There were emergencies that no amount of strategic brilliance could outrank. A cult beginning an old ritual beneath a chapel was serious. A hidden network using children as ritual materials was serious. The Crown Prince becoming the intended answer to something beneath the Capital was extremely serious.
My mother waiting at the eastern gate after hearing rumors that I'd acquired a son, a Jinn brother, several wounded children, a captured priest, and possibly an entire charity foundation?
That was worse. Not because she would harm me. My mother loved me. This was a fact, a very reliable one, and also the exact reason I was afraid.
"Your Excellency," Captain Arthur said beside me, "the eastern gate is secured."
"Of course it is."
"The former Grand Duke and Lady Konstantin are waiting outside."
"I heard that."
