While the next person pleads their case, my eyes wander to the specter who has sat in the back of the chambers all day, barely moving, his presence putting me on edge as I wait for him to make a move. While most wouldn’t see him due to the light bending around him, the focused and sustained current of aether pooling in one place makes him light up like a beacon in the night to my trained eyes. And once I notice the massive gathering of magic, it’s easy for me to peer through it at the person standing within its blaze.

It’s been two weeks since the three ambassadors arrived in Thayaria. By all accounts, they’ve been kept busy by my advisors. And relegating the Thayarian ambassadors to the Council has also kept the advisors busy, giving me more time to search for the mole’s identity. So far, I’ve had no luck, but I’m not giving up. I’ll find that mole, even without Nemesia’s help.

The specter stretches his arms above his head, bored by the daily workings of my kingdom. Interestingly, it’s not the Shining Prince, or at least I don’t think it is. The massive male who stands there has bronze eyes and blonde hair, and descriptions of Prince Hawthorne mention the olive, mossy green eyes that match his father’s. This must be one of the courtiers the Prince brought with him—Fionn, if I remember the name correctly. I’m reluctantly impressed with Prince Hawthorne’s ability to not only light bend around someone other than himself—from another room, no less—but to sustain it for this long. Rumors of his power appear to be true.

The jolt of energy that surged back through me as the Velmaran group entered Thayaria crosses my mind for the hundredth time this week. I don’t often part the mist for those entering Thayaria, and I’ve never done it for outsiders, but I’ve never felt anything like that. It was as if the magic that makes up the mist was excited but also settled and content. I could swear it had whispered to me, words that I don’t want to examine too closely.

Admon coughs, drawing my attention back to the petitioner in front of me. This time it’s a burly human, stocky, and covered in tattoos. Humans are welcome to attend, and I have several human advisors, but they aren’t frequent visitors of these particular court days. Because they often have very different issues than the fae, and because despite all of our efforts, humans and fae have a strained relationship at times, we offer separate court days for humans.