Page 175 of A Crown of Lies

She smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you again, Kat.”

Sir Ben coughed into his fist. “I’ll, um… Go find the king. Kat, would you show them to the library?”

Kat frowned as Ben slid by them. He shifted, rubbing a hand behind his head. “I was just on my way to see your father,” he said to Isaac.

“He’s here?” Isaac started. He hadn’t expected his father to be there, but then again, Lord O’Dea had pledged his men to Greymark’s defense.

The mage nodded. “His knights and the Reformed Brotherhood apparently turned the tide of battle for Greymark with a rather timely arrival.” He bit his bottom lip before adding. “I was on my way to introduce him to his grandson.” Kat shifted his grip on Aleks, holding him out to Isaac.

Isaac’s heart clenched with anticipatory excitement. He swallowed and looked at Kat. “You mean… You…You want to keep him?”

Kat immediately pulled Aleks back to his chest, wrinkling his nose. “He’s not a dog, Isaac! I can’t hand him off to just anyone. He needs good parents, people who can protect him. Why can’t that be us? Besides, watch.” Kat snapped his fingers, sparking a small flame.

The baby giggled and squealed with laughter until he was red in the face.

Katyr beamed. “I think he likes me.”

“He has good taste.” Isaac leaned in, planting a gentle kiss on Kat’s temple.

He couldn’t believe it. All the terrible things that’d happened, the loss, the death… The weight of it all seemed to lift from his shoulders as Kat put the baby in his arms. Their baby.Hisson. Maybe they hadn’t been involved in his birth, but they could raise him. They could love him and protect him as if they were.

Isaac smiled down at his son’s squished up little face. “Hello, again. Remember me?”

Kat bobbed his head to Eris, who Isaac had nearly forgotten about. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you both to the library, which is serving as our war room.”

“Has there been news out of Brucia?” Eris asked, catching up to walk beside Kat. “Where are Ieduin and Rixxis?”

“Ieduin sustained a serious injury during the battle, but he’s recovering. Slowly. Rixxis and Rowan are probably with him. As for news out of Brucia…” Kat glanced back at Isaac. “It’s been spotty. We know that Niall has claimed the throne, but he’s barely holding it. There are still plenty of Crows in Brucia, though they’ve gone underground. Orin and Josie are heading a resistance movement. Greymark has close to a thousand fighting men and there are still about eight hundred Crows here. We’re preparing a mission to launch a mission to Roque, and riders have been dispatched to D’thallanar. I’m not sure what the battle plans are. I think everyone was waiting for you, Your Grace.”

Kat led them to a set of double doors at the end of the hallway. When he pushed the doors open, King Sullivan looked up from the table. He stood between Isaac’s father and Tofi with Rixxis, Sir Ben, a young man, and a matronly woman with gray in her hair rounding out the people in the room. A map of the Free Cities was stretched out on the table before them.

Rowan put down the horse figurine he held in his hands and nodded a greeting to her. “I’m glad you’re here, Queen Eris.”

Lord Connach O’Dea folded his hands behind his back, eying the baby in Kat’s arms. “We were just about to get started.”

“Peter, get the queen a chair,” said the matronly woman. She came to curtsey before Eris. “Pardon, Your Grace, but we haven’t been introduced. I’m Martha McGovern.”

“My advisor,” Rowan supplied before gesturing to the young man retrieving a chair. “And her son, Peter. He’s in charge of the mages here in Greymark.”

Rixxis smiled and nodded to Eris. “It’s good to see you’re well. We’re just waiting on one more person.”

There was a sudden light tapping behind them. Isaac and Eris turned just as Ieduin limped into the room, leaning heavily on a wooden cane. He was paler than usual, and sporting some new bruises and bandages. His right arm was in a sling, but he still sprouted a wide smile when he saw Eris.

“I knew you weren’t dead,” he said. “Those fuckers better try harder if they want to kill one of us.”

Eris smiled and put her arms around him in a gentle hug. It was awkward because of her size and his cane, but she squeezed him anyway before stepping back. “I’m so glad to see you, Ieduin. What happened?”

He stepped back with a wink. “You should see the other guy.”

Lord O’Dea cleared his throat.

Ieduin rolled his eyes and strolled over to the table. He eyed it before he bent to adjust some of the markers to where he thought they should be. Then, leaning on the table, he eyed the men and women of the war council, meeting everyone’s gaze. “Well, let’s get this war started, shall we?”

Fifty-Three

Ruithsighedfromhisseat in the Hall of Wisdom, tapping his fingers on his knee. The elvish seat of government had always been one of his least favorite places to be, even when he was younger.

He’d often accompanied his father there whenever Taratheil had to make speeches in support or opposition of some bill. The wooden gallery-style seating was like a second home. He recalled a time when he was so small, he could barely get his nose over the railing of the banister, looking down over the assembly floor. Now, his knees would have brushed against it when he stood. Instead, he sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair designated for the acting Primarch, a seat which he detested and had never wanted.

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