Chapter 100

Olivia POV

Iris and I rode back to the palace in a car Elroy sent to the Moonshadow Keep at dawn. Rodin was with us because Iris refused to leave him behind.

It would have been different if the beta actually had a passion for cooking or dreams of being a chef, but once Iris told him he’d make an excellent apprentice as an apothecary at the palace, he’d raced to his room to pack.

The travel time to the palace was over three hours, but we didn’t speak much. The importance and the danger of what we knew sat with us like a fourth passenger, silent and brooding.

I had an unexpectedly scenic view of the palace as we made a turn onto the ground. It was a sprawling edifice, centuries of add-on wings and ever-soaring towers. It should look lumpy and ill-planned.

But instead it was elegant and refined, impressive but somehow still a place I realized could one day feel like home. I took in the sight of the water from a half-dozen fountains sparkling in the morning sun, watched a copse of trees move in a gentle breeze, and something inside me unclenched, just slightly.

We were met at the gates by the palace guard, and soon Jordan and Astor were coming toward me.

“Elroy is finishing a meeting with two of his generals,” Astor explained. “But he will meet with you as soon as he is finished.”

“I need to call a meeting of the Lunaris Council,” I said in return.

“Luna?” Jordan asked.

“Iris and I have information that needs to be shared openly. This is no time for inter-pack secrets.”

“Yes, Luna,” Astor said and then went in a side door I assumed would get him to the council clerk’s office faster than the main entrance I and the others were taking.

Iris dropped Rodin off in her quarters with three books to read, and I took care of a few personal tasks before changing as quickly as I could into formal Luna robes, which were both almost blindingly white and showed off my now quite prominent baby bump. Jordan helped, of course, but I left her behind in the Lily Room before I headed to the council chambers.

I arrived before everyone but the clerks and a few servants setting out pitchers of water. But in just another moment, Elroy arrived.

Unlike the last time I saw him, he was clean and dressed in his own formal robes, dark blue to my white. Upon seeing each other, we both hesitated, but then we both stepped up to each other and clasped hands.

“I’m sorry I left like that, but I had to go to her,” I said in a quiet voice.

He nodded solemnly. “Of course you did. I would have helped you if you’d come to me, but I can see why you couldn’t be certain of it.”

He bowed just slightly over my hands then raised them to his lips for a kiss apiece. It was oddly formal and intimate at once.

I was going to say it was good to see him, but then a form I wasn’t expecting appeared over his shoulder: my own dear stepfather.

“What’s he doing here?” I whispered.

Elroy didn’t need to turn around to know what I was talking about.

“I’m not sure how, but he’s got himself seconded to Moonshadow Representative Devon,” he explained. “It happened while you were gone.”

“I take it there is a good explanation for why we have been summoned like schoolchildren,” Councilwoman Hayes announced as she entered. “Something other than some new imperative you’ve decided to bring from Moonshadow Keep.”

“What I bring from the keep isn’t an imperative, it’s information,” I said, wishing I’d had just a few more minutes before everyone appeared so I could explain things to Elroy. I had assumed they would come slowly to protest. Well, I remembered what my mother used to say about assumptions.

“I am attempting to share this information with all of you equally, so that we may move ahead as a governing body in our response.”

“Is this about Denis?” Elder Thornton growled. “His so-called army is growing bolder.”

“As Luna, it is not my position to advise on conflict,” I said. “Besides, Alpha Elroy’s prowess in battle and in military strategy is well-known and, I know, respected throughout the packs.”

It wasn’t the answer they had been expecting. The last few of the elders and councilmembers filed in, and many took their seats while others stood, arms folded, waiting to learn what was going on.

Greg was trying to catch my eye, I noticed, but I ignored my stepfather. He’d get enough attention in a moment.

“First, I must yield the floor to Apothecary Iris,” I said, relieved to see that Elroy had taken a position of support at my side.

Iris stepped forward then. “Ever since Alpha Claudia fell into her unexplained state of unconsciousness, I have attempted to examine her. Moonshadow’s Council has always denied me access.”

Greg muttered something that made the representatives around him nod and snort softly. Like me, Iris ignored it.

“Yesterday, I heard word that Alpha Claudia’s condition had worsened, and with Luna Olivia’s help, I was finally able to see her. What I learned explains some things, but leaves calls a great deal more into question.”

She paused slightly for effect. “Alpha Claudia has been poisoned.”

There was a stunned silence, then an explosion of arguments and disbelief. Elroy allowed it to continue for a moment, then nodded to the council clerk, who pounded a gavel three times and called for everyone to quiet down.

Iris then did a masterful job explaining what the poison was without being too technical, detailing the reasons why the poison, if not the poisoner, came from Ravencrest Territory, and laying out the severity of my mother’s condition.

“Someone has been continuing to dose her,” Iris told them. “Which means that someone in her inner circle is involved in this. The fact that her condition has gone downhill like this means whoever was keeping her unconscious but alive may not have decided to end her life.”

There was another, though smaller, outburst of protests and dismay, but the clerk banged his gavel and restored order once more.

Iris looked to me then, and I nodded. “I am here to request support for Alpha Claudia’s safety. While she must remain at the keep, I am asking for a company of Lunaris Palace Guards to augment her security.”

“Everyone knows the guards are almost all Eclipse Pack,” Elder Juarez objected. “How can we know anything of their safety in Moonshadow Keep?”

“Well, they are elite guards,” I said. “The keep mostly houses families, not soldiers.”

“And who will pay for this expense?” Elder Juarez asked next.

“Are you suggesting the life of the Moonstone Alpha is not beyond price?” I demanded, though I had to be careful about the genuine anger I was starting to feel.

“Distribution of the Palace Guards is at my discretion,” Elroy said. “I welcome my Luna’s request to protect her mother as well as the Alpha of Moonshadow.”

I wanted to weep with relief, but I kept my face impassive. Of course, that’s when Greg opened his mouth.

“It’s not a question of expense,” he said. “My wife deserves every courtesy from this council.”

I wanted to vomit.