The room that had been filled with music and laughter less than two weeks earlier was now covered in a thick blanket of silence.
This time, thankfully, Kel was dressed in a more traditional style.
Her gown had a long skirt and train, and her sleeves fell to her elbows. Though, the front of the dress featured a v cut down to her stomach with only sheer material sewn in to cover her bare skin.
Still, she felt far more comfortable than she had in the outfit she wore to the banquet.
As she and Calix walked to the front of the room, she glanced around at the grim faces around them.
The royal family, in particular, looked solemn. They sat in a line, perfect posture and ashen faces, as if waiting for an ax to fall. Some of the council members shared the apprehensive expression, while others seemed nonchalant.
Two members even had a smug look on their face, as if they were secretly holding cards that could change the flow of the game. Kel recognized both of them immediately. The first one she spotted, Altair, hardly came as a surprise, but she flinched ever so slightly when the other man came across her view.
It was the man with dark, scarred skin and long black hair. The same smug expression that Altair wore suddenly became terrifyingly dire on the black-haired man's face.
Kel gulped and looked away, though she could still feel the man's soulless gaze bore into her as she continued to walk by the Emperor's side.
She was suddenly filled with gratitude that she had only ever crossed paths with that man in a crowded room.
Once they were seated, Calix wasted no time getting down to official business.
He nodded to the man next to him, the same general who sat by him at the banquet. At the Emperor's signal, the man rose and began reading an official decree from a piece of parchment.
Calix had worked with Thane to draft the decree earlier that day. The two were just finishing up when Kel returned from her own errand. On the way to the gathering, however, Kel had hastily whispered some last-minute requests to Calix based on what she'd discovered.
She wondered if he would honor them.
"The previous ruler of this territory and all those within a second degree blood relationship to him will be banished from the continent," the general was in the middle of reading off the sentence of the royal family.
Kel held her breath, watching Calix out of the side of her eyes as the man paused in his speech.
Calix, in turn, looked over and met Kel's eyes for a single moment before rising to his feet.
"Everyone in that category except for Prince Javid," he announced, "who will be left as the regent of this territory."
A murmur of shock rippled through the crowd at the sudden exception made by the Emperor.
Prince Javid wasn't the crown prince, nor was he considered particularly remarkable among the other princes. The only distinct thing about him was that he had been the one to lead the delegation to Mevani to surrender to the Dragon Emperor.
On the surface, it seemed the Emperor was simply choosing to retain the man who had officially surrendered to him. Such a decision could be reasoned even by the surprised Pandreian court members.
But Prince Javid's face told a different story.
Calix smirked as the man stared at him with obvious fear in his eyes.
"I-" he began to speak, only to be nudged by the prince next to him.
"Additionally, you may choose two of the original Pandreian council members to serve you," Calix added. "I suggest you choose wisely, Regent."
The prince's throat moved up and down as he gulped.
"Y-Yes. It is an honor, Your Majesty," he finally responded after more nudges from the princes on either side of him.
The gathering ended after many title strippings, new appointments, and Prince Javid being forced to name his chosen council members on the spot. Those names became the final event of the gathering.
"May I just have a few days-no a day to ponder this decision, Your Majesty?" Prince Javid pleaded, gulping as he looked around the room.
Around him were a variety of stares, some of disdain, some of expectation, but most of anticipation.
"All deposed council members will be scattered across the continent starting after this meeting," Calix replied, raising an eyebrow. "There will be none left to choose from."
".. I understand." The Prince bowed his head. "Then.. I'd like to choose Papak and Bijan."
The men he'd chosen were both senior members of the council. They were men with no strong presence nor opinions--unremarkable amongst their peers, much like Prince Javid himself.
The safest choice, by all accounts.
But the Prince's choice made Kel sigh in frustration.
She'd expected him to choose at least one of the known rebel council members like Altair or the terrifying scarred man. Or even Taegus who'd been purposefully associating with them.
That is, if her hunch was correct in the first place.
"I guess it's not.." she huffed to herself, feeling rather disappointed.
Calix had listened to her. He had made a drastic change in the middle of everything to accommodate her suggestion without any proof aside from her hastily whispered words.
But it had all been for naught.
"It doesn't matter either way," Calix suddenly bent down and whispered.
Had the Emperor been reading her thoughts? Did he mean it didn't matter whether she was right or not?
"You look confused," Calix chuckled softly. "I'm saying that if Prince Javid is truly the one behind the rebels, it doesn't matter which council members he chose to retain."
Kel stopped walking, causing a ripple of bumps in the guards and maids trailing behind them.
"What do you mean?" she hissed.
"I mean-" Calix slid his arm around her waist, leading her forward, "that we'll have our answer tomorrow morning."
The following morning, they did, in fact, receive their answer.
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