Page 54 of A Monarch's Fall

“Heidi,” she said, my name with her warning tone. I needed to try a different form of persuasion.

“When will I ever be this young and pretty and surrounded by so many potential high-ranking noble husbands again?” I asked instead and sighed wistfully. “I’m sorry, Grandmother, and I truly hate to say it, but being chained to your grandmother’s side is hardly conducive to romance.”

“A husband?” she asked. “You haven’t shown interest in finding a suitable partner before,” she continued, distrustfully.

It was true that I took great joy in playing with all the suitors my grandmother introduced me to, but I always discarded them. They were uptight, interested only in my title and future holdings. And I was far, far, too young to be interested inhusbands. The thought was worse than the wallpaper choice for this sitting room. With husbands came the expectations of putting up with a man's desires, and I was only interested in my own. I also liked my men below me, preferably on their knees and begging, and the ones that Grandmother brought me fancied themselves future lords of Coactus, not simply my partner but my ruler.

It was laughable.

Still, Grandmother had tried her best. My lack of interest in partnership was a great disappointment to all but Father. I still held no desire for marriage, and I would never willingly bear a child. For what purpose? Some distant cousin could have it all once I was gone. What would it matter anyway? Yet, with the way Grandmother seemed to sit a little straighter, I knew it was my angle of escape from whatever political torture meetings she had planned. I did not care about trade agreements or similar matters. What was most pressing on my mind was tracking down Selene.

My poor vampire, I was certain, would be beyond distraught, possibly going mad, without her soul match. Such true torture I could not imagine. As her friend, I was obligated to help her in her time of need. She had no one who could even begin to understand her pain, but at least I knew the truth.

“Yes, a husband. Can I be frank with you, Grandmother, though it might be upsetting to hear?” I asked her.

“Always,” she replied.

“I’m not sure if you can tell,” I waved my arm at everything around us, “but all this does not interest me. The politics, the agreements, allies: it all bores me. A husband will most likely bore me too, but at least he might take care of all this and leave me to my fancies,” I told her. It wasn’t that much of a lie; any man I was unfortunate enough to marry would be tasked withthe tediousness of running our House. What use was power if you couldn’t delegate tasks to the help?

Grandmother smiled approvingly.

“Well, I can’t say I’m in the least surprised at that revelation, dear,” she laughed. “It’s been painfully obvious your disdain for responsibility since you learned to tie your shoelaces and cried that it would be expected of you every time you wore shoes with laces,” she mocked.

“Yes, well, it was traumatic. Father’s rhyme for remembering the process was inappropriate for a five-year-old. I still have no desire to strangle a rabbit,” I replied and pushed the traumatic rhyme from my mind.

“Heidi, my dear granddaughter, nothing would make me happier than for you to choose a suitable husband,” she told me, and her demeanour became delightful. “I suppose that it may be a better use of your time to explore and socialise with your friends. I have been informed that our princess has made quite a recovery. Does she know that you have accompanied me to the conference?”

“It was a last-minute decision, on your part,” I reminded her. I had been planning a winter vacation in Ardens to catch up with Selene after Percy’s extraordinary display of the gardens at Sanguis Academy. At least I would still be able to visit with Selene.

“Give us the room,” Grandmother commanded calmly, without raising her voice, and the servants who had accompanied us and were currently unpacking and arranging our suite promptly left their tasks to exit the room.

“What do we need privacy for?” I questioned.

It was unusual. Our servants were of Coactus, and they were trustworthy. Grandmother held her finger to her lips, silencing me.

“Do you know why I requested that you accompany me to this conference?”she asked me, creating a link between us.

With there being no servants present, why start an internal conversation?

“What is going on?”I questioned.

“Heidi, you play the fool, but you are far from it!”she admonished me.“The Borealis kingdom is in upheaval: the north is nearly overrun with Vouna loyalists. I know for a fact that it wasn’t the northerners who took our princess’s pet. I have been informed of developments within House Halvorsen, an alliance with House Viridis,”she told me.

“Who took Percy?”I asked. I had assumed it was the militia that had attacked Ardens that had taken Percy as a bargaining tool, or perhaps and worryingly, as a possible weapon if they had heard of her novel powers, but Percy would never participate in such a thing.

“A group known as The New Foundation.”She waved her hand dismissively.“The point is that she is no longer in the north of the kingdom, and that there were other players there during the attack on Ardens.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me,”I told her.

“Listen, child,”she instructed, and it made me feel like I did when I was younger and unable to reply with my own magic — silenced.“Borealis has grown weak. Assassination attempts, rebellion from the northern Houses and now, secretive alliances are being formed between unlikely Houses in the south, and The New Foundation has apparently found a home. Not to mention that King Nyx has yet to recover fully, which is why the conference has been so delayed. Do you understand?”she questioned. I felt her frustration through the link.

“That there is clearly some mouth-watering gossip taking place within the castle,”I replied, already wondering if every noble attending had taken precautions against Coactus magic.“Does Selene know it was this New Foundation group who took Percy?”I asked more seriously, I hadn’t had a chance to speak with her since I heard the news of the attack and the abduction of Percy.

Grandmother sighed heavily.

“I would imagine so. We are entering a time of great change,”she said, turning her head away from me and smiling fondly,“But yes, there is…gossip,”I felt her struggle even to think the word and contained my amusement,“Your disinterest in politics and the intricacies of what it takes to rule a House has not gone unnoticed by others,” I felt for a moment a brief sense of being a disappointment, “Don’t think like that, dear. It is precisely your reputation which could allow you to help secure the future of House Coactus.”

“How?”I asked, sitting straight and turning to face Grandmother fully.