Page 139 of Guardian of the Drowned Empire

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

The stone went white as she leaned forward, placing it back in my hand.

My fingers closed tightly around it. I didn’t like anyone else touching it. I’d been keeping it inside a small golden charm that I’d strung through a necklace. But, of course, Morgana knew that.

“He stayed with you,” Morgana said. “Half the night. But he’s been pulled into guard duty. He’s outside the fortress now, patrolling. He begged me to contact him the moment you woke.”

I was silent, sitting up and curling my knees to my chest. Morgana went quiet, and we sat there as time passed. The grief for my father covered me like a too-heavy blanket. Suffocating.

Morgana sniffled but remained in her seat, staring out the window.

I tried to breathe. To process that he was gone. And Haleika, too. And Leander. But instead, I just felt numb. My stomach tightened with fear and uncertainty.

As the sky began to gray once more and sunset seemed imminent, Morgana shot out of her chair, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration before she yelled out, “Fuck! Fuck!”

“What? What happened?”

“The Council’s ended their session. Meera’s on her way upstairs to talk to us.”

A few seconds later, the door opened, and Meera’s frail form appeared in the doorway. She looked completely deflated, her hazel eyes downcast.

“You’re awake,” she said softly, as she collapsed onto her bed.

Morgana was beside her in an instant, gripping her shoulders.

“What the fuck!” Morgana shouted.

“Morgs!” I yelled. “What are you doing?”

“How could you? What the fuck, Meera?”

“What?” I asked. “Meera, what is going on?”

“Stop it,” Meera commanded, her voice icy. She shook Morgana off her and swept to her feet, moving across the room. Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths as she rested her hands against her dresser, staring back at us in her vanity mirror. “What else would you have me do? How else do we solve this problem?”

“I don’t know,” Morgana said through gritted teeth. “But this wasn’t fucking it!”

“You have no right,” Meera said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“You should have gotten me, brought me down into the Council. Consulted me. Consulted us!” Morgana snarled.

“You’re not on the Council. Now stop it. You have to no right to speak to me this way.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t if I was talking to my future High Lady. Maybe if I were speaking to the next Arkasva Batavia. But I’m not! Do you understand what you’ve done?”

Meera turned around as I sat forward, my stomach sinking.

“Done what?” I asked.

Meera and Morgana were both seething, staring at each other, their auras pulsing in a silent battle, thunder and lightning.

“Done what?” I yelled.

“I did what I had to do. For Bamaria.”

“For yourself,” Morgana said.

“And for you! And Lyr. We all knew. We all knew I wasn’t going to rule. Not if we’re going to keep our secrets. Not if we’re going to quell this rebellion. Do you understand just how angry the people of Bamaria are? How last night looked to them?” She shook her head. “Of course, you do, your vorakh told you. So you know. You know there was no other choice. I need some air.” She grabbed a shawl from her closet and wrapped it around her shoulders. “We have one hour. One hour until we’re to appear downstairs in the Seating Room. And then it’s all over.”

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