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‘I’ll get you a couple of juicy goats for your birthday,’ I said, rolling my eyes at her. She winked back. I threw one look at my father, who still gave the impression he might start steaming from his ears at any moment, and quickly added, ‘And while everyone is still alive, mind if I ask you two for a favour? To offer some distraction from the fangs?’

Agenor let out a long-suffering groan as he sank into a chair and buried his face in his gold-flecked fingers. ‘Gods and demons. Imagine the two of you allowing me a minute of peace every now and then.’

‘You’ve had twenty years of peace,’ Rosalind dryly pointed out, settling herself more snugly into the couch cushions. ‘How much did you enjoy those?’

He didn’t even bother to answer that question, turning to me with an expression of thinly veiled despair instead. ‘What did you want to ask?’

‘I was wondering if you could arrange to have everyone of importance at the Crimson Court tomorrow around this time,’ I said, and his wings unclenched ever so slightly at the pragmatic normalcy of the request. ‘The main members of the Alliance, in any case. Couple of other kings and queens, if possible. Please don’t forget to bring Thysandra, and if any other captives want to come along, they’re more than welcome as far as I’m concerned. Do you think that would be possible?’

He hesitated. ‘Do I understand you’re planning to be … elsewhere, in the meantime?’

‘Oh, I’ll be inspecting the properties,’ I said, face straight. ‘I’ve recently come into an inheritance, I’ve been told.’

It was hard to decide which was the more satisfying reward – Rosalind’s muffled laughter or Agenor’s expression, his face frozen in habitual poise, a small, twitching muscle at his temple the only sign of just how hard he was fighting to compose himself. It took two beats of perfect silence before he parted his lips, closed his lips again, parted his lips once more, and finally, carefully said, ‘I see.’

‘You do?’ I said.

‘Yes.’ The word was strained with a hundred other things I knew he wasn’t saying –these games will hurt you if you’re not careful, andbelieve me, the Crimson Court isn’t where you want to spend the rest of your days, andare you really going to make your decisions with no one but Creon to help you?But he swallowed them all, every well-intended assertion on my wishes and feelings, leaving nothing but a tense, ‘Are you being careful?’

The surge of affection welling up in me was strong enough to catch me off guard – a sudden, almost forceful urge to throw my arms around him and hug those lines of concern off his face. ‘I’ll be careful. Promise.’

‘Good,’ he managed, then hurriedly added, ‘And whatever you do, keep in mind people will expect gifts and favours in returnfor their allegiance, will you? Loyalty has always been bought by the crown. You don’t need to follow tradition, but be aware that itisthe tradition, if you—’

‘Are you saying you need payment to get people to the Crimson Court tomorrow?’ I said, unable to suppress my growing grin.

He threw me a tired look. ‘Em, you know very damn well—’

‘Because in that case,’ I cheerfully continued, ignoring the reproach entirely, ‘do you think the Golden Court would suffice?’

He stiffened.

‘And the title, I suppose.’ I bit my lip in mock-thoughtfulness. ‘I don’t think I have any use for that, either. So—’

‘Em,’ he sharply interrupted, disbelief and warning warring for preference in his voice. ‘What in the world are you talking about? The empire—’

‘I’m doing away with the empire,’ I said, shrugging. ‘One court is plenty for me. So if you’d like to have the Golden Court back …’

He stared at me, lost for words.

On the couch, Rosalind was no longer laughing.

‘I …’ Agenor’s eyes darted towards her, his expression strangely helpless. ‘I suppose we’ll have to discuss …’

Rosalind cleared her throat. ‘I assume there’s enough space to keep some goats at that court of yours?’

He went quiet again.

‘Oh, plenty,’ I merrily said in his place. ‘I think you could keep a few thousand of them on the plains, if you felt so inclined.’

‘Excellent,’ she said and winced as one of her fangs nicked her lip, leaving a small cut. ‘Well, then I’m voting in favour. Unless you have any objections, of course, Lord Protector?’

A mirthless laugh fell over his lips. ‘Me?’

‘As I thought.’ She sent him another wicked grin, wiping away the blood welling from her bottom lip with the back of her hand. ‘That’s settled, then. Lovely idea, Em darling. You’re taking the Cobalt Court, I suppose?’

‘What?’ Agenor said bewilderedly.

‘You didn’t think any daughter of mine was going to spend the rest of her life in that hell in the south, did you?’ she shot back, her bright blue eyes gleaming with mischievous triumph. ‘Also, I assume it’s not a coincidence that only Thysandra was mentioned by name in the list of tomorrow’s required attendants?’