Page 185 of Lady of Ashes

“Are you leaving that general you spoke so highly of in charge in your absence?” his father was asking. “Renwell? Was that his name? You have not mentioned him in quite some time.”

“I am afraid he returned to his homeland,” Lord Tyndell replied smoothly. “We held on to him as long as we could, and he certainly trained your High Force impeccably.”

“Shame,” his father grunted. “Who replaced him?”

“Mikale took over while the Crown Prince was … on his leave,” the Lord replied, a sly smile on his lips when he glanced to Callan. “Now one of the High Force soldiers was promoted.”

“What of your son?” the king asked. “You still do not want to train him to take your place? He would be valuable in times such as these.”

The Lord’s face hardened. “Drake is not cut out for this.”

“And why is that?” Callan asked, settling back in his chair. All attention swiveled to him, but he kept his eyes ?xed on the Lord, waiting for his response.

“Drake will be better served as a Lord of this Court. Inter-Court matters would suit him better,” the Lord replied.

“You do not believe you could properly prepare him as your successor?” Callan pushed.

“This is not something that needs to be decided right now,” the king cut in. “We have other matters to discuss.”

“We do,” Callan agreed. He pulled a report from the stack and laid it on top of the others. “What do you know of Rydeon and Toreall moving their forces around to the Fae borders?”

Lord Tyndell and Mikale tensed. They both recovered quickly, but Callan caught it.

When Amaré had arrived to see if there was anything to report about this amulet they were supposed to be looking for, he’d had a message in his beak. It was from Cassius, and somehow the fact that it had come from him and not Scarlett or Sorin didn’t make him feel quite so … bitter as Tava liked to put it. It was petty. He knew it was, but he really wanted little to do with them at this point. What was in that report, though … What did these other kingdoms know that they didn’t?

“What is this?” the king demanded, reaching over and taking the report from the pile. “Where did you get this?”

“You have made it clear I was to begin taking my responsibilities more seriously,” Callan replied calmly. “I have connections in the other kingdoms. People I have met while … How did you put it, Lord Tyndell? While I wason leave?”

“Who?” Lord Tyndell gritted out from between his teeth.

“Who is not important,” Callan replied, though he was certain the Lord knew exactly who his connections were.

“It is if those are false reports,” the Lord countered.

“I do not believe they are, but I do think it is something that should be looked into either way. We do not want to be caught unprepared and look like fools,” Callan said, returning his gaze to his father.

“What do you know of this, Balam?” the king asked tightly, his eyes skimming the report.

“We have heard nothing of the sort, your Majesty,” the Lord replied. “But it is something we can certainly look into on our travels this month. We are going to Toreall after all. We can set something up with Rydeon as well.”

“I want updates as soon as possible,” the king said, placing the report on the table. “Do we need to be preparing for something, Balam?”

“We are always prepared, your Majesty. You know this,” the Lord answered.

“Take Mikale with you,” Callan said.

“What?” Mikale interjected from down the table.

“I would like to be kept up-to-date on this matter. To make sure my sources remain reliable. What better way than to have my to-be closest advisor there to be my eyes and ears himself ?” Callan asked.

“I am sure Lord Tyndell’s reports will be more than suf?cient,” Mikale said, his eyes ?xed on the Lord across the table.

“No, I like this idea,” the king cut in.

“But, your Majesty—”

“My son is ?nally taking an interest in matters,” the king said, cutting Mikale off. “This will be good for both of you.”

---