Chapter 26
W e regrouped in Father’s office as planned. It took several hours for Juniper and Spencer to arrive, the last of us. She looks almost haggard as she ushers him through the door. Once the door closed, Father opened his mouth to speak, but Juniper shushed him.
“Apologies, Your Majesty, but before we begin, I need to check my notes for something.”
Father and I exchanged a look. We were confused.
Instead of paper, Juniper pulled a bundle of twigs out of thin air and lit them.
She started mumbling quietly and very quickly, too fast to hear or understand her.
She walked the perimeter of the room, waving the burning sticks’ smoke into various nooks and crannies as she mumbled.
Juniper stopped in one area of the bookshelf, closest to the conference table we normally sat around to discuss things.
The smoke was drawn sideways into a crack behind the books.
Juniper repeated more unintelligible words quickly while fanning the smoke at the crack.
Nothing seemed to change. She seemed to start this ritual over, still with no change.
Turning to us, she stopped and held a finger to her mouth.
She then sat her twigs down on the table and wrote a note.
This room has ears to hear. We need to move to my office to discuss what we came to discuss, but we can’t let on that we know the room has ears.
As each of us read the note, we nodded. Juniper made a loud ruckus with her papers, and then said, “My apologies again. It seems I’ve misplaced the notes for this. Can we reschedule for tomorrow?”
Father nodded. He’s clearly thrown off his game by learning that someone was listening in.
After a moment, he remembered he should speak.
“Yes, of course. Today has been an eventful day. How about we just retire for the evening? I’ll send a message in the morning where we can meet once I review my schedule. ”
Juniper smiled. He fake-canceled the meeting perfectly. “Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I’ll make myself available when you next have time.”
We trickled out of his office, trying to avoid appearing as if we were in a rush.
When Amyra, Ivy, and I left, I led us away from Juniper’s office, towards my chambers.
I figured if anyone has eyes on the doorway to Father’s office as well, seeing us go in different directions may help to deflect concerns about our discovery.
A while later, we were all regrouped into Juniper’s office.
“What do you mean by that room having ears? Wasn’t that just a crack in the wall?” Ethan started.
Juniper shook her head. “It’s designed to look that way, but it’s a magical tool the Oracles have used for centuries to listen in. We didn’t create that one, and it’s immune to our closing spell.”
“How do you know a past priestess did not create it?” Ivy asked.
“We keep detailed notes of all ears and close them when we are done with them. That one was relatively new; I’ve searched the room before.” Juniper ducked her head towards Father.
“My apologies, Your Majesty. We had suspicions about a trade agreement. I had to protect my region. ”
Father nodded. “I am grateful for your actions, in the past and today.”
He smiled at Juniper, which she returned.
“OK, so what do we know about Egan’s group? We know for sure it’s a group, right?” Spencer redirected.
I was momentarily surprised by how quickly Spencer healed. The blows he received during each round seemed so painful. I wondered how many bruises he still had, though he showed no signs of feeling discomfort.
“Yes,” Juniper replied. “Egan is working with at least three others here. He’s also sending off letters daily through traditional means, so we believe this is just a cell within the capital, and that there is more going on.”
“Do we know what they want?” I knew I had asked this before, but I needed to continue asking it until the answer was obvious.
“They seem to work with a network that is against the return of the Gods. Ironically, they call themselves the Priests of Bel, a long-dead god who once lived among us. They share conservative views and apparently support the men who opposed the Gods in the Last Great War. Over the years, they had released many missives about how women need to be subjugated and subservient to their husbands, to worship their husbands as if he is a god walking this land.”
“And Lord Denenbaum, not Lord Luther, sponsored him?” Father questioned.
I nodded. Juniper added, “Eric doesn’t seem to share all their views, at least through his voting history, but he has financial ties to the Priests of Bel.
We don’t have any evidence yet that Eric and Egan are directly coordinating this together.
It seems like the Belus priests has influenced him to sponsor Egan without knowing him well.
We have an acolyte making friends with Katelle to gather more information on that aspect. ”
Ethan nodded at the mention of his fiancé.
“So, what do we know? And is any of this tied to Mother’s death? ”
Father’s face tightened, though I wasn’t sure if it was because I brought her up, or if it was because he knew the answer and that I wouldn’t like it.
Juniper answered, “We have some circumstantial evidence that the Denenbaums played a role in her death. They have Ashenwoods acquaintances who have noted that they were bragging about Katelle becoming the next Queen in the months before Her Majesty’s death.”
Juniper paused, letting me take in that information. “Ethan and your father have been working with some of my network and the official guards towards confirming that. If they can, then we will strip the Denenbaums of their titles and lands.”
“Wow, ok. Here I thought Luther was going to be the biggest pain.” I inhaled deeply, absorbing all this information. “But why do the Belus priests care? Who are they?”
“They demand the entire realm obey their teachings and subjugate all women. Their overall plan is to infiltrate every monarchy, and to force the ruling families to conform to their beliefs and changes in rule, or face death.” Juniper paused.
“But for here, it’s worse. Since the Oracles of the Gelid originated here, and they believe we are their biggest threat since we can harness the magic of the Gods, they intend to kill you, Lyla.
They won’t offer you the choice to bend the knee.
They think that Ethan will bend his knee after seeing his sister die.
We know that Katelle also believes their teachings.
We don’t think she’s involved in the plot against Lyla. ”
Spencer stood up indignantly, attempting to hide his wincing as he did. “No, if you know this to be true, why haven’t they all been dealt with—murdered, exiled, or arrested?”
My heart leapt at his rush to defend me, even as it hurt him. He added, “I should have taken Egan out today.”
Father moved towards Spencer. “Trust me, son, I would have already killed him if we could defend that choice.”
I felt another flutter when Father referred to him as ‘son,’ followed by guilt over the knowledge that he would never accept Amyra like that.
“We don’t have quite enough tying Egan to this group.
Some members are sitting in the dungeons now, but we are letting others roam free, strategically.
We need to have firm proof of a neighboring kingdom’s prince planning to kill the heir to our throne before we make such an accusation. ”
The tension in the room settled down as we lost ourselves in thought, processing this. I realized that some of the excitement came from my magic stirring up the dust and soil in Juniper’s plants.
“Do they also know what the Priestesses suspect about me, Juniper?” I asked carefully. In trying to assess the threat that they posed to me, I needed to know if they also know the prophecy, but not everyone in this room did.
“With the amount of hatred we heard within Egan today, we fear they do.”
I nodded and sat with my thoughts. My gaze drifted down to where my hands rested in my lap. I started softly rubbing my thumb around the back of my other hand, a mindless gesture while I considered what steps to take.
‘ Lyla? ’ This wasn’t Emberly’s voice; this voice is much too deep and tender.
Without raising my head much, I looked at Spencer. ‘ You learned too? ’
Spencer nodded, almost imperceptibly. ‘ I will protect you to the ends of the world until my dying breath. You are mine. We may not have taken any official oaths, but I will not let that stop me from treating you as my wife, my queen. ’
Tears welled up, threatening to spill. Amyra reached into my lap for my hand. She must have thought that the tears were because of the threat on my life. I made eye contact with Spencer. ‘ You are my king, my future husband. From here and now until the end .’
I inhaled deeply to gain control of my emotions.
“OK. I need to cancel the Tournament. We can use Egan’s injury for justification.
That should have caused a delay of at least a month anyway, and by then it will be too cold for an outdoor spectator event.
I can’t have Egan traipsing around my home, putting me and my loved ones in such danger.
They already took my mother, and I will not allow them to take anyone else. ”
Father and Juniper both shook their head.
“We can’t gather intel on him if we send him away. We need him here.” Juniper said. “Your Father and the Guard just had this discussion yesterday, while you were at the Temple. Egan won’t be leaving the capital.”
My stomach twisted, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe. My heart pounded so hard that I could hear it in my ears and my vision darkened a bit.
Father added, “We have more guards stationed around your chambers, in main hallways and along servant hallways as well. Ethan, you’re also under extra surveillance.”
As he said it, I heard the pebbles and rocks land along with my anxiety calming.
“Can Amyra and Ivy also have them when they’re not with me? And Spencer and Frederick need them, too. I know he only targeted Spencer today, but Frederick could also be in danger.” I refused to allow anyone to be hurt because of me.
Father nodded. “Already bumped it up after the event today. Spencer will find extra bodies at his doorway, and Frederick should have already encountered his. We also sent two to Egan’s room, with the order to follow him anywhere he goes.
Instead of protecting him, they will gather information.
They’re from the intel battalion. He was told it’s because of the Tournament bringing so many extra guests to the city, and that they’re not supposed to leave him alone. ”
I nodded; it doesn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes on that man. Or two, in this case.
“The second challenge tests diplomacy. Do you think we could rework it to get intel from Egan? If the games must go on, maybe we could change them to help us.”
“Clever woman,” Spencer smiled.
Father nodded. “Indeed. We can, and we will. Lyla, I’ll design it with my intel chief. He will have some good plans on how to get him to reveal information he doesn’t realize he’s sharing.”
I nodded. I really wanted to cancel this tournament, but if we must go on, then I supposed it was time to use it to our advantage.