Chapter 409: Chapter 409: The Court wants me back
"Had a lighter schedule today," Damian said, gesturing for her to join him. "Come sit."
Eve settled into the chair beside his, and Damian immediately pulled her against him.
"Long morning?" he asked.
"Exhausting," Eve said. "Made three difficult decisions about pack applications, and now I’m second-guessing all of them."
"Tell me," Damian said simply.
So Eve did. She talked through the decisions she’d made, the reasoning behind them, her concerns about whether she’d made the right choices.
Damian listened without interrupting, just letting her process.
When she finished, he didn’t tell her what to do. Just said, "Sounds like you made thoughtful decisions based on the information available. That’s all any of us can do."
"What if I’m wrong?" Eve asked.
"Then you’ll deal with it and adjust," Damian said simply. "You’re allowed to make mistakes, Eve. You’re allowed to be imperfect."
"Everyone expects me to be perfect."
"Everyone can deal with disappointment," Damian said. "You don’t have to carry that burden alone."
They sat like that for a while...just existing together, finding peace in the quiet space.
By the time they made their way back to the main part of the estate, it was mid-afternoon.
***
Dinner was at six, as promised.
The kitchen staff had prepared something simple, roasted chicken, vegetables, fresh bread. They ate together at the kitchen table again, and by the time they finished, Eve felt completely exhausted in the best way.
The kind of exhaustion that came from emotional connection and meaningful conversations, not from physical exertion.
After dinner, they moved to the sitting room, and Eve curled up between Damian and Damon while Silas sat on his chair reading a book he had picked from the library.
It was perfect.
Around nine o’clock, there was a knock at the sitting room door.
The omega staff member looked apologetic. "Your Majesty, a letter arrived for you. It’s marked urgent from the Seraphim Court. From Lord Raphael specifically."
Eve took the letter with a sense of foreboding.
She recognized Raphael’s seal immediately, her uncle, the one who’d been helping her navigate Seraphim Court politics.
She opened it carefully, and her three mates immediately leaned in to read with her.
Dearest Eve,
I hope this finds you well. I write with a matter that requires your immediate attention at the Seraphim Court.
The Council is requesting your presence to discuss the continuing implementation of the reform measures. There have been some developments that I believe require your personal involvement. A faction of the Council has been growing increasingly vocal about certain provisions, and they’re requesting direct dialogue with you.
I won’t lie to you, this is political maneuvering. But it’s the kind that requires the Queen’s presence to address properly. Sending representatives won’t suffice.
When you can arrange it, please come to the Court. I’ll ensure you have full support and resources during your visit. And of course, your mates are welcome as well.
Raphael.
Eve set the letter down and looked at her three mates.
"The Court wants me back," she said simply.
"How long?" Damon asked.
"He doesn’t specify, but knowing Raphael, it’ll probably be a few weeks at minimum if there’s serious political maneuvering happening."
Damian took the letter and read through it carefully. "This is serious. They wouldn’t request you personally if it wasn’t."
"We’ll go with you," Silas said immediately. "All three of us."
"Your responsibilities here...." Eve started.
"Can be managed," Damon said. "Brynn can handle pack business. The training can be delegated. We’re not letting you go to the Court alone while there’s political maneuvering happening."
"Agreed," Damian said. "We’re coming with you."
Eve felt something settle inside her at their immediate support.
This was why she loved them. Not just because they were powerful or protective or incredible lovers. But because when it mattered, they showed up completely.
"Okay," Eve said. "We’ll need to arrange for travel. We should probably respond to Raphael today and let him know we’re coming."
"I’ll write the response," Silas said.
They spent the rest of the evening planning, discussing when they could leave, how long they could realistically stay, what needed to be handled before they departed.
***
The portal chamber at the back of the estate had always felt like sacred space to Eve.
A circular room built of dark stone, its walls etched with runes that had been carved centuries before she was born, it existed for one purpose only, to bridge the distance between the pack territory and the Seraphim Court.
Eve stood at the center of the chamber, her three mates flanking her, all four of them dressed for Court. She wore deep emerald, a color Astrid had once told her represented growth and renewal, fitting for a Queen who’d rebuilt an entire political system. Damian, Damon, and Silas wore matching black formal wear, tailored to allow movement in case protection was needed.
"Ready?" Silas asked, his hand finding hers.
"As I’ll ever be," Eve said.
She closed her eyes and reached for the ancestral power that lived beneath her skin, the bloodline magic that had been dormant for so long before her ascension, now as familiar to her as breathing.
The runes on the walls began to glow, faint gold light spreading from carving to carving until the entire chamber pulsed with power.
Eve raised her hand, and the air in front of her began to shimmer....first like heat distortion, then coalescing into something more solid. A doorway. A tear in the fabric between two places, opening to reveal not darkness but the shimmering antechamber of the Seraphim Court thousands of miles away.
"Let’s go," Eve said.
They stepped through together.
The sensation of portal travel was still strange to Eve, even after using it dozens of times. For one disorienting moment, she existed in both places at once, the pack estate and the Court antechamber overlapping like double exposure in a photograph. Then the world snapped into focus, and she was standing on the polished marble floor of the Seraphim Court’s receiving hall.
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