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Chapter

Thirty-Seven

A s they sat down in the chairs, Frayson walked up to the edge of the dais and threw out his arms.

“Welcome, council members. As is tradition, you will be able to evaluate this year’s nominees.

I know many of you come with proposals, or challenges, that you need our regent to act on or resolve.

While Loche will be making the final decisions as the current regent, all nominees will get the chance to respond to ensure you understand their stance on different matters.

Nominees, as you all know, council members vote for all the people inhabiting their islands, so this is your chance to garner votes outside of the capital. ”

Lessia’s brows snapped together.

She knew each council family led its own island, but she had no idea that they voted on behalf of their people.

While Asker was the largest island in Ellow, the smaller ones made up two-thirds of the population.

No wonder the nobles always won the election.

She couldn’t comprehend how Loche had convinced any of them, especially considering the venomous glares he shot around the room from the chair next to her.

Her eyes left his scowling face when a man who introduced himself as Ludvak stepped forward to begin the debate.

Lessia swept her gaze over his expensive navy robe and the intricate silver embroidery of his family crest decorating the chest of the dark shirt he wore beneath it—two half moons overlapping a rose.

Ardow had mentioned each noble family had their own crest, but apart from the few times nobles had ventured to her taverns, she’d had little to do with them and had no idea which family Ludvak hailed from.

Ludvak claimed that the cost of feeding his cattle, which apparently produced most of the milk in Ellow, had gone up so much that he couldn’t continue to pay his workers.

Loche snarkily responded that he could perhaps sell some of the family gold he hoarded in his basement if he was so worried, while Craven suggested the workers should work in exchange for free milk.

When Venko cautiously argued they couldn’t live off milk, Loche shot him a nod and proclaimed Ludvak needed to start paying them immediately and reimbursing them for what he’d withheld, or his men would come and raid the family treasures, selling them off one by one until he started giving his workers their due.

Remaining quiet, Lessia eyed the men, noting that Venko and Loche seemed to agree on many things, although Venko argued strongly for more soldiers to help protect the waters from pirates that kept attacking any ship they could.

Craven disagreed with every single point the other two men made, his face turning a shade darker every time Loche ruled in the opposite way he would.

Loche fascinated her the most .

He mostly responded to outrageous requests with boredom, but a vein strained on his neck as he glared at some of the people coming forward. He was quietly furious, and she made a mental note to learn how to control her emotions like he did.

“Lessia, what do you think?”

She shifted her gaze to Frayson, pink tinting her cheeks as he raised his brows.

Clearing her throat, she sat straighter in the chair. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”

A low growl behind her told her Merrick wasn’t impressed that she’d gotten lost in her thoughts, and so did Loche’s disappointed expression when she glanced his way.

Her stomach sank at the look in his eyes—as if he’d expected more of her—and the shame that settled on her chest made her cheeks burn brighter.

“Hawker”—Frayson gestured to a younger man with dark eyes who refused to meet Lessia’s—“is concerned about the trade slowing down because of the threat of pirates. Fewer merchants are willing to brave the sea, so prices are increasing, and it’s getting more difficult to acquire certain goods.”

Nodding, Lessia kept her eyes on the man, who still wouldn’t look at her.

She’d experienced the same thing with her taverns. For the past few months, they’d had to pay far more for the same goods so that the captains of the ships could employ mercenaries to protect them.

She laced her fingers together, forcing her voice to stay strong and ignoring the unfriendly faces before her.

“I have the same concerns for my business. But since we’re employing more soldiers, couldn’t we find a way for the warships to collaborate with the trade ships? Perhaps even have them join forces, reevaluate the trade routes so that ships could protect our borders while also transporting goods.”

It was quiet for a beat, and she dared steal a look at Loche. His face remained impassive, but something in his eyes made her continue.

“It would also allow more opportunities for the people. I know many are forced to become soldiers because there are so few other options, but perhaps they could be offered a choice after they’ve been trained—become either a soldier, a merchant, or even a ship captain.”

Hawker’s jaw clenched, his gaze still fixed somewhere above her head, but some of the other nobles glanced at each other and nodded.

“I like it.”

Her eyes widened when Loche spoke, and his features softened for a moment as their eyes locked.

“While we allow women in our ranks, many aren’t willing, so this would also allow more opportunities for them outside of working the farms or moving to the capital in search of employment.

I will speak to our admirals and see how we could go about setting this up.

” Loche shot her another glance before shifting his eyes to the nobles again. “Who’s next?”

“What about the Fae?” Another man stalked forward, a sneer on his face beneath his neatly combed golden hair. “They drive up the prices by bringing their goods here. We should seal the borders from them, should have never opened them in the first place!”

Lessia schooled her features into a mask of neutrality at the disgust that twisted the man’s face when she cleared her throat.

“Don’t the Fae and humans trade different goods, though?

We have never purchased any produce or liquor from Fae vendors.

My understanding is that they mainly provide steel for weapons, or even finished weapons, if you can afford it. And building material, of course.”

She made the mistake of glancing out over the crowd. The blond man wasn’t the only one staring at her with outright loathing. Most of the people closest to the dais averted their eyes when she met them, one woman even hiding behind the man closest to her and shuddering.

The blond man’s lip curled. “We only have to purchase the building material because the Fae burned down most of our forests in the war. It takes centuries to get those kinds of forests back. They should be giving it for free as payment for their destruction.”

“But it was also humans who started the war. The Fae lost almost as many, and they depend more on trade now, as they can’t reproduce as fast as humans can.” She tried to keep her voice even as more faces turned her way, stares of pure hate burning into her skin.

While she wasn’t the biggest fan of the Fae, she knew they relied heavily on trade, since they had fewer Fae able to help produce food and clothing. And despite all the bad seeds, there were good Fae too.

Lessia winced when people around her started screaming in outrage.

“She is on their side!”

“Of course she’d defend the Fae. She is a halfling. She’s one of them!”

“She shouldn’t be allowed here. She’d probably put Ellow under Fae rule if it was up to her!”

She shot a quick glance at Loche, but his face was turned away, his foot nonchalantly bouncing up and down. Steeling the emotions churning inside her, she made sure not a lick of the pain those words caused reflected in her features.

“Quiet!” Frayson barked, breaking through the chaos.

Before anyone else could speak, Lessia sucked in a breath and rose from her seat, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.

“I understand why you might not trust me. Believe me, I’ve seen firsthand how cruel Fae can be.

But like humans, Fae differs from Fae, and I am also half-human—one of you.

I consider Ellow my home, and I’ve made sure to contribute to society during my years here.

I have no ill intentions in this election. ”

She bit her cheek not to grimace at the last bit.

It wasn’t a lie.

Not really.

She might have been forced to be here by King Rioner, but she was doing everything she could to ensure Ellow remained safe.

Even if the people here treated her like an outsider, she knew Ellow was safer for someone like her, for someone like Kalia or Harver, than Vastala would ever be.

And she needed to make sure it stayed that way.

Make it better if she could.

The only way to do that was to show them they had nothing to fear from half-Fae like herself.

It was quiet for a moment, but then someone called out, “You’re not one of us! Go home, halfling!”

The room erupted in more shouts.

Sitting back down, Lessia tried to shrink into the chair, making herself as small as possible.

It took Frayson a long time to calm everyone down, and when the debate continued, no one asked for Lessia’s opinion again.

Not even Frayson looked her way as they discussed taxes, how to feed everyone until the end of this long winter, and how to fill the ranks of soldiers while keeping enough men and women at home to manage farms and stores .

When the debate finally ended, Lessia walked right off the dais, keeping her head down until she reached the stairs.

She felt Merrick follow closely behind her, but the Fae didn’t speak as she bolted up the stairs and didn’t enter her room when she walked in and threw herself on the bed.