Chander chuckled. “I guess Ellery doesn’t like that idea.”
With a frown, Chrysander pulled his tired body up to a sitting position. “Too bad, I need to be here.” Another headbutt sent him flying to the ground. Chrysander stood and glared at Ellery. “Council session doesn’t matter more than you.”
When Ellery knocked him down again, Chrysander simply stayed on the ground. The Arch Lich was still laughing, and he patted Ellery’s back. “I know your dragon’s harder to control like this, but maybe you should stop abusing your mate.”
Ellery growled low in this throat and stared at Chrysander unflinchingly. With a sigh, Chrysander rested a hand between Ellery’s gold eyes. “You want me to go, don’t you?”
The dragon nodded.
“Are you going to be able to control your dragon for several hours without me?” Chrysander asked as he slowly rose. “I don’t want you throwing yourself onto the ground again.”
The door to the building swung open, and the Grand Warlock emerged. Like Chander, he was dressed in denim, and his face was weary but determined. “What’s up?”
“Ellery wants Chrys to go to Council session,” Chander informed him.
Dra’Kaedan’s tired eyes closed for a moment. When he opened them, he smiled. “We can make the magical dome that protects Court D’Vaire and Court Bera a big cage. Elf, the dark sorcerers can create an impenetrable layer that the rest of us can reinforce. You can fly if you need to but get on the ground if you start to lose control. Stay low if you can.”
Ellery took one giant step and licked the sorcerer’s face, which forced a laugh from Dra’Kaedan. “Okay, that’s gross, but you’re welcome.”
Chrysander wasn’t pleased with the idea of leaving Ellery, but it was for the good of the Council, and his mate wanted him to go. He strode over and laid a kiss on Ellery’s snout. “I need to grab a shower and get changed. Find my brother and all that. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I guess I’ll be sending in absentee ballots if anything important comes up,” Chander said.
“I don’t even know what’s on the schedule. I’ll keep everyone here in the loop. I’ve got a lot of leaders working on different aspects of Ell’s case. I don’t want any race to be left out of anything crucial that needs to be decided.” Chrysander couldn’t even wrap his head around his duties, but it was vital that he find a way to do his job, if for no other reason than to please Ellery.
“Tell Alaric I said hi,” Chander said as Chrysander headed for the house.
Turning back for a moment, Chrysander let out a sigh. “I hate that you’ve barely seen him since Friday.”
Chander’s grin was wry. “We’ll make up for lost time when we can. He has a job to do and so do I.”
With no real idea how to respond, Chrysander nodded and continued his journey into the D’Vaire mansion. His brothers were eating breakfast with the entire family, and he caught them up on current events. Zane’s eyes were still stormy with guilt and self-loathing, which put Chrysander’s back up. He hated what this was doing to all of them, and Zane didn’t deserve a single moment of blame.
“Zane, I want you to stay here and protect Ell. There’s no one else on this planet I trust to guard my mate more than you,” Chrysander stated.
“Perhaps it would be better—”
“Don’t.Don’tyou even fucking dare. You are the Ducblanc. That’s never going to change,” Damian snarled. “You’ve had a couple of days to get your shit together, and I’m sick of seeing the shame in your eyes. I don’t know how else to tell you this isn’t your fault. But I’m too fucked up right now to say it nicely, so here goes. Knock it off. It’s pissing me off. You are my brother. I don’t care about blood or DNA or any of that other shit, and neither does Chrys or Costas. We’re a fucking family. You were doing your job and some fucker undermined us. We’ll find him, her, or them, and they’ll pay. End of fucking story.”
“Thank you, I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Chrysander remarked. “I need a shower. We leave in twenty minutes. I’m sure we can find a sorcerer willing to teleport us.”
With one last glance at Zane, who quietly returned to eating his breakfast while Tiri swept a hand over his cheek, Chrysander shook his head and went to his bathroom to get ready. Zane was going to have to fight his own demons, and Tiri would help him however necessary. The feeling of not being in power was something he was unaccustomed to, and if he had a magic wand, Chrysander would fix the whole situation. Truth be told, he hated every single fucking minute of it.
* * *
The Council session in the Main Assembly Hall had been subdued. Everyone in the Council knew the situation. There was no way to hide that Emperor Ellery was missing, and the press along with everyone else deserved the truth. Chrysander had his brothers contact trusted members of the media directly with information. He wasn’t going to waste time with official information filtered out of his office as releases.
It burned through his gut but the fact was, he couldn’t trust anyone on the floor where they worked now, and his family would never betray him with falsehoods. He could hardly believe that sitting in the new offices they’d so painstakingly redesigned for comfort and efficiency sat the person or people likely responsible for poisoning Ellery. The truth was, Chrysander had to gird his loins to even return to the Office of the Emperor, but it was his sacred duty to get his job done no matter what.
“Are we heading back to D’Vaire?” Damian asked once Chrysander walked into the alcove attached to the Draconis vestibule where he’d presided over the Council.
Chrysander’s jaw clenched, but he forced himself to relax as he considered what he must do. “I thought it might be a good idea to go up to the office. Grab some messages. See if anything else needs my attention. Then we’ll return to D’Vaire.”
Damian informed the dukes he oversaw through his communication device as Costas fell into step behind Chrysander. They made it down the long hallway without any fuss. Chrysander held his head high and didn’t greet the other Council leaders he passed. He wasn’t in the mood for niceties. He marched through the security stations and after several minutes was cruising up to his office in the elevator. The doors opened, and he kept going until he passed into the black-and-white space. It hurt his heart to be alone here and know Ellery was in no condition to sit behind his own desk.
“Your Majesty, I didn’t think we’d see you today.” Wesley’s smile was bright, but Chrysander didn’t return it. He couldn’t find any reason to be cheerful, and there wasn’t much of anything he wanted to discuss with the people on the floor who betrayed him.
“I’m only here to grab any messages. I want you to start relaying calls to my cell phone. I’ll be working from D’Vaire for the foreseeable future.”
