Chapter 123: Chapter 124: Malakor Moves Anyway

Elara’s POV

I woke knowing something was wrong before I could name it.

The light through the window was the same. The room was the same. The sounds of the palace waking up around me were the same. But something was different. Something had changed in the night. I lay still for a moment, listening, trying to identify what had changed.

The palace felt different.

I dressed. I pinned my hair. I put on my crown. I did not know what I was walking into, but I knew I was walking into something.

Corvus came to me before breakfast.

His face told me before his words did. The particular stillness of a man who has been up all night, who has been working through a problem that has no good solution, who has come to deliver bad news because there is no one else to deliver it.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Malakor has called an emergency council session.”

I felt something cold move through my chest. “He cannot call an emergency session without my approval.”

“He can. As a senior lord, he has the procedural right to call a session for matters of immediate concern to the kingdom.l.”

I sat down. “What does he know?”

Corvus met my eyes. “I don’t know.”

The council chamber was already full when I arrived.

I had been composing myself since Corvus left my doorway. I had walked through the corridors with my face still, my hands steady, my crown on my head. I had told myself that I was the queen. I had told myself that I would be the queen until someone physically removed the crown, and they would find that harder than they expected.

The council was already assembled. Even the ones who were usually late. Even the ones who sent representatives to most sessions. They were all here, in their seats, their faces carefully arranged.

That told me this was coordinated. The word had gone out last night. The messages had been sent.

Malakor was at the table.

Petrov was beside him.

I took my seat at the head of the table. The crown was on my head. My hands were folded. My face was still.

“Your Majesty,” Malakor said. “Thank you for joining us.”

“It is my council chamber, my lord. I am always here.”

He nodded.

Malakor rose slowly. He straightened his coat. He looked around the table at every face.

“My lords,” he said. “Members of the council. I have called this emergency session because I can no longer stand silent while the crown is led into ruin.”

He paused. He let the words settle.

“I have served this kingdom for years. I served her father. I served her mother. I have watched rulers come and go, and I have never, never, seen such a disgrace as I have witnessed in this chamber.”

I opened my mouth to speak.

“I’m not done your majesty”

Malakor’s voice was sharp. His eyes were hard. The room went very still.

I stared at him.

“You have done enough damage with your foolishness. Let the adults talk.”

I looked at the guards at the door. I was about to have him removed.–

“We have a queen who does not know how to rule. A queen who makes decisions based on emotion rather than reason”

He turned to me.

“You have been reckless. You have been foolish. You have been playing at being queen while the kingdom burns around you. And now–”

I reached for the bell.

“The queen is pregnant.”

My hand stopped.

The words landed like stones dropped from a great height. The room erupted. Voices rose. Chairs scraped.

I sat at the head of the table and felt the world tilt beneath me.

Pregnant. He knew. He had said it out loud. In front of everyone. The secret I had been keeping for weeks, the secret I had told only Lena, the secret that was supposed to stay hidden until I was ready, he had pulled it into the light and smashed it open for the whole council to see.

I could not breathe. I could not move. I could not think.

My eyes went to Corvus.

Was it you? I thought. Did you tell him?

Corvus shook his head. Just once. Small. His face was pale. His eyes were steady. He was telling me no. He was telling me it was not him.

I swallowed my saliva. I forced my hands to stop shaking. I forced my face to go still.

I would find out how Malakor got to know. It was between Kaelen, Corvus and Lena. One of them. Someone had talked. Someone had betrayed me. I would find out who.

But not now. Now, I had to survive this room.

“She is carrying a child,” Malakor continued. His voice was steady now. He was in control. He had always been in control. “The father is Kaelen. Her former guard. The man we now know to be the Voice. The leader of the Rendered. A traitor who has been operating within these walls for months.”

The room went very still.

“She has been lying to this council. Lying to her advisors. Lying to her people. She has been meeting with him in secret. Corresponding with him. Plotting with him while pretending to govern.”

He turned to face the other council members.

“This is not an attack on the queen. This is a recognition of circumstance. A queen in a delicate condition, manipulated by a dangerous man, deserves protection. She deserves guidance. She deserves a council that will help her navigate this crisis without losing the throne.”

He paused.

“I propose a Stand-in rulers council” He looked around the table. “I ask this council to vote. Because The queen is too weak and compromised to rule right now. So we need a group of us to take over and make decisions for her until we decide she’s fit again.”

He sat down.

The room turned to me

I could not speak. My hands were still shaking. My face was still pale. I could feel every eye on me.

The silence stretched. I could feel them waiting for me to fall apart.

I took a breath. Then another. I pressed my hands flat against the table to still them.

I will find out who told him, I thought. Between Kaelen, Corvus and Lena. One of them. I will find out.

But not now. Now, I had to be the queen.

I looked at Malakor.

“Are you finished, my lord?”

Malakor looked at me. “Your Majesty, the council must–”

“I asked if you were finished.”

A beat. His jaw tightened. “Yes.”

“Good.”

I looked around the table.

“Before this council votes on anything,” I said, “I have some information to share.”

I turned to lord corvus standing near the wall.

“Lord Corvus,” I said.

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