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“Including the Fitzgeralds? I thought you said this Fergal was a good guy,” Jermon said.
“He is, but he’s only been king for a short time. A couple of weeks, I think. His father died unexpectedly and pretty young, and Fergal took over. But he’s determined to change things and restore honor to his clan.”
“He’d better watch his back,” Jermon said. “A radical move like that won’t make him popular.”
Erwan nodded. “Yeah, the alphas in his clan are not fans, from what I understand. He’s taking away their power and privileges, so of course, they’re going to be pissed off. Though not as angry as the Murphy alphas were when King Ennis declared their clan dissolved. You should’ve seen their faces. Pure rage. The king outright accused them of poisoning him, which in itself was already shocking, but before they realized what was going on, he announced the end of the Murphy clan. According to the Code, it no longer exists.”
Jermon frowned. “He can do that? That easily?”
“Yeah, the Code gives kings that option. Which is one of the problems. The king has way too much power, regardless of whether he wants to use that for good or for evil. There are no counterbalances, nothing and no one to stop him. I don’t like that. That’s not how it should be.”
Jermon couldn’t agree more. “No one person should have that much power. Power corrupts. There should be some kind of counterweight.”
“We’ll have to start figuring out what we want to do with our clan now that we’re the official Doyle clan,” Valdis said. “At least, that’s what I concluded from what you said.”
“We are. No more True Doyle clan. We’re the Doyles again, with me as the reluctant king.” Erwan sighed. “At least until we’ve found a different solution.”
“A democracy, that’s what we need,” Jermon said. “Something with elections and rule of the majority. Where omegas have equal rights to alphas.”
“I agree, though we have to keep in mind that our clan will be very unbalanced.” Valdis looked at Erwan. “You said we’re getting eight new omegas?”
“Eight that I know of, but as many as thirty-five in total. Fergal said he wanted to extend an invitation to the omegas in his clan, and he expected quite a few to take us up on the offer. And there may be more omegas coming from the Murphy clan, which no longer exists. Though I have no clue how they’ll get to us.”
“And the O’Connors?” Jermon asked.
“I don’t know. It may sound strange, but I almost harbor more ill will toward them than the Murphys. The O’Connors have been spineless cowards who turned a blind eye to what the Murphys and the others were doing. The conditions in their clan may not have been quite as bad, but if you stand by and watch others abuse their power, you’re just as guilty if you ask me.”
Jermon opened his mouth to answer when a knock sounded.
“Come on in,” Erwan called, and Emma stepped into the room, her face beaming.
“I found something!” She looked around excitedly, but then her smile dropped. “Is something wrong?”
“We’re worried about Rhene,” Nadiv said. “We sensed him using our magic, but he severed the connection.”
“Oh.” Emma’s face tightened. “Is there anything I can do?”
Nadiv held out his hand to her. “Just sit with me, baby, and tell us what you found. We could use the distraction.”
Emma settled on Nadiv’s lap, and Jermon’s heart warmed at seeing them together. His brother was maturing, and Jermon loved seeing him become the man Emma needed, especially now that she was carrying his eggs.
“I found my grandfather’s diary,” Emma said, and the room grew quiet. “He kept copious notes about all kinds of things and hid them in books. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, to be precise. Every volume contains hundreds of diary entries on thin paper in his neat handwriting, all carefully dated. I’ve read about fifty now, all holding a treasure trove of information.” Her eyes welled up. “It’s like having him with me for a bit longer.”
“Oh, baby.” Nadiv held her close and kissed the top of her head. “How wonderful for you to find that. I know how much you miss him.”
“I do.” She took a deep breath. “But I also discovered some incredible new details. In 1776, he had a vision that he wrote down. Listen.” She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and read, “The dragons will be faced with the choice between honor and betrayal, and they must choose wisely. Old alliances will be reconsidered, with implications that will impact generations to come. But when the White Dragon and the True Alpha join forces, peace will reign.”
“That’s the same vision King Fergal mentioned,” Erwan said. “So he was telling the truth.”
“But there’s more,” Emma said. “Cladhaire poisoned Fiona, Baoth’s wife.”
“He did?” Jermon frowned. “Why? Did it have to do with her vision about Erwan?”
Emma shook her head. “No, Cladhaire feared his brother would try to claim the throne for himself and his children. So he killed your cousin Ciaran and made it look like a horse-riding accident. And when it looked like Fiona might have eggs again, he poisoned her.”
“Holy shit,” Jermon whispered. “His father, his nephew, his sister-in-law…and he tried to kill his son. Is there no limit to how low this man will stoop for power?”
It scared him to know he was related to him, that he carried that man’s DNA. If not for his mom, he would’ve despaired and feared he would turn into his father, but there was more of her than his father in him. Thank the gods.
