Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,156

weren’t keeping us informed. He seemed ready to cast us out of Loamnore, and the only reason he didn’t was because Miss Foster managed to calm him down.”

For what it was worth, Mr. Forkle did look sufficiently chagrined. “Well. I suppose it might’ve been wise if we’d better coordinated our investigations.”

“Yes, it would,” Councillor Emery agreed. “And it should be noted that we’ve made every effort to be forthright—”

“Every effort,” Mr. Forkle interrupted. “Strange. I don’t remember you informing us ahead of time that you’d be appointing several of our members as Regents—including Miss Foster.”

“You didn’t know about that?” Sophie asked, not sure what to feel when he shook his head.

She’d assumed the Black Swan was fully aware that the Council was offering her the title, since the Council appointed her right after she’d met with Mr. Forkle in his office—and her first assignment overlapped with things that the two of them had discussed. Plus, Tiergan was with them in the Seat of Eminence when they’d agreed to become Team Valiant.

But… now that she thought about it, no one had actually said the Black Swan knew she was becoming a Regent. And Tiergan had been confused about why he and Wylie had received a vague summons to be there.

All of which begged a different question—one Sophie probably should’ve thought to ask when Mr. Forkle admitted a few days earlier that the Black Swan had never anticipated her appointment to the nobility.

“Do you not want us to be Regents?” she asked.

Mr. Forkle dragged a hand down his face. “I have no problem with any of you having the title, nor with you allying yourself with the Council. But… it does complicate things. Particularly since delegating assignments to you and your friends has never been easy for those of us in the Collective—and I realize that may be hard to believe given the way we’ve been dragging you into our plans from your earliest days in the Lost Cities. But… the fact that you were always frustrated by how few and far between our notes were should prove how methodical we try to be—how thoroughly we explore all of the options before we choose to involve you. And the Council isn’t nearly so meticulous—which isn’t meant to be a criticism,” he added when several Councillors made derisive noises. “It’s simply a different method of operating. The twelve of you—as well as your many predecessors—have been handing off assignments to Regents and Emissaries for millennia. It’s second nature to you. And I understand why—it’s the only way a world as complex as ours can properly function. But the Black Swan has had to operate in the shadows for most of our existence, and our goal has always been to involve as few as possible to avoid detection—plus, we’re well aware of the danger involved with our assignments and prefer to keep the risks to ourselves. So when I told you about meeting with King Enki, Miss Foster, it was with the assumption that the meeting would be arranged the way we always arrange anything we’re involving you in—with someone in our order handling all the preliminary investigations and addressing as many potential pitfalls as possible before we ever brought you and your friends to Loamnore. And while I knew the Council worked at a different pace, it didn’t occur to me that they might arrange a meeting with King Enki this fast, since your appointment—and the existence of your team—has yet to be announced.”

“The public’s lack of knowledge of Team Valiant is no reason for us to hold off utilizing the arrangement,” Councillor Emery informed him. “Particularly with a sensitive meeting like this, which would’ve been kept classified anyway. But… I can see how you might’ve thought otherwise. Especially since I’m now realizing that we didn’t mention the date or time of our meeting with King Enki to you. I suppose we assumed Miss Foster would pass that information along.”

Which… Sophie probably would have, if she hadn’t been fighting with Mr. Forkle about her biological parents.…

Yet another way her selfish focus was coming back to haunt her.

“In the interests of improving our communication,” Councillor Emery added, “you should know that we’re planning to announce the Regent appointments next week. We’re still figuring out the exact date, time, and place. If you’d like an update once we’ve decided—”

“I would,” Mr. Forkle told him. “And… for what it’s worth, I do apologize for not informing you about Granite’s meeting with King Enki—and I’m glad to