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“I knew it,” Mordred says with a wide smile. “You fucking owe me.”
The last remark is clearly aimed at Isolde, who smiles even wider.
Flavio shoots Lupa a glare like he’s annoyed by her lack of reaction, not that it’s any of his business. I don’t like the way she’s ghosted Cia at school, but she was there when we needed a witness, so in my book she’s proven her loyalty.
I look across all six people at the round table, and I can’t help feeling amazed. Despite the light banter that just broke out, they’re dressed for a fight—one they’ll probably never be part of. And, sadly, if they are, they might not live.
Fuck.
After we’ve taken our seats as well the table no longer feels as huge. Ten people squeezed around a table that was large for four is barely big enough.
“So this is what we’ve all trained and competed for?” Isolde asks, sounding awe-struck as she runs a hand across the smooth table surface. “A spot at the round table just like in the Arthurian legends.”
Cia smiles at the Hatt Heir. “I promise to answer as many questions as possible once Morgana is back in our midst.”
I look at Arthur who visibly relaxes, and I can’t say I blame the poor guy. Sitting around and waiting is one thing, but waiting while people chit-chat must be torture.
“We apologize for making you wait so long.” Cia looks directly at Arthur. “I promise it was for a good purpose and, again, I have to say, most of it we will discuss at a later date. But for now, we need to focus on Morgana.”
“Thank you,” Arthur says in a grave tone. “What news do you have of my sister?”
Feeling like it should come from me, I say, “The Drákon Tribunal has her.”
Mordred gives me a weird look. “Why? Can’t you just demand they give her back?”
“It’s not that easy, is it?” Remus asks with trepidation in his voice. “Who and what is the Drákon Tribunal?”
Kai quickly fills them in on the organization. He explains that it’s essentially its own secret society who runs the Drákon family. Though he goes into a lengthy explanation, he doesn’t mention the cuckoo analogy, which we know is a reference to the kids that are being slipped into the Hatt and Russo families to raise. He also doesn’t mention any names.
“So why the fuck do they have Morgana?” Mordred asks.
I look at Arthur, surprised he hasn’t explained this to them. Then again, I guess it makes sense. We’re keeping certain information secret—at least for now. Maybe he thinks that if they knew the truth, the Heirs wouldn’t be so prepared to give their life for his sister’s freedom.
“It doesn’t matter why,” Cia quickly says. “Only that they have her, and we can only think of one way to get her back.”
When Arthur queries as to how we’re going to do that, Liam smiles darkly. “Why, we take her back, of course,” he deadpans.
Lupa and Isolde nod like that makes all the sense in the world.
“And where is she?” Flavio asks.
Turning my head, I look at Cia. This is the part we only worked out on our way here. Which also means we might be wrong. I don’t think we are, though. An organization like the Tribunal would want to hide in plain sight so they can keep a close eye on the new generation as they receive their training.
Since the real training takes place on a fucking island in the Mediterranean, that’s where both Liam and I were certain they’d be as well. Cia wasn’t convinced at first, until Liam reminded her of an excursion we all took years ago. To a place, we dubbed Dead Man’s Isle.
It’s one of the relatively small islands we could see from the place we stayed at, and, conveniently, it was one of two islands my dad forbade us from ever swimming to. Curious as we were, one night, Liam, Cia, and myself disobeyed the Ruthless, and swam there anyway. But before we made it five steps onto the sand dune, a spear was thrown from somewhere, embedding itself into the ground. It was a clear warning, one we heeded.
“We think she’s being kept close to the island the Drákons use for training,” Cia says, answering Flavio’s question.
While Kai unfolds the blueprints Alexander left us, I keep looking at Cia. The fear I felt all those years ago is easy to recall. So is the way my skin crawled from knowing someone was watching us back then. But then when we got back to our own island, we were all sure it was probably Nikolaos playing some kind of twisted joke or a way to ensure we didn’t get injured if we slipped and fell on the island.
“When Morgana came to see the island last summer, she had a sense of déjà vu,” I explain. “She told Acacia she felt like she’d been there before…”
I trail off when Arthur slams his fist down onto the table. “She fucking what?”
Nodding, I carry on. “Yeah, but we never thought it was possible. Now, it’s making us think that she might be right. And if not… maybe it was a visiting island.”
I really fucking wish I could just outright say what’s on my mind. However, since I don’t know if the Hatt Heirs are aware of Morgana’s biological dad being Alexander and not Uther, I’m not going to blurt it out.
