Erebus sighs. “As Briana has just pointed out, these two ‘problems’ are one and the same.” Aldrich glares at Erebus, but Erebus merely shrugs. “I am not wrong.”

“The decision remains,” Aldrich replies.

“There is no decision,” Gabriel says. “Tacitus, take her memories, then let Erebus have her.”

I say a silent prayer that my natural resistance holds against a fresh mesmer from a Master Merlin like Tacitus. With the serum in my veins… there’s no telling.

Tacitus grins. “I do like it when they stumble on the truth.”

“Really?” Serren asks without taking his eyes from me. “Why is that?”

Tacitus stands and is at my side in a blink. “Much more satisfying when I take it away.”

His tight grip on my arm dampens some of the righteous fire inside my chest. I have to resist him. If I can’t, then I’m lost.

“She leaves us no choice.” Gabriel stands with a long sigh, buttoning his jacket. “It will be quite a lot of mesmerwork, Tacitus, but this girl has taken too much of our time. I, too, grow tired of the ceremony, and we have a dinner reservation.”

“Agreed,” Aldrich says, rapping his knuckles on the table. “Tacitus will clean things up here, and then Briana will be held at the Institute under Cestra’s and Erebus’s watch. We are adjourned.”

My jaw drops. “That’s all you’re going to say to me?”

“What more is there to say, Briana?” Aldrich asks with a heavy sigh. “We must act in the Order’s best interest, and as it is, if you are not in agreement with our decisions, you’ll only create unnecessary strife.”

Insult and indignation strike through me like lightning, and my anger roars back to life. “Is this how you treat the Scion of Arthur, Lord Regent?”

“You may have the king’s blood”—Aldrich finds my gaze and holds it—“but you are not a Scion. You are… a camgymeriad. A mistake.”

My lips part. Tears press at the back of my eyes, but I will not let them fall. I will not. I grasp for words, but they will not come. For vengeance, but I don’t know how to take it. I almost wish for Arthur, burning for war. But they have stripped me of everything I could use to fight them.

My eyes follow the others. One by one, they prepare to file out of the room. As if everything had already been decided and my outburst was nothing to consider.

Of course it wasn’t.

They have a dinner reservation.

The words leave my mouth before I can think better of them. “Regent Aldrich!” I call. He pauses at the door to look at me. I let the grin spread slow across my face. “Not here. Not today. But somewhere. Someday.”