2408, Iclis 17, Daleth

Her letters remain unanswered. So much so April thought there was no one at the other end. Was the Imperial Palace that indisposed?

The corridors blurred in her periphery in a familiar haze, her footsteps firm and filled with purpose. Her jaw hurt from clenching it too hard. A faint lash of pain throbbed on her back, somewhere in the wing region. She paid it no mind and continued walking.

Several Advisers passed her by on her way to the meeting hall. Her agenda for this current meeting was thick at the end of her lips. If she couldn't get the High Queen's approval first, perhaps, using the Falkirtan Court would guarantee her mother's consideration, at the least.

The hall's door crept closer as April rounded the bend. Unlike last time, there wasn't anyone gossiping about her on the consequent corridor. In fact, it was quiet. From the way the Advisers' footsteps shuffled against the floor, the way they yanked the doors open, and the way they filed inside, there wasn't anything off.

Which was a signal that something was wrong, in itself.

April shook her head. Maybe it was just the pre-meeting jitters getting in the way. She's all paranoid and suspicious of everything. Perhaps it was just how Advisers normally go to work without any prior motives in mind. Perhaps, today would go well as she hoped.

She ducked inside the hall after Adviser Pernice, the latter's mousse brown hair was for once let loose. It swayed behind the Adviser's head and down her back, almost rivaling April's. Even so, April could see where the Adviser's locks were braided almost every day based on the wavy creases it left.

When April got to her seat, all the other Advisers had dropped into theirs. In silence, like all the other mornings they beat Elami to the table, they waited. After a while, the doors to the other end of the room—the one leading to the Potentate's office—snapped open and Elami strode through, a passive frown on her flat face.

The rest of the council stood up in reverence, ducking their heads as Elami strode past them on her way to her seat. April stayed seated, given her position as the High Queen's heir, and instead studied Elami's gait. Apart from the self-assured stance the Potentate had only perfected over the years, she had nothing going for her. According to rumors, Elami was once a product of the Caizu's patriarch's hidden affair and had only come to power because no other Caizu was of age when the patriarch keeled over. Elami didn't seem to subscribe to this version of events of her rising to prominence but she did nothing to correct it either. So...it might be true.

And that made her more dangerous.

Because unlike April who had secured her place by being the direct child of her mother, Elami's ascension to office proved to be studded with thorns every step of the way. Seeing as how Elami had stayed in power throughout the years proved the woman was determined in keeping it that way. And determined sprites were the most prepared to do anything to get what they want, no matter how cutthroat their methods were.

That's why if there was anyone who ordered someone to spy on April, it could only be Elami Caizu, herself.

The Potentate reached her seat and settled in it, giving April a brief nod. She could take offense in April refusing to stand up whenever she entered the room but she was wise enough to hide it. Showing her true colors wouldn't do her any good now that April has had her suspicions.

"Shall we start today's meeting?" Elami said, her tone a question but her words implying it was what's going to happen anyway. "What's our first agenda?"

April raised a hand before another Adviser could beat her to it like the other times she tried to interject her main objective for even bothering to attend these pointless things. "What is Falkirta going to do about the murders rampaging in Lantegos?" she said. "By recent news, it seemed like a Seelie Court adviser had been the next victim. Are we sure we can still ignore it?"

Elami cleared her throat loud enough to sound grating in April's ears. After all, they were sitting beside each other. "I still think whatever happens in Lanteglos doesn't concern us," she said. "I'm sure the High Queen knows what she's doing about these murders."

"Yes, because she's the one causing them," April blurted. A swathe of Advisers to her left stiffened from her seats. "And if we don't do something to stop it, we might be next. I mean, she's using an excellent assassin to get these people. She already killed one of her Advisers. What's to stop her from doing it to us?"

Whispers thickened in the air. Elami's face was unreadable. April had driven her pike into their comfortable bubble now. She leaned forward, planting her elbows against the table's rim, letting the wooden edge dig against her skin. "How about we open a channel to the Imperial Palace in the Potentate's name?" she said. "That should send enough signal to the High Queen that even the ones in the Floating City are concerned about her behavior. Because, in all seriousness, this has to stop. It wasn't how a High Queen should act."

"And you somehow know how?" an adviser with a hook nose and a piercing glare asked. April didn't care enough to even try and recall his name. "You, the one who embarrassed herself in front of the Helinfirthian delegates because of a soiled dress? I think not."

"That was a long time ago, witch," April seethed. Why were they always bringing that up whenever April made a valid point? It seemed like they really didn't want to listen to her, for some reason. Was it because of her temper? Or because of the mistake she did and the chip she made on her reputation that wouldn't grow back soon? "I've learned a lot since then. You can't fault a person for not knowing any better as a child, can you?"

But the truth was, they could. They have been doing the very thing since April was old enough to participate in court meetings without getting lost. And April was at the end of her wits on her quest to redeem herself.

"As it is, we will continue to observe the assassin's movements with our own spies," Adviser Ardan said in a tone that implied he thought he owned the place and the rest of the council. Beside April, Elami was bobbing her head in agreement.

If anything, April could assume those two had something going on between them other than being work buddies. Because, how in Pidmena's name did a nobody like Ardan rise to the favorable side of the court that whatever he said gets followed?

"No one is to reach out to the Imperial Palace regarding the assassinations in the Council's name or in someone else's," Ardan continued. He might have not mentioned April's non-existent office and her apparent influence and title, but it was implied enough. "The High Queen has enough on her plate already. Lanteglos is hers to handle. Falkirta is ours."

Another adviser perked up. "How about the next agenda to be the next importation of jasclume ores?"

After hearing that, April pushed her chair away from the table in a scathing grit and walked out of the room without saying anything. She had said everything she could and got nowhere. Now, all she could keep trying on was reaching her mother, wherever she was.

The hallways and the decorations crowding in them herded April back to her rooms. None of her maids were inside when she pushed her door open. Huh. Maybe they're out doing whatever maids do in the hours they didn't expect April to come back.

She rolled her shoulders and strode to the adjacent room where her writing table was. Grabbing a fresh parchment and a quill, she began writing once more. Something fluttered behind her, the sound small yet audible amid the silence reigning in her room. Her shoulders tensed, her wings perking at the sudden disturbance. Then, the realization sunk in.

She wasn't alone. Not anymore.

Someone slid into her room when she entered. And now, they're inside. If this was the black-winged sprite...

The fact that she didn't know anything about her enemy glared at the back of her mind now. Why, oh why, in Nira's bottoms didn't April think to look into the person who might be planning to harm her? Her eyes landed on the half-formed first paragraph she had written on the parchment that was supposed to be her letter. She felt her gut churn.

That's right. She was absorbed in getting the High Queen's attention, to prove to the court who didn't believe in her she had a more powerful ally somewhere below them. Not only did she get ignored, she had succeeded in arousing the ire of the court.

That was, if whoever they sent into her room was indeed acting under their orders or was just following their own. Whatever the case, April had to get out of here.

Her magic flared to the surface in response to her call. Her wings spread, its large span almost touching the wall to her left. Then, she whirled.

What met her was a swinging fist aimed at her face. Bone hit bone. April's world plunged into darkness.