Page 62 of Insurrection
I wanted more than anything for this to be over so that I could focus on more important things, like making Ama happy. Unfortunately, knowing this group as I did, it probably wouldn’t be that easy. It never was.
“Drayven is here,” Nico announced, and his parents glared at him for speaking when not spoken to. “I see no reason to put it off.”
That changed their glares to smiles, as if he had just done them a service. I saw Nico’s jaw clench, and I could practically feel the anger at his parents radiating off him. I would have been furious if I found out my parents had tried to do something to Ama, so I didn’t envy him.
Luckily, the House of Shadows was completely in the support of Ama and her father without any of my interference. I’d heard my parents talking about it only a night ago, before everything that had occurred at the ball, and I didn’t think their opinions had changed since then.
“Who else agrees?” Colt’s father asked, looking somewhat agitated. While he didn’t like Ama, and had made that very clear throughout the Summit, he was someone who thrived on order, so he would have likely preferred to wait hours than to break tradition on how to handle this.
“We do,” Finias’ father put his hand up, as did King Marcelo.
Colt’s father eyed my parents, my father shaking his head only once to make it clear where we stood, and then Damien’s parents, who seemed disgusted by the House of Sin’s suggestion.
Colt’s father ran a hand over his face and sighed, “Very well, our house will be the third vote to begin the voting declarations. We waited as long as we could.”
I could barely hold my smile back because this only meant I would get to see Ama sooner. I had been wondering how impatient they would be, and clearly, the answer was extremely. I hadn’t been wrong in my assumption that the House of Sin and House of Runes were trying to rush the votes before Ama could make an appearance. It was almost pathetic how predictable they’d been.
I just wished it had been predictable enough for me to see this potential threat from the start. Then again, until Ama, I wouldn’t have paid any mind to the political tension because, as with anything regarding the House of Shadows, we kept to ourselves. Not anymore. Not when Ama was involved.
“Drayven, since Ama is not here, we will save her speech for last,” Colt’s father stated, clearly trying to appease the Reaper, who looked relatively annoyed but nodded. “Following that, in the normal order, would be the House of Shadows.”
One of the reasons that we had planned on Ama waiting to make her entrance—outside of making the two suspect houses sweat a bit—was to watch their reactions and see what they would say without her around. If pushed in the right direction, I had no doubt they would say something incriminating.
As my father stepped up, I realized I hadn’t given thought to what, exactly, he’d say. My parents had always voted in support of the House of Death, and recently, he’d stated to both my mother and me that he had no intention of fighting Death himself for the Supreme position. It was a fairly reasonable point of view. I suppose I expected him to say just that, but instead, my father spoke more than I had ever heard him say in public.
“The House of Shadows has no intention of trying to convince you to vote for our house,” he began, causing others to shift uncomfortably at how cool and calm his disposition was.
“After experiencing this century's Summit without King Alaric, it has become even more clear to us that the only house level-headed and unbiased enough to continue to push through a reasonable and collected agenda would be the House of Death.”
King Marcelo stood, looking furious, but stayed silent as my father eyed him with distaste. He continued, his voice sharper than before, yet filled with an uncharacteristic amount of passion. “Their heir is young and inexperienced, something we can all relate to because of our own children, but I have no doubt she will bring a fresh perspective to things and will speak for many instead of just a few. This war against hybrids has gone on for a very long time, and I think it is beyond outdated. I know that some of my more level-headed comrades will agree.”
He finally looked right at Drayven, “I can say with finality that our vote will be going to the House of Death.”
My mother nodded happily and squeezed my forearm. I knew how he felt about hybrids, but because we were so private, it was clear that no one else had known. King Marcelo practically vibrated with anger, and the House of Runes seemed shell shocked by my father’s words. I was so distracted by both of their reactions that I didn’t get a chance to gauge where House of Fallen and House of Hellfire stood.
“House of Fallen, go ahead with your speech.” Drayven’s face was impassive, and I had to admit, despite being sort of a dick, the man was good at staying expressionless. I imagined that was a skill honed by constantly lying to Ama about how he felt about her. Something I could never do, even on threat of death.
Colt’s father stood, and Colt watched him with narrowed eyes. I wasn’t exactly positive how the man was going to play this. I thought that he was far more upset about last night than he was letting on, and I had a feeling he didn’t plan on letting this entire scenario just sit. Then again, he hadn’t been there when we’d planned, so I had no idea.
“The House of Fallen has preserved our purist ideals for centuries now,” Colt’s father looked around the room. “We continue to believe that the best way through is by preserving our culture as well as making sure our leadership in the Supreme position is level-headed. I’ll admit that, for the longest time, the House of Death has served their purpose well enough, despite the fact that we’ve never voted for them. It is clear, however, in King Alaric’s inability to show up, as well as in his daughter’s long-hidden hybrid status, that is no longer a viable option. I implore you, therefore, to vote for the House of Fallen. I will ensure that we continue to maintain our realm’s pristine nature and reputation.”
Bastard made it sound like hybrids were polluting our realm. What a dumbass.
Colt stood up then and spoke, “You’re wrong.”
My eyebrows arched as Colt’s father frowned at him, “Sit down, boy.”
“No.” Colt shook his head, “I thought, after this Summit and everything that has occurred, that you would have seen the truth, but instead, you are leading this entire realm down a path that will take us back in time rather than into the future. I am not against our house leading, Father, but not if those are your ideals.”
“Control your son,” Finias’ father suggested, sneering, as Colt’s father narrowed his eyes.
“Do not speak about or to my son, Marcelo. You are worse than any hybrid. Your entire house is made up of delinquents. Even your own son.”Damn.
King Celorn looked back at Colt. “I heard you earlier, Colt, and I can concede that hybrids are not born innately bad…but there is something to be said about preserving history and culture. There is a social structure for a reason, and we are not the ones to change that. Besides, even outside of her hybrid status, I truly don’t believe Princess Amare is the right option.”
“You can’t vote for our own house,” Colt ground out, clearly frustrated that his father hadn’t listened to him earlier “Who will you vote for?”
Colt’s father looked around the room and then at my father, “The House of Shadows will have our vote.”
