I stared at Igna. This time, he was full-on glowering at me. I wanted to tell him this wasn't a picnic for me either, but I didn't think he'd care.

"You were not summoned today," he announced when I didn't react to his expression. He crossed his arms, his biceps bulging where his armor left his arms bare. I wondered if he practiced the gesture in the mirror. "The king is very busy, as I am certain you are aware. You must make an appointment to see him."

Give some people a little bit of power and it went straight to their heads. I'd seen it happen over and over again. Good thing my flock was there to make sure mine never ballooned past a reasonable cranium size.

"What I have to say is very important," I explained. Not that I had a lot of hope it would get me anywhere. "I have a meeting scheduled with him for tomorrow. But the matter is too urgent to wait even that long. Can you please let him know that I need to speak with him?"

Never mind the fact that I had already emailed his point of contact. When I'd seen it was Blaise, my hopes were not high that my message would ever reach him. When I didn't receive a reply in a reasonable amount of time, I knew the only way to avoid being ignored was to show up in person.

So here I was. Back in front of Igna.

Joy of joys.

Igna glared at me, as if I had committed an offense of the highest order.

Like I had shown up with an I Hate Sven shirt on. If only it was so easy to identify one's enemies. Perhaps I should send Morgan an I Hate Adara shirt.

"If you do not have a meeting scheduled, I cannot help you," he informed me, enunciating the words clearly.

As if the problem was I was too stupid to understand what he was trying to say. I loved being condescended to.

Okay, time to try a different tactic.

"If he doesn't hear what I have to say, guess whose head is going to roll first?" I warned.

He only glared at me harder, not impressed.

"I would caution you to think about it," I prodded. "If you like your new job."

I had no weight to throw around, of course, but I was hoping he didn't realize that.

"I am not an idiot." Could have fooled me. "And just because King Sven entertained you yesterday does not mean that he is at your beck and call," he sneered. "Now—"

He was interrupted by one of the doors cracking open behind him and Arie poking her head out.

She took in Igna's aggressive stance first before her eyes slid over to me. There may have been a tinge of amusement in her gaze, there and gone.

"The king will see you now, Adara. And thank you, Igna."

His jaw clenched at the interruption, but he nodded at her and took a step back. An improvement. I tried not to gloat as I swept passed him into the chamber. Better not to alienate him more than I already had. It would only make my life more difficult if he stayed on as the guard here. Though my real concern was the flocks, not one guard's sensitive ego.

I took a step inside. I had to pause at the sight that greeted me.

Arie went ahead to take her seat next to Sven and Joash, throwing me a questioning look as I lagged behind.

But they weren't the ones that had me slowing my gait. It was the group seated in front of them. The sight of Emberich's brownnosers was not a foreign one to me. Unfortunately.

Almost as one, all five of them turned to look at me. Their gazes immediately turned dismissive. Not surprising. They were a stellar group.

My smile was thin as I continued into the room, my steps more sure now that the surprise of seeing them had faded. But my stomach had dropped.

King Sven—somehow, it was easier to think of him that way with this company—nodded at me as the five of them turned back to him, Navarro not halting his speech the entire time.

"...and we all know that you do only have the best interests of your people in mind," he said in that simpering voice that I'd heard so much of in the Throne Room.

His round face was just as plump as always, the woefully unflattering black wig he always wore firmly in place.

"Yes," Eli agreed, gesturing broadly. He always did, even if he didn't have room for his arms to extend that far. I'd seen more than one person dodging those large hands. "We know that you will do exactly what is in the best interest of the phoenixes as a whole," he agreed. He continued on in a feigned delicate voice that immediately grated on my nerves. "Of course, our flocks combined hold a good portion of the wealth that we have as a kingdom. We are certain you'll keep that in mind as well," he added.

The implication was clear. They expected special treatment and were willing to flaunt their wealth to incentivize—or threaten, depending how you looked at it—him to give them that treatment.

How...sadly expected.

Sven's eyes narrowed.

"We are sure you know that we...had the previous king's ear," Cates rushed to interject, shooting Eli a quelling glance as she tried to smooth things over. "We also know you did not see eye-to-eye with...him." I almost wished she'd just say Emberich's name. It felt more glaring that she was trying to refer to him without using it. Like she'd be drawing more attention to the fact that they were close to and worked with the king that Sven helped overthrow. "Rest assured, all of us only want what is best for the phoenixes' future." She spread her hands apart in a much smaller gesture. "We are practical. We know we must work with whichever king is on the throne. I am sure you understand that."

Practical, huh? I couldn't argue with that. I couldn't say the same for the rest of the bullshit she just spewed. If there was one thing I knew for sure about this group, it was that they had one priority.

Themselves.

They'd easily stab even each other in the back if needed.

"Hmmm," Sven replied.

I'd come to a stop a few feet behind their chairs, clasping my hands behind my back as I listened to the case they continued to make. It was an odd combination of flattery and subtle threats.

Interesting.

They thought they had enough of an upper hand to be able to manipulate Sven at least partly with threats in order to get what they wanted.

They never used that particular tactic with Emberich. Of course, Emberich had cemented his power, or so we'd thought. I suppose it wasn't as stable as we'd thought.

Sven continued to make noises and nod, his eyes on his desk as he shuffled through papers while they spoke, but he was clearly listening. How much of this poison was going to seep into him? I had the urge to muzzle the lot of them. But they weren't the problem if he was influenced. I sank into my own head, considering the ramifications of this meeting. And whether I needed to change tactics as well.

The ones they were using weren't ones I could stomach, which was why I'd never used them. But if they worked, did I owe it to my people and the other flocks to use whatever tools I had to accomplish what I needed to? For their sake? For all of our sake?

"Adara?"

I jerked my eyes up from where they had settled on the back of Navarro's purchased head of thick hair.

"Yes?" I asked, meeting Sven's eyes.

What did I miss?

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said with a slight smile.

It was clear I had drifted off. I tried to fight off the blush, but knew I wasn't successful when his smile widened a touch.

"Uh—it's quite all right," I said after a brief pause. I'm sure I was making an excellent impression.

"Can I ask you a question, Adara?" he asked, a subtle glimmer of mirth in his eyes. It put me little on edge. What was he going to ask? And was he laughing at me?

"Yes, of course," I agreed a little warily.

"Do you have a rough estimate of how much of the communal wealth was shared with the flocks of these fine subjects?" he asked in a steady voice.

I glanced over at the group. All of their shoulders had stiffened, as they turned to stare at Sven.

And then they glanced at me, one by one, their eyes narrowing. Their attention didn't bother me.

The question actually centered me. I knew the subject all too well.

"About seventy percent of the excess in taxes was funneled to their flocks," I said in a clear voice, meeting each of their eyes in turn. If they thought a little glaring would be enough to back me down, they should have been paying more attention.

"This is ridiculous. My king—" Eli interrupted in exasperation.

Sven held up his hand, demanding silence.

Eli sputtered to stop at his glare. I could almost see him recalibrating his approach. In the silence, Sven took his time looking them all over. I looked at them too, with a clear eye.

Their garments were made of the finest cloth, embroidered with precious metals and crystals. Every single one of them was adorned in some kind of expensive jewelry or timepieces. Even the shoes on their feet were embroidered with expensive gems. Even apart from the finery they wore, their bodies told their stories. They were all plump, most of them carrying some excess weight around their middles. Their hands were baby soft as well. Heaven forbid any of them did any actual work with them. Even their hair was frozen into the latest styles, smoothed just so.

Money could buy you a lot. And they were stupid enough to display everything they'd gotten with it.

"I see," Sven finally stated, raising an eyebrow as he met all of their eyes.

"Well, now, you must at least give us a chance to defend ourselves—" Cates demanded in that imperious way she had.

But Sven wasn't having it. He got to his feet, the abrupt movement enough to silence her.

"Thank you all for coming," he said firmly. "I have more meetings to take today. I'm certain you understand." There was a hint of mockery in that almost word for word repetition of what Cates said earlier. "If you will please see yourselves out?"

I heard Eli's mouth snap shut with a click.

Morrison and Jayna, the other two chieftains there, didn't say anything, as they hadn't said anything the entire meeting. I'm sure because they didn't want to stick their feet into their mouths if things didn't go well.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Eli agreed through gritted teeth as they all rose and turned to leave with an indignant rustle of their clothes. "We do hope that you will consider all that you have learned today when making future decisions," he added with a direct stare. Just didn't know when to stop, that one.

I stepped to the side as they filed past. Cates and Eli made sure to meet my eyes with their own angry ones. I met them easily. In them was a promise of retribution, something I found ridiculous. Ridiculous and stupid.

Sven could have found out the facts simply by going through the records he had access to as king. Besides that, what could they do to me that hadn't already been done? Didn't they see what terrible straights we were in?

I met them glare for glare. I wasn't afraid of them, and maybe that was stupid, but I was worried about too many other things that were much more important than an imagined vendetta against me.

No, I wasn't concerned with them. I was more interested in how Sven had reacted. He didn't accept what they said at face value. He didn't bend at their flattery or their threats. Or...maybe I was reading too much into that one question. But it would have been prudent of him to play along with these particular chieftains.

Yes, they were despicable as people, but they weren't lying about how much power they had. And it wasn't by accident. They'd spent many years amassing that power, both through building their wealth (sometimes through questionable avenues) and through political means. Yes, that power took a hit with Emberich's demise, but even with him gone, they still had strings they could pull. Most who had been in bed with him were still alive, even if he wasn't. If Sven was just thinking politically, he would have done well to remember that.

"Now that the stink of perfume and entitlement are out of here, we can get down to business," Sven drawled as soon as the doors clicked shut behind the group.

I whipped my head around to look at him, knowing immediately I'd given my surprise at his words away. Wide eyes and a half-open mouth would do that. But I didn't blame myself. It was one thing to beat around the bush, take part in subtle political manipulation. But to say something so clearly disparaging about them when they could well have overheard...

Yes, I was surprised. It wasn't as though I was part of Sven's closely knit group. If he said it in front of me, he wasn't trying to keep it a secret.

And wasn't that interesting.

"Now," Sven continued, smiling at me, warmth reaching his eyes much more easily now.

Transforming his face.

I was struck all of a sudden by how handsome he looked with that genuine smile. The thought immediately made me take a big mental step back. Stupid. How handsome he was or wasn't didn't matter. Not at all.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Adara?"

I stared into those intelligent, focused eyes. And lost my train of thought.

Damn.