AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s one of the tenants of the Realm’s early charter,” Everett told her. “That travel never be limited as in the old years it was used to limit alliances from forming. Every citizen is supposed to be guaranteed safe passage wherever they are in the Realm. At least until the Great War.”
“Is the Headmaster still here? We need to speak with him,” Desmond said grimly.
Andy nodded. “He never left. Come, we’ll take you to him.”
Crossing the empty Academy felt eerie. Even when they had stayed after the spring semester had ended, the grounds never felt as empty as they did right now. It was like the buildings and the grounds were holding their breath. Claire was grateful to be inside the administrative building. While the halls were still empty, they didn’t feel as exposed as they had in the courtyard. Gwen wasn’t sitting at her desk outside the Headmaster’s office but Andy didn’t stop anyways. Instead she knocked three times on the Headmaster’s door before pushing it open.
“They’re back,” she announced, holding the door open for the rest of them to file through.
The Headmaster looked up from the paperwork on his desk. A flash of relief crossed his face as he laid eyes on Claire and her Triad. “Thank the Realm,” he muttered softly.
“Headmaster Dorian,” Desmond greeted. “What is going on?”
Headmaster Dorian dropped the paperwork in his hand and leaned back into his chair. “Chaos to put it mildly.”
“The Academy session was canceled?” Everett asked, pulling out a chair for Claire and then perching on the arm. Puck jumped from her shoulders to the back of the chair and started preening his wings. Her Notus gave off the air that he wasn’t paying attention but his keen golden eyes kept flashing at the Headmaster.
“It was. I’m afraid the Realm is growing unstable. The Council is cracking down on travel. Not a day after you left for the Forest, they announced travel restrictions across the territories. They claimed three more attacks happened in the last week but my sources haven't been able to find evidence. Nevertheless, the Council closed the Market down two days ago and enacted curfews in each territory.”
“They closed the Market?” Malcolm rumbled, standing behind them, arms crossed over his chest. Claire remembered the bustling market where she had found the Elven dagger. There had to be dozens of vendors there, had they all lost their livelihood?
“Yes.” The Headmaster rubbed a hand over his face. “And the move did nothing to ease tensions within the Realm. When they enacted the travel restrictions, I think most of the people bought the reason as they presented ‘evidence’ of the false attacks and the ones here on the Academy’s grounds. But when they closed the Market and restricted intra-territory travel, it backfired on them. The people are getting restless. They remember the Market closing as the start of the Great War. Either the Council doesn’t care or they are becoming unhinged.”
“Neither are great options,” Desmond muttered, hands clasped under his chin as his brain raced.
“None of them inspire confidence, that’s for sure. Something is coming,” the Headmaster said, looking at Claire. “Whatever you found or are trying to find, do it quickly.”
Malcolm growled and Claire sent a soothing warmth down their bond to quell it. The Headmaster was just trying to let them know the stakes. He didn’t know that Claire was already crystal clear on what would happen if she couldn’t figure this out.
“There’s more,” Helene spoke up, her soft voice like a haunting melody in the heavy atmosphere of the office. “I received word today that Council spies are planting information in the network. Whisperings that this is all because of the Fae and Elves. That they are planning an uprising.”
“That’s not true!” Claire’s words burst from her into the silence after Helene’s statement. The Elves were doing nothing of the sort and Claire knew the Fae probably weren’t either.
“We know that,” Everett said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “But there’s no way the people of the Realm know that. It’s actually a smart tactic by the Council.”
“One that we can use as well,” Desmond’s eyes gleamed.
“What do you have planned in that evil look?” Andy teased.
“We use the same tactics against them. The Market is the trigger point, right? For the Realm, closing trade puts people’s livelihood at risk and makes people uneasy because of the Great War. What if we put out on our channels that there is a new Queen of the Elves that is interested in opening up trade but is being met by resistance from the prideful Council.”
The Headmaster looked thoughtful. “That could work. Is it true?” He looked at Claire.
Claire was still processing Desmond’s words. Queen? She took a breath as her head swam. He was right though. She was the Queen. She thought ‘Princess’ was a difficult title to get used to but the coronation ceremony would have changed that. With no other female Royals, her stomach panged with grief, she was Queen.
She met the Headmaster’s eyes and nodded once. Andy and Helene’s eyes widened but they also didn’t ask any questions.
“There is risk involved,” Desmond said quieter, reaching across to squeeze Claire’s hand once. “If it was found out that the information traced back to our networks, the Council would know something was up and most likely put two and two together.”
No one actually said that Claire was the new Queen out loud and she was grateful. Hopefully she had more time to process that particular revelation before she had to own it.
“Let’s take steps to mitigate the risk by telling multiple people and letting the information weave its own way to the Capital,” the Headmaster decided. “None of this is without risk but right now the Council is controlling the narrative and we need to start owning it.”
Desmond nodded. “Then we’ll put it out.”
“I’ll put it out with my herbology connections,” Helene said. “Several of them would love if that actually came to fruition.” She looked at Claire who nodded. Opening trade back up was definitely a goal but nothing could be done until they figured out who was behind this and right now all signs were pointing to the Council.
“Speaking of the Council,” Andy said looking at Desmond. “You probably need to call your father and let him know you are okay.”
