Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,45

room as twelve spotlights flared in a wide circle around their group, illuminating each of the Councillors with a nearly blinding halo of silver. Sophie was usually able to tell the Councillors apart, since they comprised a wide mix of skin colors and hairstyles and facial features. But between the strange lighting and their matching outfits, they looked eerily alike. Their tailored silver suits and pulled-back hair even made it hard to distinguish between the different genders. And they were wearing identical diamond crowns instead of their individual gemstone circlets.

Their long silver cloaks were all pinned with clasps shaped like glowing golden keys—a style Sophie had only seen the Councillors wear one other time. The day she moved to the Lost Cities and found herself facing a test that decided her future with the elves.

Her stomach turned very flippy at the reminder, and she scanned each of the Councillors’ faces, searching for Oralie—one of her strongest allies on the Council—finally picking her out on the right side of the circle thanks to a soft blond ringlet that had broken free from her tight bun.

But Oralie didn’t look her way.

And there was something off about her expression—a strange tension in her pretty features. As if she were as anxious to be done with this process as Sophie was.

“Welcome to the Seat of Eminence,” Councillor Emery said as the spotlights dimmed enough to make the Councillors more recognizable. All heads turned toward the dark-skinned elf who served as spokesperson for the Council, and his sapphire eyes flicked from face to face as he stepped forward and folded his hands. “We apologize for the somewhat last-minute nature of this meeting, and realize that you all likely have many questions about why we’ve brought you here—particularly since this place is accessible only to those who bear titles for the oaths they’ve sworn to our service. And that is not changing, in case you were wondering. Those of you who required an escort to gain access today will not be permitted to visit again, unless you have a title of your own.”

Vika gasped. “Does that mean…?”

Her voice choked off when Emery cleared his throat.

“I’ll explain what it means in a moment,” he told her. “But first, we must verify something.” His gaze turned to Sophie. “Is it safe to assume, Miss Foster, that your father has explained his reason for bringing you here?”

Sophie nodded, fighting the urge to duck behind Grady.

“And will you be accepting our offer?” Emery asked.

Every single bit of moisture in Sophie’s mouth evaporated. “I… thought you guys were going to give me more information about what you need me to do before I had to decide.”

“We will be happy to answer your questions. But certain things have changed, and we need to know if you’re interested before we continue.”

Sophie glanced at Grady for help.

“No one has ever had to make an oath with so little information,” he reminded the Councillors.

“We’re not asking for her oath. We’re asking if she’s willing,” Emery clarified, which… didn’t actually sound all that different to Sophie. “And we’re asking now, because if she isn’t, there’s no point in continuing with any of this.”

“Any of what?” Tiergan demanded.

Emery reached up to rub his temples, moderating the other Councillors telepathically.

“Very well,” he said after a painful beat of silence. “I’d hoped to avoid an interruption-filled discussion. But it seems we must do this out of order.” He cleared his throat. “Yesterday, in light of several serious developments that Lord Grady brought to our attention, we decided to redefine the qualifications for the nobility in order to extend an invitation to Miss Foster. Our plan was to appoint her as a Regent today, so that she can pair her unique talents with the resources available to our nobles, and assist us with these pressing challenges more fully.” He paused to let that sink in before he added, “But upon further discussion, we discovered that we’d made one crucial miscalculation. Miss Foster’s greatest successes are rarely hers alone. She’s most valuable when working in tandem with others—which is not an insult to you, Miss Foster. As Councillors, we are far better as a united group of twelve than we could ever be as individuals. But because of that, we realized the best way to utilize you would be to place you with a team—one carefully selected, arranged, and monitored by us, to ensure maximum efficiency.”

Dex, Biana, Wylie, and Sophie all looked at each other.

Then they looked at Stina Heks.

And Stina