Page 12 of To Save a Kingdom

If only it were appropriate for a queen to swear. She could think of a few choice words she’d love to shout to the sky. She sighed, her shoulders dropping. Of course, they couldn’t have discussed this yesterday, before Brooks had absconded with Garrick.

Aliya massaged her temples with her fingers. Valek, what she wouldn’t give to not have to deal with this right now.

Jalius, who had been so quiet for the rest of the meeting, raised his hand. “Your Majesty?”

She tilted her neck from side to side in a vain attempt to relieve some tension in her back, then turned her attention to the gnome, who she’d almost forgotten about at the far end of the table. “Yes?”

“I believe, if given enough time, the mages may be able to figure out how to deactivate them.”

That would be ideal. They were the most neutral party here, and, if Jalius was to be believed, the most loyal, as well. Other than Elessan, of course. A small amount of the tension between her shoulder blades released. “Thank you. I would be extremely grateful. You can use the artificer’s lab. Anything you need, just ask.”

Jalius cleared his throat.

She furrowed her eyebrows. She’d granted him carte blanche to all the resources of the crown. What else did he want? Her heart skipped a beat. Not another Irrevocable Vow.

The gnome pushed his round spectacles up his nose. “Due to the, um, volatile nature of the Whisperers, perhaps somewhere not in the castle would be better? Somewhere far enough away from the capital that, should anything go awry, innocent bystanders will be spared?”

Oh. She should’ve thought of that. “Of course. Select an appropriate location, one that can be secured.” The last thing she needed was someone like Brooks making off with the Whisperers while the mages were working on them.

“The elves will provide security.” Tsara’s words were like a tidal wave shattering the tension in the room, leaving no room for argument.

Lord Macherall stood, his chair nearly falling to the side behind him with the force of his movement. “I will be damned before I see those weapons in the hands of an elf!”

Tsara met his eyes, the resolve in hers countering the blinding rage in his. “And we will not allow them to remain under human control!”

“Enough!” Aliya flicked her wrist and a fireball the size of her fist exploded in the middle of the table.

Both sides went silent.

“We will have two shifts of ten guards each.” She glanced first at Tsara then at Macherall. “Five elves and five humans per shift. Don’t forget, the mages can defend themselves, too.”

Jalius opened his mouth, but Aliya stared at him until he shut it. Yes, Malkov had killed all the mages who’d been trained to fight—either with a weapon or their magic. That didn’t mean she wanted that information made public.

Elessan’s hand slipped beneath the table, likely to squeeze the mage’s leg or some other warning.

Jalius settled back in his chair with a nod.

Aliya fixed her gaze on Macherall. The muscles in his face were stone-hard as he glared at Tsara. Aliya ignored the tremor in her gut begging her to back down, instead forcing that same rigidity to settle in her eyes. “Lord Macherall.” She let the words hang in the air until he turned his attention to her.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” He spit the title, making it sound almost like a curse.

Heat flooded her chest. This man was going to be a problem. One she’d need to figure out how to address sooner rather than later. “Sit down, sir.”

“Five elves versus five humans is hardly fair.” He gestured to Tsara. “They’ll overpower us and take the Whisperers.”

Aliya flicked her eyes toward Tsara, who looked for all the world like she was trying to hold back a snort of disgust.

The edges of Elessan’s mouth hardened, his lips pressing into a thin line as he glared at Macherall.

“Well.” Aliya picked an invisible bit of lint off one of her sleeves. “If you can’t come up with five soldiers from our ranks who are capable of fighting elves, we have more to be worried about than the Whisperers.” She pinned him with her stare. “I may have to reevaluate which noble houses are in charge of training the military.”

Under Malkov’s rule, each house was responsible for preparing the recruits from the lands they controlled. She hadn’t intended to change that, but, if she had to make good on her threat, she would. Even if it meant adding yet one more item to the never-ending list of things she needed to attend to.

Lord Macherall’s mouth opened and closed as he stuttered, searching for words to counter her ultimatum.

“If it makes you more comfortable,” Tsara’s clear voice came as she studied Macherall with narrowed eyes, each word sounded like the peal of a golden bell, “we can limit our guards to three.” Her lips spread into a wide smile that showed too much fang to be genuine.

Aliya couldn’t decide what she desired more—slam her palm into her forehead or lunge across the table and throttle the sun elf princess.