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“Was there a note in any of the golems?”

“They’re being searched now. It will be delivered to you immediately should they find one.”

“Thank you, Declan,” I say, dismissing him.

Denny and Xavier stand in the hall outside the council room, along with the usual trio of guards. I give them a greeting nod as I step into the room.

The others are already here.

“Glad you could join us, Henrik,” Lawrence says wryly, glancing up from the assortment of parchments on the table in front of Audra and him.

“Declan stopped me in the hall,” I say. “Five golems were just confiscated at the city gate.”

He growls, rubbing his shoulder. “Why does Camellia try anymore?”

“Even undead princesses need a hobby,” Clover says, earning startled smiles from the solemn councilmen. Everyone seems relieved to see her up and around this morning. If any of her fellow former ladies-in-waiting had been attacked, they’d likely be in bed for a week.

There are about forty of us in attendance—a bishop, Lawrence’s council, Bartholomew and his mother, our group of friends, Lady Ellaine, and several other high-ranking High Vales I know from my time in Revalane. I expected some resistance from the elves, but they seem pleased that one of King Bathus’s descendants will finally return to Caldenbauer’s throne.

“Everything is in order,” the bishop declares, satisfied with the paperwork. He looks at Audra’s mother. “Do you find the agreement satisfactory?”

Judging from the smug looks on the High Vales’ faces, Lawrence must have made some serious concessions in order to move this along quickly.

“I do,” she answers.

With a solemn nod, the bishop gives Lawrence the quill. Without hesitation, he signs his name and hands it to Lady Ellaine.

Despair crosses Audra’s face as she watches her mother sign her life away, but she quickly schools the expression. With a kind smile, Lady Ellaine passes the quill to her daughter.

Audra’s signature is the final on the document, not necessarily needed, but reassurance to both sides that the two marrying parties are in agreement.

Audra hesitates for only a second before she adds her name next to Lawrence’s.

It’s a business transaction, legally binding, over in less than five minutes—but powerful enough to ally the High Vales with the king.

I look up, meeting Clover’s eyes. Her smile is for me alone, for our future.

With a mere three signatures signed at the end of a stack of parchments, we are free.

18

HENRIK

Again,I wonder what Lawrence agreed to in the marriage contract. The High Vales are compliant this morning, offering to send aid wherever, and however, it’s needed. They’ve even agreed to search their own ranks for signs of corruption. I’ve never seen such an accommodating group of elves.

It’s unnerving.

The Boermin are farmers and not fighters, but they’ve agreed to offer provisions to our growing army in exchange for added guards in their settlements. The gnomes are still vying for a tax-free existence, which Lawrence will never agree to openly, even if he would consider it in private.

And the Woodmores…

“You’re asking us to send hundreds of our men on a wild goose chase,” an elderly Woodmore man says, shaking his head.

“Worse,” another interrupts, a woman with dark hair and short antler spikes. “Awitch hunt.”

The declaration is followed by murmurs of agreement from their side of the discussion tables.

The older elf continues, “Not only are we morally opposed to taking such an offensive position, but it would also paint a target on our people. If Camellia knew we were actively hunting her, what would stop her from attacking our villages?”