It's been three months since the events of The Honouring Day, and Ignolia is still mourning the sudden disappearance of their powerful rulers.
Lydia finds herself in Ellesmere; the capital of the Congress. Her days are spent accompanying ranked wiza...
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The council room was bustling with tension as Agatha impatiently tapped her ringed fingers over the glass table.
The kerc perching on the arm of her chair nuzzled its blue head against her shoulder, but the fearsome woman didn't pay heed to the comforting attempts of her pet. She had those hard eyes set on the report before her, reading Gerard's words repeatedly as if by doing that, he would suddenly appear.
But I couldn't really blame her for her lack of patience. Everyone here was on the edge of their seats.
The clock had just chimed midnight, and it was pretty apparent that everyone gathered was in their beds sleeping before the news broke out. And even in her sleeping robes, Agatha still looked intimidating, the magic bouncing off of her sending tiny rumbles through the walls.
I wondered what it would look like if she spared against one of the royals. Her magic was nearly at their level, perhaps the same. And what about Slifers? Could she take one of us down?
Marsie shivered beside me, her teeth still chattering. For a big woman, she sure gets cold easily.
"Gods, Marsie," Cleo remarked, shaking her head. "You could have teleported instead of running all the way to the inn."
The other woman scoffed. "I hate that. It makes my head spin," then she cracked a toothy grin. "Besides, running helps build muscles."
Cleo rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed by Marsie's brawny physique. Being an elf, she was petite and delicate, her natural lightness an advantageous trait to her relatively calm presence-the complete opposite of Marsie's hefty and loud character. I don't know how they managed to get along, considering Cleo was part of the captain's search team.
I put a hand on Marsie's back, seeping some of the warmth into her skin. She sighed blissfully, sending me a grateful smile.
"Gerard must be here by now," Agatha stated, irritation lacing her tone.
"Give him time, Your Excellence. I'm sure he's on his way," Lucius reassured her. Though, it didn't seem to help as she pressed her lips together and turned her face away.
Elsie leaned in to murmur in my ear. "She's touchy."
Ayana, who was sitting beside her, nudged her on the ribs. "That's rude." She shushed her.
"Oh, bugger off!"
"She's right, you know," Redmond cut in. Ayana turned to thank him, but he quickly added, "Elsie, I mean."
The way Ayana's big ocean eyes widened almost made it look like Redmond regretted his words. She shook her head, annoyed. "You three always bully me."
"I didn't say anything!" I tried to defend myself. Marsie tapped my arm, indicating I was being too loud. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice -or care.
