Page 81 of Exiled Heir
The mage on his right saw it too, her eyes going wide. She leaned over and whispered to another blue-robed member beside her.
“It does.” Leon nodded. “House Bartlett will return to its former glory through its own strength, not through purchasing power or allowing in the riffraff.”
“And when House Morrison overtakes us? When they drown us with the number of powerful mages they have acquired through careful selection? Will we still be the most powerful when they could crush us with a single raid?”
Leon exhaled sharply through his nose, his cheekbones looking sharper. He tapped one finger on the table. A silver ring glinted on his finger. “They will never get that powerful. They have diluted their bloodline too much. How much Morrison blood can actually run through the veins of their house when they let in members who have never had a house affiliation?”
“It will notmatterhow much Morrison blood runs through their veins when they have the most powerful mages in the country in their house.” Cade looked around the room. “We are dying. The new generation has a fraction of the magical ability on this council. You would hand me a throne which has no stable footing to sit on.”
“We are not dying yet,” Petrona said. “Do you look around this table and see only our desiccated skeletons? Give the new generation time to grow their abilities. One does not become a powerful mage overnight. No one here wants to hand you a house without a foundation, my prince.”
Cade stared at her, his chest barely rising and falling. He opened his mouth, his sharp tongue about to be unleashed on one of the few members of his council who seemed to support him.
“If this house is satisfied being one of the minor houses, then Leo’s got a point,” I said. Cade flinched, as though he’d forgotten I was behind him. “After all,Leo, I’m sure that it’s a lot easier being seneschal of the house when it’s so small. Taking on property in Los Santos would mean more work for you, and I hear most people in their golden years like to take a load off.”
Every eye in the room focused on me.
Leon glared at me, his eyes narrow. There was rage behind his gaze, the implication clear: he blamed me for what happened to Jesaiah.
“We have never before allowed a consort into this most sacred chamber,” Leon said. “I assume that Prince Bartlett wanted you because after all the threats on his life, he’s frightened of being alone.”
There were plenty of implications in the sentence that I didn’t like.
“Does he have anything to be afraid of here?” I asked.
“No, but I understand how he might want the sense of security.” Leon’s dismissive smile made it clear what he saw me as—a security blanket, the teddy bear that Cade wouldn’t let go of even to walk the short distance to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
“I’m not here for Cade.” I crossed my arms over my chest, using my height and width the same way I had with Declan. There was something about being taller and more muscled than anyone else in the room. Murmurs started up, mages glancing surreptitiously at my arms. As soon as I looked over, trying to catch their gazes, they looked away, quickly focusing on anyone else.
“My consort has a unique perspective on this, as his most recent place of residence was Los Santos.” Cade gestured to me, and because I was a wolf, I was the only person in the room who could hear how fast his heart was beating.
I had gotten it wrong. I thought Cade wanted me for the same reason that Declan did. Having a big wolf, a powerful alpha standing behind you, made it clear that you were the most powerful person in the room. But Cade wanted me to help sell his idea. He wanted me for an entirely different reason.
“So, what do you think of the proposal?” a woman in a silver cloak asked. She looked to be in her late forties, making her one of the younger members of the council. Her smile at me was genuine, small wrinkles in the corner of her eyes giving her away.
“Like I said, House Morrison has more people than you. Maybe you think they’re weaker, but the truth is, it doesn’t matter if they’re weaker. An ant can’t kill a lion. But a thousand of them, a hundred thousand, that could do some damage.”
The woman nodded, looking around the table. “It has been a long time since House Morrison has made any aggressive movements against us. So what if they have a hundred thousand ants?Weare still the lion.”
“For how long?” I asked. “I’ve lived in Los Santos; I see how it is on the streets. People walk around wearing House Morrison crests.”
The woman widened her eyes. She looked down the table at Leon. “It has always been understood that Los Santos is House Bartlett territory, even if we have withdrawn from actual ownership. Is it true that House Morrison has claimed what is ours?”
“Yes.” Cade’s words cut across the table. “We are at a crossroads. If our house is comfortable sliding into obscurity, becoming nothing more than alesserhouse, then we do nothing. But I will never be comfortable watching what entire generations of Bartletts have built becomelesser. House Bartlett will once again be the name that every other mage house aspires to. We will once again be the house that leads others; our direction will determine the direction every other house takes. We have the ability to make strides in magical practice, to move mountains and create the world we want to see.”
Cade’s words built on each other. He was not angry, not even passionate. Everything about him was cold and calculated. His vision for the future was an inevitability, a glacier that couldn’t be moved.
“And your plan is to do that by purchasing enormously expensive property?” Leon asked. The question sliced across the table. The expressions that had been warming to Cade, defrosting into agreement, disappeared as the entire council turned to Leon.
“For a start,” Cade agreed.
“Then let us have the council vote. Let us find out whether or not this staid institution which has kept the house steady while you have been… distracted believes that we need to spend so much of our money on something so frivolous.” Leon gestured around the table. A piece of golden magic slid from his hands, gliding across the table and landing in front of each council member. It was about the size and shape of a Post-it sliding, settling like a piece of paper.
Each council member tapped the gold magic in front of them, pressing down for a long beat before releasing them. Then the pieces of gold flickered into the air, forming a collage that hung above the table. When the last council member had tapped theirs, Leon snapped his fingers, and the gold changed colors. Silver and blue squares fluttered in the air. Of the thirteen squares, only four were silver. The rest were blue.
They shimmered like scales from an enormous reptile. Cade’s face tightened, as pale as the white stone table under his hands.
Leon clapped his hands. “Now, on to the next order of business. The dryad visit is approaching, and we still have some details to resolve.”