Page 52 of Queen of Thorns
“Not yet, she isn’t,” the male says.
“As queen,” I say slowly,“will I have the opportunity to... adjust my council members?” I flick an eyebrow but resist the urge to study the unkind male’s expression.
Silence stretches through the room.
“We have a strong tradition,” the queen answers, finally breaking the silence. “And long held positions by families of old. But yes, you can make—adjustments.”
The harsh male does not speak again.
“I am glad you’re awake, Caelynn.” The queen approaches and then crouches down beside me. “I’ve been waiting such a very long time for you. I wasn’t sure it would ever happen, or if my family line would simply be burdened with watching the slow suffocation of our court until no magic remained at all.”
I pull in a long breath. “We were very close to that fate, weren’t we?” I whisper.
She nods, a small smile on her face. “You have given us hope. Let me introduce you to your current council.”
She walks to the side of the room and motions to the two younger males, dark hair and sharp features. “These are my nephews, Rian and Cillian. And these are the remaining counts and countesses stillwillinglyin favor. Luscious.” She waves to Mr. Stick-up-his-ass. “Tameria.” She motions to a female with sandy blond hair and sallow cheeks. “And Octavia.” A female with curly brown hair and beautiful dark skin, wearing a green velvet gown.
“Nice to meet you all,” I say.
The male rolls his eyes. The younger two simply frown. The women smile, but it doesn’t reach their eyes.
“What now?” I ask softly.
“Well, I’d like to plan an official coronation for one week from now.”
“She will continue to fuel the fountain, yes?” the dark-skinned female—Octavia—asks.
The queen nods. “That is up to her, I suppose. But ideally, yes. Even with Caelynn’s impressive magic, it will take weeks for her to rebuild the foundation of our court’s power—to obtain any sort of long-term impact. The well will dry in a matter of hours at this current rate.”
“She cannot do that every few hours,” Rev comments.
“Of course not. The court will require less and less over time as the power cycle rebuilds itself.”
“How long?” I ask, eyebrows furrowed.
“In a week, the fountain will likely be able to hold its power for a few days. After one month, I’d estimate it will be strong enough to keep for weeks. If we work out a structured plan, we can solidify our court’s magic using yours without draining you, as per Prince Reveln’simpassionedsuggestion.”
I raise my eyebrows at Rev, but he just shrugs. I guess I know what they’ve been discussing for the last hour.
“Then what?” I whisper.
“As you’ve obviously guessed, a magical fountain is not enough,” Luscious says with pursed lips.
“Well, that will do an incredible favor to the people,” Octavia says softly.
The queen nods. “Our people’s lives will improve greatly with the healing of the fountain. And if we accomplish nothing else, it is a great deed done.”
“It is not enough,” Luscious says firmly. “A bit of power to aid the people will not reestablish our power among all the courts. It will not undo what has been done to us. Our people have had power bred out of them. It will take much more than a trickle of magic to reverse the damage.”
“I agree with you.” I resist the urge to wrinkle my nose at having to admit that I agree with douchebag Lucious. “But I am curious, what would you intend to do?”
I don’t trust this male. His harsh eyes and aggressive tone tell me his priorities will not align with mine. But it’s important to know his intentions before I fight him on them.
His eyes narrow, and then his sharp gaze flashes to Rev and back. He doesn’t speak.
“You’d like to continue rebellion,” I answer for him. I’d already suspected this could be the case, and his obvious refusal to elaborate due to Rev’s presence confirmed it for me.
One of his brows quirks up, but he doesn’t answer.
