destined for an early death,” Alexei spoke up. His voice was wavering and fearful.
“The meeting was nothing bad. She came to me and asked me to be her champion. She wanted me to accomplish her work in her name,” Emma said. “She blessed me with her power.”
“Why didn’t you think to tell me this!” I rubbed my eyes. I was absolutely furious.
“The King’s Contest was only a short time away by that point! I was focused on helping you survive the tourney, not venting to you about my issues!” Emma cried.
“Uh, I think we’re forgetting one little tiny detail,” Stefan said, breaking off our bickering. “We don’t know a thing about this prophecy, what being the Worldweaver means, or what Milonna wants Emma to do. What we do know is that Gabby and Elijah are about to be coronated. We agreed after the King’s Contest to take them down, and we haven’t done a thing yet to stop them.”
“Who’s we?” Kiara’s look was hard. “Alexei and I weren’t there. We made no such promise.”
“Are you serious? You’re going to back out?” Emma snapped.
Kiara faced Emma. “I’m sorry, but this goes against our morals as griffins. Our Faction values honesty. You guys cheated, and as much as we despise them, Gabby and Elijah won the King’s Contest fair and square. They deserve to be on that throne. We’ll help you with the prophecy, and as your destiny as the Worldweaver, but don’t ask us to interfere with stopping the coronation, because we won’t.”
Alexei said nothing, merely stared at the floor. I knew we couldn’t get him on our side if Kiara wasn’t willing to help. “Gabby and Elijah aren’t going to do Malovia any favors. We’ll be lucky if they don’t rip it apart,” I said.
“I understand your concern, Ethan. I know they’re going to be horrible rulers. Which is why Alexei and I won’t turn you in, or try to stop you.” Kiara frowned. “But don’t ask us to get involved. We can’t risk our lives for something we don’t agree with.”
Stefan crossed his arms and mumbled under his breath, “Cowards.”
Alexei started, and Kiara grew an illusion in her palm as a threat, but I came between them. “It’s fine. I’m not forcing anyone into this.”
Privately, I didn’t want anyone but myself getting involved anyway— I didn’t wish to put my friends in the line of fire— but the rest of them were in too deep to go back now.
Kiara dropped her head. “I’ll do what I can to research this prophecy, and the Worldweaver. I want to make sure Emma lives past the ominous date the hag gave her. As far as overthrowing Gabby and Elijah... keep us out of it.”
Kiara scurried away, and Alexei followed. Theo scowled and said, “Griffins. No sort of spine to them whatsoever. alicorns never run from a fight.”
“It doesn’t matter. We don’t need them,” I forced out, but it felt like a lie. “Stefan’s right. As far as we know, the Black Claw has stopped coming for Emma. She’s safe for now. But Gabby and Elijah are to be crowned by the end of the semester. If it’s going to be hard getting them off the throne beforehand, it’ll be nearly impossible after they’re coronated.”
“So how do we stop them?” Delmare asked. She leaned forward— the rest of us created a circle, dropping our voices to a whisper.
“The trials of competency,” I hushed. “They’re due to take place in March. If Gabby and Elijah are proven unfit to rule, the Circle will have to find another king and queen.”
“But that’s months away! Can we wait that long?” Stefan asked.
“We don’t have a choice,” Emma replied. “We can’t assassinate or otherwise incapacitate them. It looks too suspicious. One of us will get caught. The best way to get rid of them is to prove to the Circle they’re not competent enough to run a country.”
“That gives us almost eight weeks to come up with an iron-clad plan,” Delmare whispered. “One that’s idiot-proof.”
“Hey!” Stefan started, but Delmare smacked his shoulder. I rolled my eyes.
“Are we in agreement? The competency trials are our best bet?” I asked.
Everyone nodded. Students were beginning to come back into the Rec Room after lunch. Odette gave a shifty look around, and Theo said, “We should split up. It looks like we’re plotting something.”
We were, but we didn’t want to get caught for it before we’d even made a plan. Odette paired off with Theo, and Stefan with Delmare. Both couples