Page 67 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

“Yes, darling. The writing is on the wall. Arnaud’s reign is nearly at its end.

He’s exhausted all legal remedy. He’s out.

It’s a poorly kept secret Tanyn is gearing up for a coup if Arnaud doesn’t step down, and he has a tremendous amount of support.

This means, unless Arnaud can find another way to stay in, and at this juncture, that way has to be dramatic, rallying his beings behind him, he’ll be deposed.

Therefore , I think Arnaud intends to solidify his rule by finding or creating some reason to invade Dawn’s Break .

I further think Dawn’s Break has no idea this is going to happen.

But once it does, the Fall and Land’s End will start with sanctions.

However , if Arnaud doesn’t pull back, which he won’t, we’ll have no choice but to get involved in the fighting. ”

“Do you think he’s that insane?” I asked, my voice pitched high, because I for sure thought he was.

“What I know is, his mother was, and still is, ambitious. Queen Tatra did everything she could to oust the female that was in her way in order to claim her position. She succeeded in this endeavor. Part of this was so she could be queen. Part of it was so she could be mother to a future king and continue to hold some power because she was. She then spent Arnaud’s whole life teaching him the same.

Power is a drug. Some believe status should be protected at all costs.

Add his need to assuage his aberrant tendencies, which includes having the power to satisfy these urges with no repudiation, and yes. I think he’s that insane.”

Cold had invaded my insides after Aleksei laid me in bed when I’d cried myself out, and he’d left me to learn more about what was going on.

That cold, right now, got so, so much colder.

“Historically, Sky’s Edge and Night’s Fall have been enemies, and Dawn’s Break has been their ally,” I reminded him. “ An invasion of Dawn’s Break by the Edge would seem entirely out of the blue.”

“They’re the better target. Witches and conjurers, for the most part, are peaceful people.

Although there has been some bad blood throughout history, especially with Land’s End , it was their alliance with demons, or at times shifters that helped them win wars.

If not for us, there would be no Dawn’s Break . ”

“But we don’t war all the time anymore, so anyone would see through his scheme.”

“Perhaps. Though I introduced the bill in the Center that would keep Arnaud from his supposed love, Prince Bainon of the Break has been far more vocal about his revulsion of Arnaud’s tendencies.”

I couldn’t say I’d missed this. There was no love lost between those two. Arnaud often took potshots at Bainon as well, though, to my way of thinking, with a lot less success. Bainon was nearly as gorgeous as Aleksei (nearly), and although a bit of a playboy, he was respected among the realms.

I just didn’t think their enmity might lead to war.

“We cannot, and are not, discounting the idea that he might also, or instead, be considering invading Night’s Fall ,” Aleksei concluded.

Dear gods!

“So this whole thing is?—”

“Yes, Laura . This whole thing may well be an elaborate distraction.”

“Which means?—”

“There might be a possibility you were not the intended target today. We’re supposed to think that, but they killed who they intended to kill.

As such, their mission succeeded. Night’s Fall is glued to their displays, and beyond, in all four realms, it’s probably mostly the same.

Theories are flooding the tapes. And in a few days, all eyes will be on the Palace , because the Masque is being thrown.

And Arnaud as well as Tanyn and Dagsbrun , and incidentally, Anna , are all coming. ”

Surely, after what happened that day, the Masque would be cancelled.

I didn’t get into that, because my temper was rising, temporarily beating out my fear. “ So Antheme was just a pawn.”

“No,” he growled. “ I didn’t lie earlier.

Antheme was a hero. She took that blast thinking it was meant for you.

But whoever is behind this thinks she was, Laura , and if I discover what the top minds in our law enforcement and intelligence communities are considering to be true, our dragons will fly, and it will be me leading the bank. ”

He was serious.

Deadly serious.

The purple in his eyes and the vein pulsing in his forehead told me so.

This meant I was still angry, but that wasn’t winning out anymore.

Because I was also scared.

No.

I wasn’t scared.

I was terrified.

* * *

It was Germaine’s idea (naturally), and it was a good one (also, although I hated to admit it, naturally).

And therefore, an hour after Aleksei’s and my chat in bed, I had to do triple duty with my Medi - Aid (for bloodshot eyes and swelling), my spa-visor (for blotchiness and also swelling), and my Ultra Paint , programming my mane-mate to arrange my hair in a simple ponytail at my nape.

I did all this before I donned a somber sky-blue dress that Germaine had found somewhere (it was not in my closet, that’s for sure, though not unattractive, it wasn’t me at all…and obviously, I didn’t put on a flower broach).

And then I sat with the king, the queen and my mate on a couch, with his siblings standing behind us in a room on the family’s more informal floor (that would be the second), three cams aimed our way.

King Fillion spoke, and I noted for the first time he was very good at it.

The speech was prepared, and when I walked into the room, I saw him pacing and scrolling through it on a tablet, talking to Germaine and his aide, a female named Allina , as he did.

But when he spoke the words to the cams, it sounded off the cuff.

Sincere . Determined . Angry . Wretched .

Each emotion assigned to whatever the words referred to (concern for the state of mind of the realm after what had happened; that we would find the perpetrators; that this had happened at all; about the loss of Antheme and that poor male who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, respectively).

I had little doubt he was all of those things, genuinely, it was just impressive he could pull them off at the same time saying measured, prepared words.

Aleksei spoke briefly about how Antheme had been on his detail for years, she was an exemplary agent, and as such, he selected her personally for my detail.

He also shared what a loss she was personally to the royal family, to him and to me.

And he expressed sympathy for the male who had fallen after getting caught in the stream.

And I had a very brief statement to say, sharing I was all right, albeit devastated at Antheme’s loss, saddened that one of our citizens who was simply going about his day got caught in the beam, but there were no words to express how grateful I was to the Royal Service for acting quickly to be certain I was whisked to safety.

All of that was prepared, but genuine too, and I hoped I delivered it as well as the king.

I was told our transmission would break into anything being displayed, streaming in real time, therefore, once the green light went off on the cams, my relief was great.

But me sitting with them earned me the first hug I’d received from Queen Calisa , and a pat on the cheek while she murmured, “ I’m very proud of you, Laura .”

And with that, as I suspected every royal family in Night’s Fall did throughout history, no matter what was going on…

We got on with it.

In this case, we went to dinner.

* * *

Even though the table was full of normally interesting, lively people—those being the king, queen, all three princes, the princess, me, the Truelocks , the Vinestrongs and Monique —the mood at dinner was somber.

I specifically noted how Queen Calisa’s attention frequently turned to Aleksei .

It wasn’t hard to understand why, since mine did as well, considering his mood seemed to deteriorate palpably as the night wore on.

Before the desert course, a male walked into the room, directly to the king, bent and whispered in his ear.

The king stood immediately and left with him.

Aleksei didn’t hesitate to follow.

I made moves to do the same, but Mr . Truelock , who was my dinner partner, took my hand.

“In a time like this, my lovely, one must tread cautiously around a male shifter,” he advised.

Considering the last “time like this,” Aleksei had acted like a big jerk (though, understandably, still…), I saw the wisdom of this and kept my seat.

It wasn’t long before Aleksei came back.

He stood in the door, his eyes beckoning me.

“Go,” Mr . Truelock murmured.

I got up and went to my mate.

Wordlessly, he took my hand and guided me through the Palace .

We came out on a balcony on the south side.

I heard it before I saw it when he opened the door.

I only took two steps out before I halted.

The mingled sound of wolves howling and big cats and bears roaring was a low din that carried across the water to the Sceptred Isle .

And the air was rife with dragons.

“What’s happening?” I whispered.

The king turned to me, and my breath caught when I saw the fierce expression on his face and his eyes glowing gold.

“Their True Bride was threatened. The shifters of Night’s Fall prepare for war.”

Farging farg .