At some point in the night, we made it downstairs.
The Royal rooms, each of our separate rooms, were in the same wing of the Keep.
Asmodeus was waiting for us near Damien's study, arms crossed with a document in his hand. "Where have you two been?"
I rolled my eyes as Damien answered. "What do you need, Asmo?"
"We have an emergency." He gestured towards the document. He looked worried, frenzied. I realized that he wasn't interrupting us on purpose-- whatever he knew had to be discussed immediately.
Damien didn't even glance at the letter. "What is it?
"We received a letter from the queens," Asmo explained.
Damien tensed. "Queens? Plural?"
"Yes. All four queens sent a letter— one letter, not individual ones to the Underworld. They want to meet Emylin, the day after tomorrow. And that is not even the worst of it. The first to sign was the queen of Winter."
Damien cursed.
"Exactly. When was the last time all queens saw eye to eye in anything?"
I frowned.
Asmo sighed. "We need to talk. I'll give you a moment to freshen up and meet you downstairs."
Asmo disappeared. I looked at Damien. "What's going on?"
Damien shook his head. "The queens never agree on anything. We have to find out what they want." He sighed and leaned over, planting a small kiss on my cheek. "We should go."
I nodded. "All right, I just need a moment."
I went my own where I splashed water on my face and tried to make myself look somewhat presentable by brushing my hair.
Damien was waiting for me outside of my room where he apologized profusely and kissed my forehead. "Well, date night was ruined."
I laughed. "I wouldn't say ruined - but maybe another time."
Damien led me to a room on one of the floors below ours which I recognized as the room where we all gathered and met the Council the week before.
Asmo stood at the other end of the room, his silhouette outlined by the night lights of Kingstown just beyond the window.
I greeted him, "Hello, Asmo."
He turned as we entered and slid a letter across the table to me. I grabbed it as it reached me and I looked over the very fine paper.
It was soft and cream colored which made the dark script stand out on the page. As I looked at the text, I frowned. "I can't read this."
Damien, who stood next to me as I looked at the paper, gently took the paper from my hand. "It's an ancient fae language, used usually between royal families and official documentation."
Asmo nodded. "They don't seem to know Emylin's history or how she came to be queen. They want to meet her - oh, gods, what the hell are you doing here?"
I frowned at Asmo's sudden outburst until I saw who came into the room.
"Julian," I couldn't hide the surprise in my voice. "What are you doing here?"
Julian gave a crooked smile. "Hello to you, too, Emylin." He looked at Asmo. "Damien asked me to join."
Asmo chuckled then sighed in frustration. "This should be interesting."
Damien finally looked up from the paper. "I suggest you two put your past differences aside. We will need the both of you to work together going forward."
