Kristof Knightlinger stood and bowed as soon as the prince stepped into the room. “It’s good to see you alive and looking so excellent, Your Highness.”
“I’m sure my return is also quite helpful for the sale of papers,” replied the prince. He might have still been somewhat bitter over the small amount of fanfare that he’d been given after his death.
Of course the journalist didn’t appear to notice.
Kristof smiled enthusiastically. He always seemed to be in good humor. His teeth were as white as the lacy jabot at his throat. “This interview will help as well. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me this morning. I know my readers have so many questions about how you returned from the dead, what it was like to be dead, if you were able to watch any of us who were still alive.”
“I won’t be answering any of those questions today,” Apollo said brusquely.
The journalist’s smile faded.
“I would like your article to focus on the dishonorable deeds of Lord Jacks and how important it is that he be captured immediately.”
“Your Highness, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I already mentioned his misdeeds in this morning’s paper.”
“Then mention them again and make them uglier this time. Until this criminal is apprehended, I want his crimes printed every day. I want his name to become synonymous with vile. This isn’t just for me, this is for Princess Evangeline and all of the Magnificent North. Once he’s caught, you can have your interview and I’ll answer whatever questions you want. But until then, I’m going to ask that you print what I need you to say.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Kristof said with a pleasant smile.
But it wasn’t the same smile as before. This wasn’t his natural good humor. This was a nice smile that was there only because Apollo was a prince and there was nothing Kristof could do but smile.
Apollo felt something like guilt twist inside of him at the sight of it. For a second, he considered softening his demands. Then he reminded himself of what his father had said about never being nice.
After his meeting with Kristof, Apollo wanted to check on Evangeline. There were servants, of course, who provided him with updates on her. Thus far he’d been told she was healthy and well, and still without any memories.
Apollo hoped that after his warning from last night, she’d give up any ideas of pursuing her memories. But the Evangeline he knew was not one to give up. She’d found a way to cure him of the Archer’s curse, and he imagined that, if given a chance, she’d also find her missing memories. Therefore, Apollo did not plan to give her a chance.
He’d already made provisions to make sure she’d be fully occupied this morning. He would have preferred to be the one occupying her time, but there would be opportunities for that later.
First, there was one more matter to take care of.
The Council of Great Houses.
Yesterday he’d met with a few of the members to prove he wasn’t an impostor and that he’d truly returned from the dead. After that there’d been a lengthy discussion about what to do with the actual impostor heir who’d tried to steal his throne. That, however, had proved entirely unnecessary, as the whelp seemed to have fled sometime during the discussion.
It seemed the impostor heir had been warned by a couple of servants who were enamored with him.
Apollo had sent a number of guards after him, but the impostor wasn’t his priority for now.
The prince slowed his steps as he reached the door that led to the chamber where the council met. The room on the other side always reminded Apollo of a giant pewter goblet. The walls were slightly rounded and the air was subtly silver, giving everything a sharp, swordlike quality. In the center of the room was an aged white oak table that was said to have been there since the days of the first king of the Magnificent North, Wolfric Valor, a rugged man from another era who now sat at the far end of the table.
All conversation stopped as soon as Apollo entered the room. But it was clear from the tableau that until this moment, the conversation had centered entirely around the newest member of the council—the famed Wolfric Valor. Although, only Apollo knew who Wolfric really was. No one else on the council knew that Wolfric, along with the entire Valor family, had been locked away in the Valory until the previous day.
Wolfric now went by the name Lord Vale. And yet every man and woman at the council table still leaned or angled his way. Which was good—it made what Apollo needed to do so much easier. But it was also a little unnerving to see the way the council responded to the legendary first king of the North without even knowing who he really was.
“Here he is, returned from the dead!” bellowed Wolfric, followed by a clap that spread like wildfire until every council member was standing and applauding as Prince Apollo strode toward the white oak table.
Wolfric winked. We are allies, said the gesture. We are in this together. Friends.
But Apollo could only too freshly remember how his last friend had betrayed him. If Wolfric chose to do the same, Apollo would be no match for him and his famed family. All Apollo could do now was keep his word and hope that Wolfric would, too.
“I see that many of you have already met our newest council member,” said Apollo, intentionally phrasing it like a statement rather than a question.
Although Apollo had yet to be officially crowned king, he still had more power than the council. In the Magnificent North, a prince could not become king until he wed. But that law, like his upcoming coronation, was mostly for show. Royal events like coronations and Nocte Neverending endeared princes to their people and filled kingdoms with hope and love.
That said, the Council of Great Houses was not entirely powerless. They couldn’t stop Apollo from naming a new Great House, but they could fight him over it and, in the process, dig up dangerous truths that Apollo didn’t want to risk anyone discovering.
The last thing he needed was the kingdom to learn that the legendary Valors had returned from the dead and were now posing as House Vale.
He’d been dead only a few weeks, but the world believed the Valors had been dead for hundreds of years.
Apollo was still struggling to wrap his mind around the fact that the tales of the Valory had been true and that the Valors had been locked away inside it. He hated to imagine what kind of fuss the kingdom would make if they found out. And he didn’t even want to think about the questions Evangeline would ask if she discovered that she had been the one to unlock the Valory Arch.
It seemed his brother, Tiberius, had been right about what she would do all along.