Page 82 of The Lord of Whispers

“That’s not all,” I said.

My voice was quiet, but violence laced my every word.

“Treason,” I added.

“Treason?” the King questioned, his mood growing darker and matching my own with each word.

“Cole confessed to it. Lord Garaud. That was him and Lila. And the reason I have not been able to find anything on Lila all of these years, despite the fact that I knew, justknew, she was up to something. Lila’s been lying to all of us about Cole’s powers since he was a babe. He has a shielding power, one of the few, it appears, that can keep me out. Or at least it could before I got my powers back.”

I stewed, thinking of what I may have missed over the years, not knowing that my powers were being thwarted by Cole’s own. Cole’s powers were rare but not wholly unique. There were a few—very few—who could actually keep their words from making their way back to me. And I knew who they were, and I had these blind spots in my power triple covered.

“And they’ve been feeding information to the lesser fae contingent too, Grey. Sounds like their alliance fell apart when Don Davante refused to have anything to do with more aggressive measures Cole and Lila wanted to implement.”

“That treasonousbitch!” Grey exclaimed. “I’ll have her head for this.”

I could not believe I was about to advocate for Lila Tragon’s life when I was still covered in her son’s blood and thirsted for more.

“We need House Mouchard, Grey,” I said, like the words caused me pain. “We have to protect the wall,at all costs,” I said, deflated.

At all costs.But Grey and I had already paid so much. We sat in silence not as the King and his Contra but as two friends who long ago took on this burden. I knew Grey was thinking about all that he had lost—his wife, his relationship with his son, the ability to love and remarry whomever he wanted without being judged.

I was similarly thinking of what I had lost, what Iwouldlose. I knew I was losing her. I’d waited too long to claim Alarie as my own by naming her consort or by imprinting on her. I’d repeatedly put the needs of my King and my Kingdom before the wants and desires of my own and, once again, it had cost me everything. I’d dragged my feet imprinting upon Alarie and, if I tried now, she would be resistant to my mark upon her.

The weight of our full duty upon us, the King spoke first.

“We may need House Mouchard, yes,” Grey conceded at last. “But House Tragon is no longer,” he said fiercely.

“I may let her keep her head but that name, that House, will not live to see another day,” the King decreed.

“And they will thank us for our mercy,” I added.

We lapsed into silence again.

“What else is on your mind, Jay?” Grey asked, noticing that I still seemed to have more to say.

“Three is too small of a High Council,” I said, fully transitioning to my role as Contra.

“War and treason will tend to do that, you know,” Grey said dryly. “But you’re right. We’ll have to replace Lila. Who are you thinking? Lord Preston?” Grey asked.

He knew I’d been looking into Lord Preston recently. Alarie and Luke had helped with that effort.

“But replacing her with Lord Preston isn’t going to give us the support in the north we lose from booting her,” I pointed out.

“Ok, so who do you have in mind, Jay? Out with it,” the King demanded.

“Lord Preston and… Lord Dumont,” I replied.

The King considered what I’d thrown out. I’d been working on a plan for replacing Lila for some time now.

If we added Lord Dumont at the same time as Lord Preston, it would dilute Lord Dumont’s piece of the pie, but he wouldn’t be able to complain because the High Council’s number had been historically low to begin with. And Grey had had his fill of the lord and ladies from the north on the High Council. It would be good to add another southern gentleman, like Lord Preston, to the mix again.

I could see the possibilities swirling in Grey’s eyes.

“I know you’re thinking about it. Cole just confirmed that they have refused to take arms against us. And there would be no more need for further negotiations with Lord Dumont and Don Davante,” I said.

Lord Rein and I led the negotiations with the leaders of the lesser fae rebellion, Lord Dumont and Don Davante. They were not unsympathetic to the threat coming from the north—the integrity of the magical wall between Valencia and Alancia was compromised—but they were looking for a long-term commitment before they agreed to throw in their forces to a possible battle with King Vandros.

The irony of the situation was not lost on me. Grey and I had thought that we did everything we needed to do after the last war to make sure that the King was never in a position to have to barter to gain the resources needed to support a war effort. But we had overlooked the sway of the lesser fae entirely in our analysis. We couldn’t tax the land the lesser fae didn’t own. We couldn’t threaten to take each House’s firstborn son as ward when wardship at the High Court was one of the opportunities the lesser fae were looking for.

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