‘Knowing something and understanding it are two different things.’ His golden eyes briefly dim. ‘Tell me, who has the largest army?’
Every Raven territory has their own army, each with their own livery, all loyal to the Raven banner. The heads of each family also act as a council for my parents, convening when important decisions need to be made, such as Mistral’s sentencing and execution for inciting the North Wind rebellion, and subsequent cover-up.
‘Uh, Vindhof.’ I frown as I try to remember. I’m doing my best, but between my father and my mother there’s just so much information to take in. It’s partly my fault. I pretty much did everything I could to avoid being Raven, despite my parents’ efforts. But with my coronation just months away there’s a new urgency to all they want to teach me. I know they want me back at the house full-time. And I’m increasingly aware that I need to step up. ‘Ravenko. Then De Corbeau.’
‘Ravenna?’ Again, the undertone to my father’s voice. My frown deepens.
‘Ravenna don’t have a large army.’
‘But they ally most closely with?—?’
‘The house of Mistral, who do have a decent-sized force.’ Makes sense, really, that they would be tight. Stella Ravenna, my cousin, has never liked me. Artos Ravenna basically insulted me to my face last time I saw him. And Mistral’s two eldest sons, Jacques and Oliver, are gigantic assholes. The only reason they’re still allowed to hold their titles, despite their father’s treachery, was that it was a condition of them keeping quiet about what really happened to him. Birds of a feather flock together, and they are all Ravens, after all. Plus, I think my mother feels somehow guilty, even though nothing about what happened was her fault. But she was with Mistral for a long time before she was with Father, so perhaps that’s why she wasn’t as ruthless as she could have been with his children.
I fold my arms. ‘Why are we going over this? Shouldn’t we be talking about what’s going to happen tonight?’
The message came through a few days ago. Via Ira, of all people. The North Wind want to meet and talk terms for a ceasefire. The huge, tattooed owner of the Dome nightclub seems an unlikely candidate to deliver rebel leaders, yet I remember how he knew Kyle from before he worked for Raven, and the human commander who helped me get home after being kidnapped telling me he was sympathetic to humans. And the boy, caged in Ira’s bar, who died a violent death in a blood-soaked meadow. A death both Ira and I witnessed, though not together. There’s definitely more to him than being a local club owner. I’m just not sure, exactly, what that is.
‘Remind me again why Ira’s involved?’
My father’s lips twitch. ‘Everything we teach you is important, Emelia,’ he says. ‘All part of a greater whole.’ His voice is grave, but there’s a twinkle in his eye.
‘Like Ira?’
My father laughs. ‘Yes, like Ira. We all have our roles to play. And tonight’s meeting is an excellent chance for you tosee negotiation in action.’
‘Negotiation? What could there possibly be to negotiate?’ When Mistral died, the North Wind began to unravel. Documents found in his home detailed plans and rebel safe-houses across the UK and Europe, including the one where Kyle and Jessie kept me captive. And where I left Jessie, frozen after Kyle tried to change her to vampire.
‘That’s what we’re unsure about.’ My mother rests her chin in her hands, her elbows on the table, her rippling black hair contrasting sharply with the red velvet of her gown. There’s a strange tension to her, a flicker deep in her onyx gaze. I glance from her to my father.
‘Understand, Emelia,’ he says, ‘that Raven broke apart everything they could in the first month after Mistral died. We are swift, and efficient, when it comes to getting things done. The North Wind has already been mostly shut down.’
I nod. I know this.
‘Ira is bringing them because they surrendered to him at the Dome. Knocked on his back door two nights ago with a message, asking us to pull back our “dark forces”. That they wanted the attacks to stop. Yet wehadstopped, a month before.’
‘That makes no sense.’
‘It does not. And, with what’s been happening recently in the Safe Zones, I’m unsure what their game is.’
‘You mean the Reaper attacks?’ I consider for a moment. ‘Do you think it could be the North Wind, still? Some sort of double-bluff tactic to keep us on our toes?’
My father shakes his head. ‘No. Like I say, Raven has essentially broken them apart. And what happened in the Safe Zones bears clear marks of vampire attacks.’
‘Could they be working with vampires?’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘Uh.’ I cast around for something plausible. They know I snuck off the estate, but not that it was thanks to Kyle swapping secrets with another guard. ‘Mistral was a vampire, and he started the rebellion. Maybe there are others who still think it’s a good idea?’
‘For humans to overthrow us?’ My father raises an eyebrow. ‘I think it more likely to have been Reapers attacking the Safe Zones. The signs are all there.’
‘The signs?’
‘The humans were brutalised, as were the vampires.’ My mother’s voice is sombre. ‘Their deaths were savage.’
More savage than being torn apart in a meadow? I swallow, trying not to think of the Moon Harvest. ‘There’s no nice way to kill someone, I guess.’ Whether a slow death trapped in a town you can’t leave, or a quick death at the hands of a Reaper. ‘Why do they think it’s us, then?’
‘We don’t know,’ my mother replies.
