Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (44 page)

The queen nodded. "It makes sense. Is there a second to the motion?"

"I second," Thomas said, nodding. "It's always better to be safe than sorry."

"Motion to change the master alarm protocol is presented and seconded. I will call the roll. Pass with 'yea' and fail with 'nay,' " Justice said, as he wrote on a piece of parchment. All motions had to be written down and voted upon.
Every council member had a vote, but not all votes had to be unanimous to be passed. "Princess Helendrianna of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Princess Adandrianna of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Princess Cassandrianna of House Crystallianna. Abstention due to absence. Queen Lilith, Head of House Grendalin."

"Yea."

"Princess Syney of House Vilori."

Helen glanced at Syney. She looked as pale and withdrawn as ever but seemed a little more upbeat than the last time she had seen her.

"Yea," Syney said, not looking up from her doodling.

Helen shook her head and suppressed a laugh.

"Leaf of House Fall, Head of the Royal Guard."

"Yea," Leaf said, leaning over and pulling the paper away from Syney. She looked at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.

That time Helen couldn't help laughing. She tried to cover it up with a cough but still received a cold stare from her mother.

"Elder Thomas of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Elder Lawrence of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Elder Warren of House Grendalin."

"Yea."

"Elder Josephina of House Grendalin."

"Yea."

"Queen Mellisandrianna of House Crystallianna, Head of House and Ruler of the Village."

"Yea."

Justice made a notation on the parchment. "Motion passes with ten yeas and one abstention."

"Commander, I assume you will be willing to write the new protocol?" the queen asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good. No need to vote. I'm sure we are all one hundred percent behind the commander writing it."

Most everyone nodded in agreement.

"Very good. There is only one more piece of business we must take care of today. A bit of distasteful business, to be honest." The queen sat up in her chair. "As most of you have heard already, this morning, during the monthly service,
I ordered a secret search of all the rooms in the palace. I'm sure there is objection over it from all of you. However, I felt it was necessary for our safety. The Daemons were released, as we are all painfully aware—none more than you, Syney. And this is not something that should be treated lightly. The spell that sent them to sleep is in a book that also contains the spell to wake them up. That book was locked up in the secured section of the library, here in the Village. The individual responsible for bringing them back should be charged with treason, for which the punishment is death." She paused and looked around the room to make sure she had everyone's attention. Helen looked with her. Even Syney was paying attention now. "The search was made to find that book, and while it wasn't found, other books were. These books also came from the secured section. It stands to reason that the person in possession of those books also has knowledge of the others.

"I want to bring this person up on charges of treason publicly later today. I do, however, want a motion passed on the death sentence from all of you first so there is no delay. It pains me to have a snake in our midst, and the faster its head is cut off, the safer we'll all feel."

"Will there be a trial?" Warren asked.

"I see no need. Not only were books found in the possession of the person in question but also many different magical paraphernalia. It seems clear this person is guilty and has yet to deny it." She paused. "I will be showing some kind of lenience. I doubt this person worked alone. If they are willing to give up who they are helping, I will offer life imprisonment instead of death. It is a fair deal."

"It does sound fair," Queen Lilith said with a nod. "The sooner all of this mess is over with, the better I'll feel."

"I agree. Motion seconded," Adanna said.

Helen shook her head. "Wait. You're not going to tell us who it is?"

Mellisandrianna raised her eyebrows. "Does it really matter?"

She swallowed. "If we're going to decide on the fate of a person, we should at least know who they are."

The queen stared at her for a moment.

"I agree," Syney said.

"And the vote should be unanimous," Leaf chimed in. "It is a life in question."

Mellisandrianna's icy stare turned colder, and for the first time, Helen was almost scared of her own mother. "Fine, on all accounts." She sat back. "Protector Raine of House Oak was taken into custody after services this morning. He is being held in detention in the dungeon."

A hush fell over the table. Helen dared a look at Leaf. His face gave nothing away, but his hands had formed fists on the table.

"Are you sure?" Syney asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, I am. It was all found in a secret hideaway in the wall of his room. He also has not denied any of the accusations. Now I motion to bring the death penalty as punishment," Mellisandrianna said, sitting back up. "And I remind all of you that the Daemons wiped out the whole Blocadrian line and the last Vilori queen. Anyone who helped bring them back must be dealt with harshly." She looked to Justice. "Call the roll."

"The motion hasn't been seconded," he said quietly.

"I seconded it already," Adanna said, giving him a nasty look.

"Right." He wrote down the motion on parchment. "Princess Helendrianna of House Crystallianna."

Helen looked at her mother and received an icy stare in return. She looked over to Leaf, needing something. She had known Raine her whole life. He was like a brother to Cass. Leaf looked back at her, his eyes turning sad. Helen took a deep breath. There was only one thing to say, she knew. Raine was too close to her, and to Cass. If she voted "nay," she would be investigated as an accomplice, she knew. "Yea," she said, her voice shaking.

"Princess Adandrianna of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Princess Cassandrianna of House Crystallianna. Abstention due to absence. Queen Lilith, Head of House Grendalin."

"Yea."

"Princess Syney of House Vilori."

Helen looked at Syney. Her lips were thinned into a straight line. She opened her mouth to speak when Leaf slipped her paper back to her. She read it and looked at him for a moment before responding. "Yea," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Leaf of House Fall, Head of the Royal Guard."

He swallowed and looked pointedly at Mellisandrianna. "Yea."

Elder Thomas of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Elder Lawrence of House Crystallianna."

"Yea."

"Elder Warren of House Grendalin."

"Yea."

"Elder Josephina of House Grendalin."

"Yea."

"Queen Mellisandrianna of House Crystallianna, Head of House and Ruler of the Village."

"Yea."

Justice made a notation on the parchment, this time with a shaking hand. "Motion passed with ten yeas and one abstention."

Mellisandrianna stood. "Good. Now I will prepare for the sentencing. The bell for a public meeting will ring in one hour. I will see you all there."

"Wait," Syney said, standing.

"Yes?" the queen asked. "Do you have a question? Because I believe there is no other council business."

"Yes, there is. I motion that I be crowned as seated queen of the Village."

"I second," both Helen and Leaf said simultaneously. They looked at each other before he nodded to her. "I second the motion," Helen said. "Justice, call the roll."

Justice looked at her and then to the queen, who was still staring at Syney, her eyes narrowed, as they always did when she was angry or annoyed. "Motion has been seconded," he said, his eyes flicking back and forth between Mellisandrianna and Syney.

Helen grabbed a piece of paper. She knew Adanna would vote "nay" if she didn't think of something fast. She smiled as she wrote, "Consider your vote carefully, and remember who knows and has kept quiet about last winter with Marcus." She slipped the note to her sister as she voted "yea." There was no way Adanna wanted anyone to know that during a drunken night she had shared an intimate moment with their first cousin.

Adanna read the note, her cheeks turning pink. "Yea," she voted, her voice as icy as their mother's eyes.

Helen smiled at her victory as the rest of the votes came in as "yea." She was surprised at the speed at which they all voted and was happy with the results. But there was one more vote left.

"Queen Mellisandrianna of House Crystallianna, Head of House and Ruler of the Village."

Mellisandrianna still stared at Syney and Syney back at her. Helen silently willed Syney to keep the eye contact, although she knew how awful that stare really was. No one ever held it for long, and they always looked away first. But this was what Syney had to do. She had to hold it. The tension in the room was now thicker than the air. All eyes were on the two women at either end of the oval table. Finally Mellisandrianna smiled. "Yea, of course."

"Motion passes with ten yeas and one abstention," Justice said, taking a breath.

The whole table seemed to have been holding their breaths and were not trying to do it again.

"All right then. If there is nothing else?" Mellisandrianna said pointedly. "Good," she said, and swept out of the room.

Everyone else started to file out as well, congratulating Syney as they walked out—all but Adanna, that is, who gave Helen a death stare before stalking out of the room. Helen and Leaf both hung back and looked over at Syney, who hadn't moved a muscle.

"I think that was the scariest thing I've ever done," Syney said slowly. "I mean, if looks could kill, I would so be dead right now."

"Probably," Helen said with a laugh. "No one holds her look. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," Syney replied. "I think I'm going to go take a nap now. She said one hour, right?"

Helen's smile fell. "Yes." She looked at Leaf. "Do you think Raine did it?"

Leaf looked at her. "I don't know."

"Well, I can't believe it. And I would have stopped this if I could have," Syney said, looking at Leaf.

"You would have been investigated," he said simply.

"That was what I thought. Trust me—I didn't want to do it either," Helen said with a sigh. "Raine is like a brother. Cass is going to be devastated."

"You don't think she knows anything about this, do you?" Syney asked.

The thought had crossed Helen's mind as well, but she would like to believe that Cass would tell her if she had known. "I don't think so."

Syney sighed. "Well, I'm going. I guess I'll see you all later."

Helen watched her go. "You told her to present the motion," she said to Leaf.

Leaf nodded. "It was the perfect time. I couldn't guarantee any votes besides our own, but after what she had just done with Raine I didn't think anyone was going to reject it."

Helen smiled at him. "Good thinking."

"Thank you. I'll see you later."

"Oh, um, I missed you. No, I mean, I... You didn't come to the pool. I just..." She sighed. "I would have liked the company."

"Right. Sorry. I got...busy," he said. "Another time, Princess." He started to leave.

"Wait. I want... You can call me Helen."

Leaf stared at her for a moment. "As much as I would like to, I don't think that's a good idea."

"We aren't talking about a name, are we?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, before heading out of the room.

Helen watched him go. That wasn't the way she had wanted that to go. She frowned and headed out of the room. No matter what she was feeling right now, she needed to find Cass. This was nothing compared to what her sister was going to be going through.

Cass

When the public meeting alarm went off, Cass followed the crowds into the throne room. Her mother was sitting on the throne with Grass by her side. It wasn't unusual for a public meeting to be called. Whenever there was something important to announce, they sounded the alarm, and everyone filed into the throne room. Cass assumed it had something to do with the recent attacks—maybe more protocol to follow. The people had all gathered on either side of the room, leaving the center in front of the throne empty.

Cass squeezed her way through the crowds until she found Helen, who was standing in the front with a clear view of everything. "Good spot," she said.

Helen's whole face fell when she looked at her. "Cass, I've been looking all over for you."

"I was hiding, to be honest."

"So you know?"

"Know what? Helen, what's wrong?" Cass asked, concerned. She never had seen Helen this upset.

"Hey," Syney said, sneaking up to Helen's side. "Cass, I am so sorry."

"Sorry for what? I'm confused." She looked at Helen and then at Syney and even at Hunter, who stood stoically behind them.

"Cass, it's—" A trumpet blast cut off Helen, calling attention to the meeting.

Mellisandrianna stood. "The one responsible for raising the Daemons has been caught. The council voted this afternoon for the sentence of death. This is a public sentencing. Bring out the traitor."