Tainted roots

Summoner Alphas:

Wolf: Alpha Lowell. Dragon: Alpha Callahan.

Cougar: Alpha Raine. Jaguar: Alpha Cyrus.

Fox: Alpha Circe. Lynx: Alpha Roman.

Owl: Alpha Neva. Kangaroo: Alpha Lula.

Cobra: Alpha Amara. Coyote: Alpha Medea.

Bear: Alpha Holden. Gorilla: Alpha Valin.

Sorcerers/sorceresses courts:

Lunar eclipse: Emperor Leo.

Hunters Moon: Emperor Titan.

Solar eclipse: Empress Ayla.

Blue moon: Empress Estella.

Harvest Moon: Empress Astra.

Blood mages courts:

Dawn: Master Ashe.

Dusk: Mistress Raven.

Aurora: Mistress Janara.

Elemental courts:

Water: King Caspian.

Air: King Sky.

Fire: Queen Ember.

Earth: Queen Blossom.

Convergence Point council:

Blood mage councilor: Griffith.

Sorceress councilor: Kiara.

Summoner councilor: Dove.

Elemental councilor: Naia.

For the remainder of the night and well into the morning, we were stuck in a meeting with all of the rulers. The meeting was held inside the council chambers in the Convergence point, the most neutral place. I’d never been this back in the building. Normally I was only in the atrium or the portal room. I knew they had a meeting room as did everyone who lived here, but I never expected to see it. The room was as big as the football stadium I once visited in the human realm. Black and gold veins ran through the white marble walls and ceiling, while the floor had veins of silver. Each wall was dedicated to a race, with banners from every court hanging along the walls. A long wooden table sat in the middle of the room, large enough to hold every ruler. And I do mean every ruler.

There were five rulers from the lunar courts, three from the sun courts, the four elements, twelve alphas, and even the councils from the four neutral territories. Forty in total. All of them peppered us with questions as we stood before them. Making us go over the details multiple times, not just about this past day, but from the last time we went over there. Questioning us on why we didn’t come to them before.

They were particularly unhappy to hear about the rift outside the Lunar Eclipse court. Many were vocal about how they should’ve been informed right after it happened.

Seth wasn’t with us, he’d sustained many injuries in the necromancers' region from when they were ambushed and when they tortured him while they held him captive. He could barely stand by the time we got back to our realm and was immediately taken to one of our healers in town.

It was a relief when Leo, Estella, Ayla, Callahan, and members of the Convergence point council came to our defense. They argued that we didn’t know who we could trust and it was for the best we kept our circle as small as possible until we gathered more information.

I hadn’t met most of the rulers before, but I now had a list of ones I hated. Empress Astra of the Harvest moon court. Mistress Raven of the Dusk court. Circe, Alpha of the Fox clan. King Sky of the Air Court. And last but certainly not least, Cyrus, Alpha of the Jaguar clan.

Going into the meeting, I had already disliked him based on his reputation, but I could now say with absolute certainty, I hated him.

Raven scoffed at the ‘ridiculous and childish theory’ that one of us would ever help any of them. She didn’t appreciate it when it was pointed out that a blood mage helped them create the creatures in the first place. Councilor Griffith wiped his hand across his mouth, trying to hide his smile at that.

I was pretty sure his allegiance was to the Dawn court, to Master Ashe. Each of the council members belonged to a court like the rest of us. Something Astra pointed out when Councilor Kiara dared argue with her, telling Titan—Emperor of Hunter’s moon court—to keep his subjects in line. She even had the audacity to say it was an insult to have the council take part of this meeting in the first place. That they held no real power in the realm.

Alpha Lowell put her in her place real quick, by pointing out how each council was tasked with protecting the rifts, and that the Convergence point council protected not one but three. Pride warmed my chest, and I couldn’t be more happy to be a part of his clan.

Things took a turn when the conversation shifted to Alora. The rulers I now fucking hated vehemently argued against allowing her to live here, going as far as to suggest we execute her. Publicly. Without thought of consequences, we circled her, showing there was no way in hell we’d let that happen. That raised quite a few brows.

“Are you choosing to protect that abomination? That’s treason,” Cyrus—the huge dickbag—growled.

Never before had I wanted to attack a ruler more than I did right now, consequences be damned. I was barely able to restrain my growl and keep my claws from making an appearance. Koa’s hand found mine, giving a firm and reassuring squeeze, probably to keep me from throwing myself over the table at Cyrus.

It was safe to say I didn’t have the patience or self-control required for politics. Let’s just say it would’ve been a real disaster had I been born to a royal family or mated to a royal.

“Be reasonable. Just because someone doesn’t agree with you, doesn’t make it treason,” Lowell said, sounding exasperated, as if they had the same argument many times.

“As you can see, the girl is under my protection,” Callahan rumbled, gesturing at where Koa and Starling stood in front of Alora. “You will not lay a hand on her without cause.”

“Who are you to offer protection to our enemies?” Raven shot back, leaning forward, her hands splayed out on the table. Long, sharp, and painted black nails digging into the surface.

“We saw an opportunity to not only gain new information but two unknown powers the necromancers are after. We took it,” Griffith drawled, tapping his fingers on the table, almost like he was bored.

“You know the rules, you’ll need twenty-five votes for her to live here. It doesn’t matter if she’s under your protection,” Queen Ember of the Fire Court said, and unlike the others who’d spoken out, there wasn’t a hint of aggression in her tone. She was simply stating a fact.

“It may not have been ours to offer, but we promised our protection regardless.” Leo sat back in his chair, looking at each Mythic sitting at the table, his expression had an edge to it that wasn't there the last time I saw him.

“Are you saying that if we do not agree, there will be a war?” Alpha Amara of the cobra clan asked curiously.

“Yes,” Callahan answered, his tone clipped.

The others didn’t gasp or show signs of shock. They were all too well trained at this point. I wasn’t and gasped under my breath, having not expected that answer. I didn’t expect him to say he and the rest of our allies were willing to go to war for her. For a girl they didn’t even know. For a necromancer.

Alpha Neva of the Owl clan pointed out the same thing. “You would be willing to go to war for a girl you just met?”

“Your capital city wasn't targeted and invaded by the creatures. You didn’t have to burn your dead from the invasion or rebuild from the destruction they left in their wake. All of this damage was inflicted to keep us distracted while they tore apart my city, to find and steal one of the keys from my people.” Leo sat up straight, gripping the arms of his chair so tight they began groaning. “Not only has she kept the key from the necromancers for over a year as she hid from them, but helped retrieve what was stolen from my court. That’s enough to have me willing to wage war.”

“There’s also the fact that she is, for some reason, important to their leader. Us having her instead of him, gives us an upper hand,” Alpha Holden of the bear clan said, leaning back in his chair as he briefly considered Alora.

“You can’t seriously be considering allowing it to live here!” Sky hissed, air stirring around him.

“Sky,” Ember warned.

“We should imprison it and force it to tell us all they know about the necromancers. After that we should do a public execution and send the body back to the necromancers,” Cyrus spat, a mocking and feral edge to his voice.

Fuck this guy.

Rage boiled in my blood. Was it mine? Koa’s? Both of ours? I honestly didn’t care which of us it was. All I knew was that I wanted to slam his head against the table. Multiple times.

“That’s barbaric, and would most certainly start a war,” Blossom—Earth court Queen—chastised.

“If we allow her to live in our realm, a big question is, whose court would she join?” Alpha Raine—Cougar clan—asked.

“She should live in neutral territory,” Councilor Naia said before anyone else could speak. “The neutral territories are a place for all races to live freely amongst each other without the need of a mating bond, or judgment.”

“Of course, you would want her for yourself,” Sky sneered. How could someone with the name Sky—a peaceful-sounding name—be such a fucking prick? He should be forced to change it to something that matched his dickbag personality.

“But everyone living in the neutral territories has allegiance to one of the courts,” Caspian, king of the Water Court, countered. His tattooed arm carelessly over the back of his seat, where he’d been silent up until now.

Harmony in the past had gone on and on about how gorgeous he was, and she hadn’t been exaggerating. Dark hair, tanned ink-covered skin, and green eyes. Months ago I would’ve been drooling over him.

“But which court would suit her best?” Blossom asked, tilting her head to the side as she studied Alora. “Do we go with one of the Sun courts? Blood and death have been known to go hand in hand. Or maybe the Lunar courts deserve the first pick since three of them are willing to go to war for her.”

Circe started saying some shitty words that I refused to think about, until Alpha Roman of the Lynx clan, cut her off by simply raising his hand. “I think we should discuss the best possible fit for Alora, but perhaps we should have this discussion in private.” He shot a look at Alora before pointedly looking at each of the shitty rulers who had said some horrible stuff in front of her.

He was the first one of them to use her name instead of calling her the girl. It made me respect him more than I already did, and I’ve always had a great amount of respect for him. He was for sure high on my list of rulers I liked.

* * * * * * *

We waited in the hallway to the meeting room for what felt like forever. Most of us were sitting on the floor against the wall, my head was resting against Koa as I tried to stay awake. Would it have killed them to put in some cushioned benches?

Alora was a ball of anxiety as she paced back and forth down the hallway. She kept peppering us with what-if questions, and each of us kept reassuring her over and over she’d be find, that not all of them thought the same way as the asshole leaders.

It was seriously shitty how some of them said those awful things right in front of Alora. Not the best first impression to give someone who knew nothing about our politics and came from a cult. Here we were, promising her she’d be safer here, and some of these assholes were suggesting torturing and killing her.

I was pretty sure I drifted off, because the next thing the knew, the door to the meeting room opened, jolting me upright.

Caspian was casually leaning against the door frame. The other leaders were leaving the table, and exiting the room through the other doorway.

Caspian gestured with two fingers for us to follow him and retreated into the room. He was leaning back against the table when we came to stand in front of him. His broad arms were crossed over his chest, the right one heavily tattooed in a beautiful and interacted sleeve, while the left remained bare. It was hard to describe it, but his scent reminded me of a sea breeze. The crisp freshness that was in the air, as you smelt both the ocean and the sand.

I was more than a little surprised and confused he was the one talking to us. Based on his lack of response during the meeting, at least when we were there, I had no clue whether this was good or bad. I didn’t get the feeling he shared the other’s opinions, based on how quiet he was and how he didn’t have a permeant sneer on his face, but it was hard to know for sure.

“It took some time, but we finally came to an agreement. It was close, but you’ve earned permission to live in this realm, but with some nonnegotiable terms,” he said after observing us for several moments.

“I’ve heard about a few of them,” Alora said nodding, having expected this.

Behind him on the table was a thin metal bracelet, that he grabbed and tugged on the sides so it split open. Gesturing with his hand again for Alora to come forward, he eased it onto her wrist and snapped it shut. A current of light and energy surged through the bracelet and into her arm, making her jolt. He shot her an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that, it’s part of the conditions. You’ll have to wear that for the next two years.”

In the grand scheme of things, two years wasn’t that long, but it still sucked. “Is it your energy locked into it?” Wyatt asked, still staring at the bracelet, that now looked like an ordinary piece of jewelry.

Caspian shook his head, placing his hands on the edge of the table. “A requirement is that one of each race has place their energy in it, and can sense your location and magic use.”

Ice water was injected into my veins at the thought of who the other three leaders were. What if it was one of the fuckers I hated? Them knowing where Alora was at all times was dangerous as hell. I wasn’t the only one to have this thought, varying degrees of worry filled the other’s expressions. Alora was looking down at the metal now stuck on her arm in horror.

“Don’t worry,” Caspian said with a small reassuring smile. “Ashe, Titan, and Roman are the others.”

While I didn’t know too much about the others, what I’ve heard about them over the years and what I witnessed today had me reassured. As long it wasn’t the five on my new list, we could handle it.

He reached into the pockets of his jeans—yep, you heard me, he was dressed casually in jeans and a long-sleeved thermal shirt with sleeve pushed up his forearms—and pulled out Gabsrielle’s key, making sure to only touch the chain. Shock painted Alora’s expression as he placed the key in her hand.

“They’re willing to let her remain the guardian?” Ander asked, not bothering to hide his skepticism.

Caspian’s grin grew. “Not exactly. She’s now a part of my court, and with a little work on my part, I was given the key to hold onto. They never said I couldn’t give it back to her.”

Oh, I liked him now, sneaky son of a bitch.

His words about how she was a part of his court finally registered. I hadn’t known which way this would go, or which court she’d end up in, but I was expecting it to be Callahan's or Leo's.

“What does it mean for her to be in your court?” Reed asked, his expression serious as he watched Caspian.

Before Caspian answered, I asked, “Where is she going to live?”

Caspian’s grin turned into a smirk, making him even more attractive. “You mean, can she live in the Convergence point with you?” He raised his brows as he crossed his arms.

“Can she?” Ari asked, watching Caspian in the intense way she does when she’s trying to figure someone out.

Caspian pursed his lips and at first I was afraid he’d say no. “It would be safest for her if she were surrounded by Mythics willing to risk royals' ire just to protect her, but there will be rules in place. The first one is, you’ll need to visit the Water court once a week for meetings, just to make sure everything is transitioning smoothly and to receive lessons.”

It made sense, she hadn’t received the best education and knew nothing about our realm. She’d need to know this stuff anyways, and it was probably for the best if someone else taught her, as I’d recently found out there is much I didn’t know.

“You’ll learn the rules and expectations of my court there, and will be expected to follow them at all times, wherever you are.” Caspian seemed very chill for a leader, but I had no doubts he’d crack down on anyone who broke the rules or was being a problem. There was a sense to him, that he could be terrifying if he wanted to.

Alora just nodded in response, and that was enough confirmation for him. He pushed off the table and walked toward the door the other leaders used before. “Come to the Island the day after tomorrow at noon, we’ll start your lessons then.”

The island, the Water Court’s capital city, was—you guessed it—an island in the middle of a lake. From the paintings I’ve seen, the water was so clear, you could see the bottom and the animals swimming below the surface.

He paused at the door with his hand on the doorknob. “Try not to kill anyone, even if they deserve it. Many are still unsure of you, and killing a Mythic wouldn’t help your case. Leave the killing to your Mythic friends.” With that warning done, he exited the room with several of us gaping after him.