"RESURRECTION?" ANDORRA echoed. She stared at Prince Puck. She could feel, rather than see, Callum stiffen at the news that Roseria wanted to bring Anders back to life. He, at least, was more silent than Coralia, who sucked in a loud gasp.
Puck shot Coralia a long look. A, my child would never, look. He cut his judgemental gaze back to Andorra. "You heard me correctly. She was discussing it with my daughter. Now, if her plans to resurrect him are already in place enough for her to tell someone else, then we know it's serious. With or without King Kaeberon's help."
Andorra was still taking in the news that there was another continent, nevermind another King. She, for the most part, had thought that this was it. Clearly, she had been foolish to think that the faerie realm could only consist of five Courts.
"And we don't like King Kaeberon why?" She felt foolish asking, but this was the only way she would learn. And Andorra wasn't amongst anyone who didn't know she had grown up as human, unaware of faeries.
"You probably know of our history up to the Great War, correct? The same war that sent both the Sun and the Snow Clans to the human realm, and had pushed your parents into power? Well, centuries before that, there was another war. A war between Anlithamy and Averotho."
Andorra found herself nodding, without any real knowledge of what this meant. "Okay. So we don't like Averotho?"
"The continent of Averotho believed in advancing technology to the point of taking and replacing our fae abilities. The King at the time had hoped to create a race of fae that could embody any and all powers. Which may not sound bad, but his plan had been to harvest our powers through... savage means."
"Like he wanted to strap fae to a table and surgically remove whatever creates our powers?"
Puck shrugged his shoulders, but Andorra could tell there was something Puck wasn't sharing. Something perhaps personal. It was in the way Puck looked as though the weight of Anlithamy had rested on his shoulders during that time.
"So, Anlithamy went to war with Averotho for this?"
"It hadn't just been the danger of taking powers and merging them, or creating artificial powers to hand off to others. The King at the time had wanted to wipe our culture, had wanted to wipe everything about us from Anlithamy, from Averotho. There had been talk of abandoning Cornomous as our God."
"And this King Kaeberon, he carries that legacy still?"
"I have people in Averotho. It seems that the work they are doing is far beyond what Anlithamy is doing. The fae there aren't... just people. They're connected to the technology."
"Oh. Like a cyborg." In her mind, Andorra pictured robot faeries, and the thought made her shudder. How would they live against a war of half robot fae? And why did Kaeberon want to go to war in the first place over the death of Anders? That she didn't understand.
"So we should be readying our legions? Or accepting defeat?"
Puck stood up. His shadows were too far on display for him. The way they crawled along the floor resembled more of Callum's style than it did the reserved and controlled Prince Puck. Something dark passed over his face as he stared at Andorra.
"We pray they do not go to war with us. I don't think we'll win."
Andorra tried to swallow, and found she couldn't. It was a lot to take in. Too much to take in. She felt sick to her stomach all over again, because if Puck was nervous, then this was far worse than going to war with the Spring Court.
"And Roseria... she went to King Kaeberon to bring him here? To start a war and to bring back Anders? It's impossible anyway. I've been to Moribund, and it's just not possible. He can't come back."
"But you did," Pyatt reminded her. "You weren't dead, but you came back. Roseria can make gates too."
Pyatt was right, curse him. Andorra felt her nails biting into her palms, her brain trying to think, think, think.
"King Kaeberon has an in with the Deathwringer." It was Nohx that spoke up this time. He held Andorra's stare, as if trying to say something else. As if to urge her into motion by those words alone.
"An in? As in, the Deathwringer is his friend?" Impossible. Unless of course you were Aalto, his wingman and henchman.
"There is a possibility that King Kaeberon could resurrect Anders. Which, in the grand scheme of things, wouldn't really change the trajectory of what we're doing here. Anders needed you to ascend the throne. And you're already Queen." Puck's voice didn't sound quite as worried about that piece of this puzzle. "But, that's assuming King Kaeberon stops there."
Goosebumps ran up Andorra's arm. If King Kaeberon could raise the dead, then who else would he raise? The question went unanswered, but it was clear everyone was thinking the same thing.
Andorra shook her head. There was something they were missing. Some grand answer that would save them. But the harder she thought, the less she came up with. What did she have that would convince another King to stop war?
"But... why is he interested in war? What's in it for him? Does he also want Anlithamy as territory?"
Looks were shared across the room. Even Puck didn't have anything to say. Dread seemed to slip down Andorra's throat and pool in her chest. Being a princess had been fine and dandy before she realized what this job really entailed. This suddenly felt like too much all at once.
Andorra stood up and pressed her palms to the table. "Then I'll go meet this King Kaeberon. And we'll see what he wants."
The temperature in the room dropped several degrees as Nohx's eyes darkened. She could feel Callum's rage from behind her, filling the space his shadows seemed to crowd. But, what was the other solution? Wait until death?
"That's foolish."
"Not foolish. Strategic. Everyone has a price, and I'll find out what his is."
"His price will be your death." Puck's voice was as serious as a knife's edge. It cut through the room and made Andorra's knees buckle under the submission in his tone. She held her chin up however, fighting him from across the room.
"Better me than all of Anlithamy, don't you think?"
It went eerily still. Andorra was tempted to share a look with Coralia, or Eve, but she didn't. She held Puck's gaze, strong and steady, knowing it was the truth. She was Queen, and these were her people. It was her job to put them first.
Even if it terrified her. Even if it called for her death.
"I think you're making a rash decision based on fear. I suggest we adjourn this meeting before you really throw yourself into deep waters you cannot escape from. We will convene again once you have a level head."
It wasn't Prince Puck's place to close the meeting, and he knew that. They all knew that. Anger slithered down her veins, nearly vibrating in intensity. "Woah, breathe," Pyatt reminded her in her head. "The Winter Court Prince has a point."
Andorra looked to the empty chair where Clini usually sat. "We have one last order of business." She sat down slowly, readying herself for the reaction from Mar. "Clini and Vulara have traveled to the Spring Court to find the Rattislon."
Mar sucked in a gasp. Her eyes found the empty seat beside her. "So that's why he wasn't at breakfast this morning. And he didn't even tell me?"
"He's not exactly thrilled to be going with Vulara," Andorra put gently.
"You have Vulara doing your bidding?" Puck seemed, for once, taken by surprise.
"Now the meeting is adjourned. Once Clini and Vulara return, I'll share the results of what we're trying to find. It may be the answer to capturing Roseria."
Andorra let her friends file out of the room, one by one, uneasy chatter echoing between them all. Uneasy wasn't even a strong enough word to describe how Andorra felt about the situation, but she didn't dare show it. Not with Puck in the room.
By the time Puck left, Andorra found herself slumping back into her chair, confidence deflating from her like a pathetic balloon.
"Hey," Nohx said, shutting the door. His voice was a touch softer as he approached her at the head of the table. "It'll be okay."
Andorra peeked up at him, tears swarming in her eyes. "But what if it's not? What if I do have to sacrifice myself for this?"
Nohx kneeled down next to her, his eyes peering into her own. The position put him slightly shorter than Andorra, and he braced one hand on the back of her chair, the other resting against her knee.
Andorra could read the fear in his eyes. Could taste that tension in the air. "You're not going to sacrifice yourself, and you're not going to die. The people of Anlithamy be damned."
Andorra cracked a smile, a weak laugh tumbling from her mouth. "I'm not supposed to think that way as their Queen."
"Andy, these people need you to be here. Alive. They don't need you to go and get yourself killed trying to fix the century old feud between our neighboring country. Especially since there is nothing but gossip that tells us King Kaeberon is interested in fighting us."
With Nohx's thumb rubbing against her knee, it was hard for Andorra to think. She found that she enjoyed this, enjoyed letting Nohx reassure her despite their power imbalance. It felt good to let someone else make a decision.
"So you're saying I shouldn't go to Avorotho?"
"I'm saying you shouldn't jump the gun. Let him come to us. We'll make preparations on our side, in case the time comes, but let's not be hasty. Not until something changes."
Andorra pressed her palm against Nohx's cheek. Watched as he nuzzled into it, his eyes closing against the feel of her skin against his. "I love you, you know."
When his eyes blinked open, sleepy and unfocused, they were white. "I know. I've always known." A smile curved against his cheeks. "About time you realized it, though."