lord Nicolas will help us,” Damien promised. “The Vision Court’s army can do a lot of the work within their territory, leaving us to track down everyone else.”
“That sounds manageable,” Savatier said. “What do we do when we find the people who helped Ritter?”
“They didn’t help him,” Evelyn snapped. “Ritter made it clear they didn’t have a choice if they valued their lives. The people who were forced to do Ritter’s bidding have our protection in exchange for information.”
The general looked appropriately chastised. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Can you send word to Carrowmore about how I ended up here in the middle of the night?” Rowan requested. “I assume someone noticed I’m gone and…” Rowan trailed off as his expression darkened.
Someone probably noticed the missing prince’s dead girlfriend covered in blood in his bed.
Evelyn continued for him. “Leadership in Carrowmore needs to know Ritter was behind the death of Emily Brightwood, and the Connolly family mourns her.”
Rowan wrapped an arm around his sister appreciatively.
“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Evelyn asked the group.
“That’s all for now,” Magalie said gently. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Evelyn and Rowan left the room.
“Evvy, is it okay if I find you later?” Rowan asked. “I want to be in my room for a while.”
“It’s fine. I need to find Leo, anyway,” Evelyn said.
Rowan gave her a hug and headed back upstairs.
Evelyn turned to Viviane. “Do you know where Alexander went?”
The guard bit her lip, clearly not wanting to answer or lie.
“Viviane, please,” Evelyn begged. “I have to talk to my husband.”
“Last I heard, he was on the beach,” Viviane said slowly. “But it sounded like he didn’t want company.”
On the beach… Is this when the vision from the Invenion comes true? Is this when Leo screams at me and leaves? But Moeller said the future can change.
What can I possibly say so that my husband doesn’t become my enemy?