Dex sat at the head of the war room table where Tiberon usually sat.

Fin walked the length of the room without rushing, and took the seat at the opposite head of the table so thirty feet was between them.

Aegon: He’s at the other head of the table. Two heads.

Dex: I am aware of the geometry.

Neither man acknowledged the distance. Neither man moved to close it.

A cadet entered with water. Took one look at the seating arrangement. Set the pitcher in the exact geographic center of the table. Left without asking questions.

The water pitcher sat in the middle. Untouched. Neither man was going to be the first to get up and cross fifteen feet to the center of the table for a glass of water. Both men were thirsty and would remain thirsty.

Two apex Alphas, two heads of two kingdoms, holding what was about to be the most important conversation of the week from opposite ends of a table built to seat twenty war generals.

"You wanted a word. You have it."

Aegon: You broke the silence first.

Dex: This is my war room. I speak when I want to.

Aegon: Shadowclaw 1. Drakenfell 0.

"Yeah," Fin began. "Every time Maelor channels Fae magic into Serena, she hears whispers calling him a traitor. She wants more data before flagging it. I don’t. I’m assuming you operate similarly."

The words landed and Dex kept his expression neutral. The fact Serena confided in Fin about that and not him made his insides churn.

"Maelor audited Shadowclaw wards at his insistence," Fin continued. "I had Aeron re-audit after. The wards had new gaps that weren’t there before. Every single one of them left Serena exposed after dark. My gut says there’s something off with yours."

Aegon: He said "your ward situation" like it is our problem.

Dex: It is our problem.

Dex’s jaw worked once. Then twice. He did not speak for three full seconds because the first three words he wanted to say would have ended the meeting.

"Why are you telling me this? The situation puts Serena in Shadowclaw."

Fin considered those words for a moment. "It does. But Serena’s safety is my number one concern. I find it odd that your wards only work during the day. If the situation were reversed, I would want to know."

Dex really didn’t want to like this guy. In fact, he wanted to fucking hate him. That would be easy. He could keep his anger focused on a target that deserved it.

He could not, however, find a legitimate reason. The man had shown up, delivered information he did not have to share, flagged a risk that benefited no one except Serena, and had done all of it from thirty feet away without raising his voice.

He leaned forward at the table. "I will get that looked into. Anything with Nightspire is a gamble. History or not with Serena’s mother."

Fin exhaled. "She will not be going to Nightspire under any circumstances."

"We agree."

"We do."

Both men winced, the matebond delivering a clean punch of phantom pain from Serena.

✦✦✦

Two Alphas moved through the corridors of the castle. They turned the corner into Hyran’s corridor, and a heated argument hit them before they saw it. They turned another corner.

Maelor and Hyran, mid-discussion, fell silent the second they looked up.

"She’s warming up in my study," Hyran said, tipping his chin toward the door.

Aegon: That was odd.

Dex: Agreed. I will be speaking with him.

Dex pushed the door open.

"You just flinched so hard I felt it from over here." Hale’s arms were crossed.

"Hale, channeling it without anything fabricated is a lot more difficult."

Hale let out a laugh. "I’ve seen you light yourself on literal fire, Serena."

"Fine. Bring Agnes here and we’ll see if I can do it again."

"You know, Serena," Gavriel said, far too casually, "we all have the same mark as you."

"Gav. The mark is a five on the pain scale compared to this. This is a twelve out of ten and rewrote my definition of pain."

"That is the most dramatic thing I’ve ever heard you say, Frostborne. And I saw you break a matebond."

After saying this, Gav turned to see two predator Alphas staring daggers into him.

Serena held up her hand, channeling flame, not wincing, controlling it in three pulses, each one punching through a target dead center.

Dex grunted, and Fin bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming.

Aegon: LET. ME. OUT.

Dex: No. Go to sleep.

Aegon: YOUR BETA IS WRONG.

Serena turned her head, clocked Fin and Dex standing there, and her stomach dropped through the floor.

Maelor entered with Hyran before she could ask.

"You have deep bags under your eyes," Maelor snapped. "Deep ones. Assuming sleep deprivation."

"It was a cosmetic choice," Serena said, voice calm. "And lovely to see you as well Maelor."

Maelor stared at her for a long moment. "I see what you are doing."

"What am I doing."

"You are attempting to distract me. It will not work."

"I wasn’t attempting anything."

"You were. And you are not naturally funny. Stop trying. It does not suit a woman of your station."

"Noted."

"Stop noting."

"Un-noted."

"Every time I see you, you are in that abomination of a training suit. The entire point of Halloween, Frostborne, is that a woman can dress like a slut and no one is permitted to say anything because there are ears involved. Put on the ears or change clothes. Pick a lane."

Elara gave Serena a look that said, I fully agree with him.

Serena shot her a look right back that said, Fuck off. You are wearing a training suit too.

Across the room, Dex and Fin were having a rare non-verbal communication moment.

Dex’s expression, cut to Fin, said: He talks to her like that?

Fin met it without moving: Every day. It gets worse. Brace yourself.

Hyran turned to both of them without preamble.

"Conditions." He held up three fingers. "Silence. Distance. No touching her. Whatever happens, whatever you feel, whatever she looks like. You stay where you are." His attention settled on Fin. Pointed. "Shadowclaw. That last one is primarily for you."

Fin’s nostrils flared.

Pink magic spun out from Serena’s hands, fabricating a fresh blade for Hale and Gav.

The crown vibrated onto her head two heartbeats later.

"Charming." Maelor’s tone was dry enough to start a fire. "The crown is out again. How festive."

"It happens."

"It happens often enough that I have a standardized speech prepared."

"You don’t need to give it."

"I’m giving it anyway," Maelor announced. "Let us speak plainly, for once in this godforsaken session THAT crown is a death sentence if seen by Fae."

He clapped his hands once. "Slaughtered." Clap. "Death sentence." Clap. "And you don’t seem alarmed in the slightest."

Dex opened his mouth. Closed it. Hyran pinched the bridge of his nose.

Serena’s lips twitched. "Thank you for the concern, Maelor. I’ll take that into consideration."

"It’s not concern," he corrected.

"Thank you for your lack of concern, Maelor."

As she said this, the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees in two seconds. She dropped to one knee.

"Don’t touch her," Hyran ordered. "Let her correct it. You are doing her no favors."

Fin and Dex both locked up at the exact same time, a synchronized reaction that Hale and Elara pretended not to notice.

Gav’s head snapped to the left towards nothing, then back at Serena.

"Fuck. Serena...is that..."

He stopped mid-sentence at her warning look.

She pushed herself back to her feet. "I don’t know how to stop that."

"No shit," Hyran said flatly.

"You alright, Maelor?" Serena said casually, glancing in his direction.

All the color drained from Maelor’s face.

"You do have some brass ones on you after all, Frostborne. Don’t be coy with me, girl. Go again."

Across the room, Hyran Thornfell went very still.