The Unwilling Queen

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

A loud flash-bang rattled the walls of Ember Place, the thunder crashing nearly simultaneously with the lightning. Sari cringed and waited outside the bedroom door, listening for crying. When no sound emerged she made her way down the hall to the staircase that led to the front foyer.

Rain pounded street outside, washing away the last of winter's snow and grime. Sari wondered which of the majestic trees of Corinth had been hit by the lightning and if a sapien with earth magic would be able to get to the tree in time to save it. Doubtful, in this weather.

"Everything alright?" Hayden asked, pausing at the bottom of the stairs with papers in his hand.

Sari trotted down the last few steps and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Yes, she hasn't stirred. That girl could sleep through a hurricane."

Hayden huffed. "We'll have to remember that if ever the house catches fire."

"I don't think she would be forgotten," Sari smiled, taking her mate's hand as they wandered into the dining room.

Cora was finishing setting the table, lighting some candles before she retreated to the kitchen to help Nicholas bring out dinner. Without Avery around, dinner had gotten later and later until it lined up with regular sapien meal times again.

"Did you invite someone to dinner tonight?" Sari asked Hayden, pointing to the extra place settings at the table. Arctos was busy ensuring the guards were covering all quarters of the city and Adelyn was working late on the housing crisis with all the refugees in the city. Niamh had been staying at Ember Place since Roedin left, but there were six places set at the table.

"Not that I know of. Maybe Cora is just anticipating that Arctos and Adelyn will likely show up," Hayden suggested, distracted by the report as he took his place at the table.

Niamh stomped into the room, her face dark with anger. "Have you seen this?" She waved a sheet of paper in the air. "It's a recruiting pamphlet one of Roedin's spies picked up. Calls for sapiens to rally against the faunid infestation and purge their feral blood from the city." The pamphlet incinerated in her daughter's hand.

"Was that in Corinth?"

"Yes! When I find who brought it in they will lose their hands for writing it."

"Can I see the next one before you turn it to ash?" Hayden asked not looking up from his report.

Niamh plopped into a chair at the table. "How can you be so calm?"

"I think you and Addy have enough rage to cover it," Hayden mumbled as he wrote a note.

"Dad! Gallen is starting a war! You agreed to ally with Saphira!"

"Exactly!" Hayden snapped. He took a sharp breath and straightened his shoulders, composing himself after the brief outburst. "I agreed to ally with Saphira. We don't have confirmation that she's alive or in power still. Our alliance is void."

Cora stepped into the room carrying trays of food and set them on the table. Sari lifted a cover off the bowl and served herself the mushroom risotto. This early in the season fresh greens were hard to find and trading had been interrupted by the violence across the continent. Nick was doing a marvellous job of using up dried stock preserved over the winter.

Niamh broke the tense silence."I think Safira is alive. She held off those Ursids long enough for me to escape. But Sarlac... he could be influencing her."

"No one loses the alpha. You either win, or you die." He looked over at Sari with such sadness, like he was sorry that this reality still existed in their world. "If she's as powerful as you described, they wouldn't keep her alive." He accepted the dish of risotto Sari passed him. "She's either leading the Collectors, or she's been usurped."