Kai hadn’t lied when he’d told Seraiah he needed at least a few days to plan. He’d merely left out that he might need an additional few days after that. To keep her distracted and out of harm’s way, he’d enlisted Kestrel’s assistance. Now the only thing left to do was inform Seraiah.

He might not be able to help her master her visions, but he could at least give her the skills to protect herself.

“You summoned me, Your Highness?” she asked as she seated herself on the opposite side of his desk. It was only yesterday that she’d woken from her vision, but she already appeared back to normal, if the guarded look she was giving him was any indication.

“You don’t have to call me that, you know.”

Seraiah folded her arms over her chest and stared at him.

Kai suppressed a sigh. This was already going well. Perhaps he should have had Kestrel deliver the news instead.

“I have arranged for you to receive training from Kestrel in all manner of fighting styles,” he said.

Seraiah tilted her head, a flair of interest lighting her eyes. “Why? You think we will have to fight our way in?”

“It is a possibility, and I thought it best you were prepared.”

A brow rose. “And you think I can learn to fight in a handful of days?”

She had him there. She wouldn’t be able to learn in a few days, but he didn’t intend to leave in a few days either. There were other pressing matters he needed to attend to. Kai glanced at the cream-colored envelope sitting on the corner of his desk.

“I’ll do it, of course,” Seraiah said, “but I don’t want you to get your hopes up. You recall Kestrel has already tried to teach me once, and you decided I would be better suited to act as bait.”

“All the more reason for you to practice.”

“I thought you would want me to spend my time practicing my visions instead.”

“Seraiah—” He meant to apologize, but she cut him off.

“Although, I suppose I’ve already served that purpose.” She stood. “Was there anything else you needed from me?”

There were a dozen things he needed from her, but none that he could say. Virelai’s words still stuck with him.

Don’t blame me when you lose your crown—and then your head.

It was better this way, he decided. No need to allow the target on his back to extend to her.

“No, that was all.”

She dipped a curtsy. “Your Highness,” she murmured. And then she was gone.

It was for the best, he told himself again. If he said it enough times, he might start to believe it.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Kai picked up the envelope and tapped it against his desk. Gavaran’s summons had asked—no, more like demanded—a council meeting be held immediately to discuss the findings on the search for their Queen. With Seraiah indisposed, Kai had put Gavaran off for a few days, but the new meeting was to be held this afternoon.

Kestrel would be in attendance, but he had been able to get Seraiah out of it since none of the council members knew about the vision. They assumed, like he had, that Kestrel had done the negotiations. She would be able to keep her mouth shut and not let anything slip about what they’d learned, but Kai didn’t trust Seraiah to be able to do the same. She wasn’t prepared to deal with Gavaran, and might let something slip if he got under her skin. Kai had no intention of telling Gavaran or any of the others what they had truly learned thanks to the vision the Summer King had provided.

He rose from his chair and crossed the room to the hearth, where a fire had been lit to keep off the morning chill. Kai dropped the summons into the flames and watched as the paper curled and disintegrated into ash.

No matter what happened, he needed to keep Gavaran as far away from Seraiah as possible and prevent any whiff of their plans to retrieve Sterling from reaching him.

----------------------------------------

“I see,” Gavaran said as soon as Kestrel finished telling the lie they’d decided to spin. “So, the faeries offered no support, as we suspected.”

The council sat around the table in their usual seats, ready to place judgment on every word Kestrel uttered. Thankfully, Kestrel was a good liar, and it seemed most of them believed her. Kai suspected if anyone would be a problem—it would be Gavaran.

“That’s right,” Kestrel confirmed.

Kai remained silent. Kestrel didn’t need any help from him.

Gavaran nodded, seeming satisfied with the answers Kestrel had given.

Kai’s eyes narrowed. Almost too satisfied.

Gavaran hadn’t questioned the length of time Kestrel and Seraiah had been gone, although he knew as well as anyone the journey to and from the Seelie Court would not have taken the little over two weeks they’d been gone.

He also hadn’t questioned the new companion they’d picked up along the way. Like with Seraiah, Kai had made sure the gnome kept a low profile and spent as much time in the city and out of the castle as possible.

At the very least, Kai had expected him to ask after Seraiah. He’d circulated the story that the fae court had overwhelmed and exhausted her to explain her three-day disappearance, but he assumed there would be questions about any progress in her visions given the way Gavaran had ordered him to use her or get rid of her in the last meeting.

“Does anyone have anything to add?” Gavaran asked.

No one said a word.

“Good, then I think that completes this meeting.” Gavaran turned to Kai, clearly waiting for his official dismissal.

It was strange that after being told the Seelie Court was a dead end, no one had anything else to say about the search for Sterling. Not even Nilos, who had previously given his support, asked what their next steps might be.

For a moment, Kai considered bringing up the dissenters, and the ignored messages he’d sent Gavaran. He could ask about where Gavaran had been and why he’d sent out scouts to alert him when Kestrel returned from the Seelie Court.

Would it make Gavaran nervous, or would he have a reasonable explanation like Kestrel had suggested?

No, Kai decided, as tempting as the idea of watching Gavaran squirm was, he would be better served if the other elf thought Kai knew nothing.

“Yes, since there is nothing left to discuss, I think it does,” Kai said. “You are dismissed.”

The members filed out of the room, eager to return to whatever activities they had planned for the remainder of their day. Gavaran slipped out with the rest of them until it was only Kai and Kestrel left at the table.

“That went better than I thought it would,” Kestrel said, rising from her seat.

Kai raised a brow.

“Oh, don’t make that face at me.”

“What face?”

“The ‘I told you something is going on’ face,” she said.

“So you believe me now?”

Kestrel nodded. “This meeting was too strange. My storytelling is good, but it’s not that good. There should have been questions, if not from the others, then at least from Gavaran,” she said, echoing Kai’s own suspicions. “If he’s the one who sent the scouts and then immediately called for a meeting, why would he not say anything? He’s plotting something, and we need to find out what it is.”

Kai agreed, and Kestrel may not like it, but he knew exactly who to ask for information.