AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Surely Kargassa saw that?” Marli said.
“He did,” Elora said. “I thought about this while we were gone. Despite his colossal ego, he was also paranoid and careful. He kept track of people and events.”
“I didn’t find any such records among his files,” Eamerson said.
“They wouldn’t be. He kept certain things in his personal vaults hidden around the mountain. There are two in his bedroom.” Elora said to Jori. Pain flickered in her eyes before her politician’s mask settled in.
He swallowed with a nod. “I think it’s time to start trying to pick some vault locks and see what he’s been sitting on. In the meantime, we need to get this funeral over with and bury Kargassa for good.”
“Two? Two vaults in the bedroom?” Marli leaned forward. “We only found one potential door.”
Elora nodded.
“What do you want to do about the librarian?” Sten placed his empty cup on the table.
“When she was interviewed along with everyone else, she didn’t say anything relevant.” Eamerson jumped in. “There’s more to report, but for now, she doesn’t seem to know we’re on to her.”
Jori thought for a moment. “We’ll just keep anything we know to ourselves for now and stay watchful.” He glanced at Kymri’s tired face. “Let’s take a break so everyone can rest up before getting back to work.”
Eamerson and Sten led Carson and Bayn out of the Council room to show them to their guest quarters, while the Aeleftherians gathered around Kymri and Elora.
Marli approached Odson, who still sat alone at the table, frowning at his phone. “What the hell happened while you were gone?” Marli demanded, sitting next to him.
He glanced at her, finished thumbing his message, then set his phone aside with a sigh as he studied her face.
She gulped. “That bad, huh?”
“I was in a meeting with my contact about the Consortium when my phone started pinging from Kolina Steelscale.”
Marli nodded. “Kymri told me her mother was looking for her after Clive and Merwin attacked the island again.”
“Right, well, she was waiting for me at Black River, demanding to be taken here so she could escort Kymri back to Aeleftheria.”
“But Jori didn’t want the location shared just yet.” Marli clenched her jaw.
Odson nodded. “And apparently the comms tower was out of commission, so he wasn’t getting my messages, which made it frigging hard to keep Kolina calm until we got the go ahead. Meanwhile, we started tracking Merwin and Clive’s activities down the Continental east coast as they recruited.”
Marli’s heart hammered harder as she balled her hands into fists on her lap. “Zayli said Kymri ran into some trouble. She can’t shift while pregnant.”
“Even though Elora’s negotiation skills are commendable, and she managed to persuade some of their recruits not to engage, the battle was fierce from the coast to the edge of the Aeleftherian archipelago. The queen intervened.”
“Fuck. She didn’t!” Marli gaped. “She left the citadel?”
“And the Council weren’t happy about it either.”
“No, they wouldn’t be.” Marli rubbed her hands over her face and back through her hair. “Fuck. I should have been there, Odson.”
He gave her a sympathetic look. “I heard what happened.”
She dipped her head, looking away. “I’m alright.”
“Good.”
“Clive and Merwin?”
Odson chuckled, “Those two knuckleheads are no match for Queen Regina. She forced them to ensnare themselves in their own devices, like the ones Kargassa used on Elora and Kymri. They aren’t ever likely to get out of them either. At Jori’s request, Regina gave them to Carson for the GPSA to deal with.”
Marli’s brows shot up. “Wow, really? Wow. She didn’t let the Council execute them. That’s… unexpected.”
