Page 64 of For the Ghastly and Beautiful

Connak shrugs. “Ada did.”

“She knows?” the prince shouts.

I sigh, struggling to find my peace. We can’t all be mad at the same time. That would end in a fight.

Instead of the calm I so desperately want, a sense of curiosity flits through me. “When did she find out?”

“She knows.” Connak nods. “But I didn’t ask how long she’s known. She didn’t want to talk about it.”

“What are we going to do?” Ecaeris asks me.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re going to do what we’ve been doing,” Talodus tells us. “This changes nothing.”

Ecaeris kicks at the air before straightening his back and closing his eyes. “This changes everything.”

“Really?” Connak challenges. “Knowing she’s the next queen changes the way you feel about her?”

“No,” the prince grinds out through his anger.

“Then why are you so worked up?”

“Because everything I knew to be true is changing.” The prince sighs heavily, his fleeing emotions causing his shoulders to droop. “I want.”

That’s all he says, but we understand.

“You’re allowed to want,” Talodus says softly. “We’ve tried to tell you this. The problem is that there was never anything you really wanted and thought you couldn’t have until she—”

“Washed up on the shore and put me in my place?” His chuckle ends on a strained groan.

“Technically, she swam to the shore,” I remind him. “She all but screamed that information at us when you brought her into the clinic.”

Talodus scrubs a hand over the top of his head. “That feels like ages ago.”

“So, we’re in agreement with this commitment?” Connak inquires, hesitancy in his voice as he waits for us to answer. “Because I’m not walking away from her. I need to know where you stand, for today at least.”

“Shouldn’t we ask her first?” Ecaeris asks, shocking us.

I shrug. “I’ve already talked to her about it.”

“What did she say?” He narrows his gaze, his confidence wavering slightly as I draw out my reply.

“She likes us all,” I confess. “But she thinks this is out of reach.”

Talodus shuffles the maps and papers around like he’s ready to move to the next subject. “Then we need to show her it isn’t. Telling her won't change her mind.”

“Again,” Connak begins. “Agreement or no?”

“Aye,” we state.

The tension in the room falls away as we speak our intentions aloud. I don’t know what happens next, or when Isolde will step down… But the amount of power Ada possesses suddenly makes more sense.

She rendered me speechless in her anger over Rin’s attack. I could hardly stay on my feet, and that was mere days after her exchange with Spiran.

How powerful will our new Mongrel Queen be?