The quiet in Sasha’s room, heavy and absolute, was shattered by the ringing of Demetri’s phone. He eased his sleeping daughter into Nora’s lap and stood up, moving away from the bed to take the call. It was Ivan.
“The Council,” Demetri said into the receiver, his voice already shifting back into the controlled, crystalline tone of the King. “The meeting is scheduled for 1800. We will proceed.”
He walked back to Nora, whose attention was fully on Sasha, gently stroking the child’s hair. “The Council calls. The internal political cleanup must be swift. They need to hear the narrative directly from me before the news of Artem’s arrest leaks to the press.”
Nora lifted her gaze, the blue of her eyes steady. “Don’t merely inform them, Demetri. Dominate them. They need to understand that the d
