The Dark Prince

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight
Rowan and I landed right in the middle of the council meeting. Hundreds of eyes turned to us as we stood in the middle of the room, in front of the entire council and my mother.

I made sure not to shift on my feet and instead turned to my mother. I bowed my head in her direction, and she returned the favor. Rowan chose to bow out right, placing my status above his in this meeting. Why would he do that?

"Welcome back, daughter," my mother murmured.

"It's good to be home."

My mother gave me a small smile before turning to the council. "Now that our guests of honor have arrived, may we begin?"

The demon representative nodded her head and turned to the crowd. "We are here today in regards of the tragic events that took place at Freya's going away ball."

"How did those vampires get in unnoticed," the fae representative spoke up.

My mother turned to him calmly. "They wore contacts and dressed as servants."

The fae representative shook his head. "No, how did they get in?"

My mother shook her head. "I don't know. We assume that they found a hole in our system and dove in."

"Or maybe one of our own betrayed us," I spoke up.

All eyes turned to me. The vampire representative tilted her head. "Why do you say that, young one?"

I shrugged and examined my nails. "It just seems like the more logical option, don't you think?"

The demon representative nodded. "Freya is right. Someone must have let them in. Someone who knows how to open the barrier, someone with ties to the crown."

My mother gave me a stern look before shaking her head. "That is impossible. Anyone who could have done that either died during the battle, or don't know how to let people in."

"People fake their own deaths all the time," I shrugged.

The vampire representative tilted her head. "Are you insinuating something?"

Knowing better than to outright blame all of this on Saxon's father, I decided to go with the allusive option. "I'm just speculating."

My mother stepped in then. "As good as those theories are, they are just theories. I think what we really need to concern ourselves with right now is how we are going to make sure it never happens again."

The fae representative nodded. "Very well. We will reinforce the barriers around the kingdom. It will be up to you to create a better guard system. As for the vampires, there is nothing we can do until we know why they did this and how."

"You should try to ally with the demon king. If the vampires want Freya, it would be in his interest to help," the werewolf representative added.

My mother shook her head. "He is too stubborn for that."

"I can try and reason with him," I announced. The werewolf representative nodded in confirmation.

My mother raised her eyebrows in my direction but didn't comment. Instead, she changed the subject. "Are we at war?"

I turned my full attention to the council. Of course we are in some kind of war. But to hear it confirmed, and by the council no less, means something. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath too, waiting for the answer.

"That depends on what the vampires want. If they don't plan on stopping these attacks any time soon, then I would say it is time to brace for war," the fae representative stated.