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“Why’s that?”
“Because you look fucking amazing in that color, if I do say so myself.” She fluffed her honeyed curls, the highlights flashing almost the exact same shade as the gauzy fabric. “Besides, it’s bright and cheery, which will probably make those fuckers the most uneasy.”
Fair enough. It wouldn’t hurt to feel like she had a small leg up on her first day as…as one of the Elder Council.
Shite. Lunara might never get used to that.
“Your seat is beside mine,” Araxis murmured. “It’s the only throne in the room, so you won’t miss it. I’ll make sure you’re never lost, and always know what’s expected of you. It’s part of my duty.”
They stood outside the Hollow’s doors, the Elder Halls yawning around them as the din of over five hundred Nachthellians filtered out from inside the sacred space—four hundred and sixty-six Elders plus fifty-one Council members, according to Araxis. All there to bear witness to Lunara’s first real foray into their viperous den.
Hedda and Faldir stood either side of the grand entrance, silent and watching, battle axes planted firmly to the ground in front of them. The weapons seemed larger than usual, more menacing, because she convinced them to come in their lesser forms and the handle ends rose to chest height, nearly as big as they were.
Quite the effect, really, that quiet message. That threat. Greater or Lesser, it didn’t matter—they wielded the chosen instruments of their destruction with devastating force, regardless of size.
“Is that what you did for Malachyr?” she asked, a false lightness in her tone. “Sat right beside and advised him in between his unsavory evening activities?”
Faldir and Hedda’s hands simultaneously tightened, wood and metal creaking their grips.
“A mild way of putting his indiscriminate slaughtering of innocents for enjoyment, but…” Araxis cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, yes. I did. Once again, however, this is neither the place nor time for that conversation.” He called a scroll from the ether and handed it over. “We’re starting simple and easy, only a single item on the docket. I think you’ll find it rather doable in the end.”
One of these days, she was going to pin him down right next to Cordelia and force both of them to spill every last secret and explanation they possessed, whether it had anything to do with her or not.
Perhaps if you bothered to go to them when it wasn’t wildly inconvenient, you’d have better luck.
Yes, yes. True. Whatever.
“Now, it’s customary for the Blessed Keeper to pause in the center of the Hollow so all may rise to greet them.” Araxis adjusted the collar of his ceremonial robe—a garment that looked absolutely ridiculous on him—and smoothed the freshly shorn sides of his head. “That means you’ll wait for me to reach my place, wait just until the silence is slightly uncomfortable to assert your authority, then follow my footsteps to the gilded seat in the front aisle. Easy.”
“Are you completely serious?”
One side of his mouth quirked up—another thing she’d never get used to. “I really am. If this is going to work, if they are to respect you, they need to know that you know your worth and station. You know how we are about power. If you want to enact change, you have to ingratiate yourself first. You have to be uncomfortable now so you might eventually make everyone comfortable later.”
He pointed to the scroll in her hand. “The issue I’ve chosen for today would take weeks of deliberating under normal circumstances. A large portion of the hundreds of Elders would want to air their opinion or thought on the matter to be sure the Council took them into consideration, even though we only need a majority ruling for most requests in order to make a decision.”
“I’m well aware of how it all works, Araxis. I was days from my trial, if you recall.”
“I’m sure you know the political logistics of the Council meetings. I’m asking you to realize that you have the authority to muzzle all of them, simply by stating what you think we should do. I’m asking you to really, fully, finally understand how much power you truly hold, Lunara.”
She swallowed, every pump of her anxious heart throbbing in her ears.
“The role of the Elder Council is to guide the Evesong when her Keeper is unknown or absent,” he continued. “But here you are—the bright and shining light chosen by the Sisters to guide all of us. No, you are not our Highness or our Majesty, but you are, for all intents and purposes, our Realm Ruler. One word on the matter in that scroll, and whatever you say will be done.”
“Shitting stars and arses.”
“Indeed. Don’t fuck it up.” Araxis sighed. “I know you technically knew these things, but…let it sink in. Use your keen mind. Follow your heart. You know the difference between right and wrong. I’ll be there to help you with the rest of it.” He threw his shoulders back, his face a stoic mask. “Besides, I’m well aware my brother will kill me if anything happens to you, physically or otherwise, so I swear not to lead you astray—out of preservation for my own life, if nothing else.”
And then he glanced down and bleeding winked at her.
Where even are you right now? What is happening?
She hardly knew. Could barely feel her own face.
The doors opened, the thick scent of incense and oils immediately hitting Lunara in the face, and she swore then and there to figure out a way to limit the things they mixed together. How was anyone meant to breathe in that stars-forsaken chamber? It took everything not to choke as she took her place, resisting the urge to claw Araxis back when he walked away from her.
Someday, she might get around to figuring out how she felt about him. Maybe.
Just do what he said. Lift a brow. Stare a few of them down. Wait for the tension.
