Layla was tired. Of the searching, the guards, and most of all the fear that seeped into everything and everyone in her court.

Daemon, Aegean and Alexandrius were working ceaselessly somewhere in the Western Marshes. Spy after spy was sent out—not just those of her Inner Circles, but also the Outers, who were less trusted but equally skilled. Most of those who had been sent out were MindWeavers, WindWhisperers and AnimalSpeakers though two or three shared Daemon's Tracking abilities. All perfectly suited to spy craft and stealth.

But even with the expertise of her spies and the ten long days that had passed since the attack, they were no closer to finding Diaz than they had

been when they started.

In the Crimson Wars, at least she knew her country was behind her and where to strike. This time, they were in the dark. They were the ones rebelled against. They were the ones waiting for their enemy's next move. Their positions were reversed and their own tactics had been against them by a woman who should be dead. The world had been turned upside down.

She hadn't even been able to spare any spies to look into Julian yet; with Diaz's

appearance, everyone simply forgot about him. The few times she'd brought it up

with Myra, she'd been downright dismissive of the threat Julian posed.

So, after ten long days, Layla had come to the training ground on the Thirteenth Isle to work off some of her building frustration.

She entered the arena to find Maia had had much the same idea. A burst of lightning sparked in her hands and she threw it toward her target, leaving a blackened patch in the centre.

No matter how strong and durable the arena was, nothing could last long against Maia's onslaught. She was a powerhouse; the result of two lines of extraordinary magic merged into one. With two city-states under her thumb and a powerful—and wealthy—Animal-Speaker at her side, Maia was a formidable opponent.

The same, she supposed, could be said of all of them. A deadly Lady with a master code-cracker at her side, a spy that could blend into the darkness like he was little more a wisp of shadow himself—not to mention track anyone across half a continent—and a Lord with the ability to break into minds like a thief in the night.

Yet still they were in dark. Yet still Diaz had the advantage. Yet still they were as helpless as newborn lambs when it came to preventing the next attack and however many deaths would result—

Layla let out a furious note and the target Maia had been aiming at was reduced to rubble. Her sister barely stopped the lightning bolt from crashing into the walls, but she managed to dissipate the burst of electricity just in time. Layla continued to Sing. The stone roof trembled. The floors shifted beneath her. Tiredness began to seep into her bones, an unwanted but increasingly familiar sensation.

She never thought she'd miss the deep well of power within her, but the knowledge that her ability was almost limitless had been a comfort. It might have caused a fair bit of catastrophe, but it had altered the course of history—twice. Without realising it, Layla had relished the fact that she was formidable. And now...well, her ability still served her reasonably well when it came to the healing arts, but the more aggressive part of it was weaker. Dimmed. Her Song could destroy, but it was no creature of war. Or at least, the new form of it wasn't.

Oh, Layla was still grateful that it had been weakened. Most times she thanked her lucky stars that at least her ability was normal when nothing else about her would ever be. But sometimes, when exhaustion hit her like a tidal wave, she wished her ability was something more like Maia's.

"Stop picking a fight with the arena and come face me in the ring, Layla." Maia called out, shaking her from her thoughts.

"I prefer to pick fights I can win," Layla replied. "I'm no fool, Maia. I know your ability is stronger than mine. Would you have faced me four years ago?"

"No, and wisely so. But aren't you braver than me?" Layla rolled her eyes and started to walk away. "Come on. You're starving for a fight. I can tell. Come and unleash all that energy and anger at someone who can throw it right back."

"How about I throw you off a cliff?" was Layla's sharp reply.

"Get. In. The. Ring." Maia demanded.

She drew all the energy she was pushing out towards the walls back to herself,

Sung a shield around her body and walked into the ring.

Her sister was fast, just like the lightning she wielded. Several bolts speared right towards Layla. She dodged where she could, preferring not to waste her energy, but some hit her shield with a harsh crack.

When her sister paused, Layla began to Sing again. The floor trembled just as Maia lunged towards her. Her sister slipped. Layla smiled and kept the Song going. She was sweating and fatigued already, but this was her only chance. Spreading her web of magic, she captured a bolt and sent it speeding towards her sister. Maia reached out a hand to reclaim her magic—

"We need to talk. Now." It was Aegean, stalking into the arena. Layla

sighed and let the bolt fizzle away to nothing. Maia got to her feet and exchanged a grin with her sister. Hardly tired. She could have kept going all day. Layla felt a stab of jealousy at the thought, but ignored it.

"What?" Maia asked, smiling at Aegean in the disconcerting and terrifying way she had mastered, which involved baring her teeth and fixing her eyes on him like a hawk watching a mouse.

Lyra save whoever was foolish enough to pick a fight with her sister.

"Cathay say they've received intelligence of a project in Calore," Aegean said carefully. Layla fought back the urge to yawn "Apparently they've discovered a new substance called Firen in the Kalcin mines—right on the northern edge of the Midlands. They've been experimenting and combined it with iron." Layla drew in a sharp breath. Iron in large quantities could prevent elves from drawing on magic; she'd been chained with it in Dorgon and forced to drink a treacle-sweet liquid containing huge quantities of it morning and night.

"And?" Layla asked. "What does it do?"

"They say it doesn't just stop elfin magic—it feeds off it. And, in theory, can drain the magic of the elf in question. Permanently."

"Permanently?" Maia asked. "The shock and the withdrawal of never using magic again could..."

"Kill them, yes." Aegean nodded.

"How on earth didn't we know about this? And why in Elena's name hasn't Nala shut this down already?" Layla demanded.

"Well, we've been busy with Julian and Diaz. And there's a little bit of a dispute about the Kalcin mines, given they're right next to the border between Calore and Lysandria."

"So? They should be shutting them down together if that's the case." Layla snapped. "If Medea had found these..."

"Well, we can all be thankful that she didn't," Aegean smiled. "And um...

err...well...the thing is that Lysandra and Nala aren't entirely ...opposed to these mines."

"Right," Layla smiled sharply. "Well then. How about we pay Lysandra and Nala a visit? Aegean, tell those backstabbing idiots that I will be arriving in Triad in two hours and if they're not there by then I will wipe them off the planet—"

"Yes, there's just one problem with that," Aegean ventured carefully. "We've

also been able to ascertain that Lord Ares knew about Firen before we did. Oh, and he wants to speak with you and the Council of Lords."

"Book me passage to Triad. I'm leaving in an hour," Layla replied. "That's all I'm giving them."

———

"Answer me one question, Lord Ares," Layla said sharply. The others exchanged glances.

"One teensie weensie all-important question." She repeated. " Why, dear Ares, did I hear of your intelligence from my spies rather than from your own lips?"

"Our information is still unconfirmed. I myself only received it a few days ago—"

"And now," Layla continued. "And now, Ares, I get lies instead of the intelligence I should have received months ago."

"Lysandra mode," Maia whispered to Aegean, who had taken the Right Hand's seat behind her.

"Definitely," Aegean whispered. Layla pretended not to notice, mainly because it was true. She'd been studying Lysandra for months now in preparation for a moment just like this.

"Months, Ares," she continued. "Months when such a liability was being manufactured and experimented with. Months when your queen was not told of this threat.

"If we hadn't been occupied with other matters recently, we'd have found out about this earlier. Trust me. And yet, you took advantage of our time of need." Ares gulped. "When exactly were you planning on telling me about the substance being manufactured in the Midlands? When the manufacturers were busy selling it to every human and valkyrie who wanted it? Or maybe, you weren't going to tell me at all. Maybe you were protecting the manufacturers and hoping to buy in bulk."

"No, Your Majesty, I would never betray you and my countrymen in such a way—"

"Really? Because keeping essential information from the queen you are sworn to is pretty traitorous, don't you think?"

"I only meant to—"

"What? Hold the information over my head? Did it occur to you, Ares, what damage a substance like this could do in Diaz's hands?"

"Please, Your Majesty. I made a mistake." Ares said carefully. "I will atone for it as best I can."

"Your Right Hand is dismissed, Ares." Layla said. She couldn't afford to offend him now, but she also couldn't afford rebellion amongst her Lords. If she went easy on Ares, he'd pull something like this all over again.

"Your Right Hand is dimissed and my own trusted servant, Tella, will replace him. Your spies will report to her, you will report to her, and she shall report to me. I assure that you that she is quite capable."

To replace a Lord's Right Hand was well within her rights as queen. However,

to deprive Ares of that simple decision humiliated him in front of the other Lords

and Ladies of the Council. And along with being an accomplished politician, Tella was also a cunning spy. Nothing would escape her.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ares said. He clenched his hands with anger, which she noted carefully. But hopefully he and the others would now think twice about crossing her.

There was a long silence. Finally, the Lady of Wyrendal, one of the Eastern Isles, spoke:

"What exactly is this substance, Your Majesty?" She asked nervously.

"It's a peculiar combination of iron and Firen, which is a new metal mining companies discovered in the Kalcin Mines." Layla began. "It can stifle and even consume an elf's magic, possibly killing them."

The usually emotionless Lords and Ladies of the Council paled. To such powerful elves, their magic was everything. The loss of it would devastate them. Layla had suffered greatly at the partial loss of a magic she'd barely used. For someone like Alexandrius— or worse, Maia—to lose the entirety of their magic when they so relied on it...it was horrific. This whole thing was an abomination.

"Do you have any more to add, Lord Ares?" Layla asked, turning back to the furious Lord.

"You've covered it well, Your Majesty. All I have to add is that the substance is known as Mirael."

Layla clenched her fists with anger. Mirael was Ancient Elfin for goddess-blessed. It was a slap in the face to the elves and their most sacred of languages.

"I will be attending a meeting with the High Council shortly," Layla said. "I will speak to them about this...Mirael, and we will manage the matter accordingly, I assure you."

"I should hope so," the Lord of Raroth interjected. "If this gets out into the world..."

"Even the knowledge that such a thing is possible would be devastating." the Lady of Wyrendal added.

"It's an abomination. The people who made it should be sent to the gallows for it. We must have justice." The Lord of Raroth continued.

"You are our voice, Your Majesty," the Lady of Lizzial added. "We rely on you to represent our interests on the High Council—"

"I am well aware of how important this is. It will be dealt with properly, I promise." The Lords and Ladies were silenced—for the time being. She didn't fail to note that outrage still lined their features, and that a hint of fear soured the air in the council room.

———

"I need to talk to you," Layla said, catching Kestra in the corridors of

the Council Building.

"I figured that's why you ordered us here and threatened to wipe us off the face of the earth if we didn't come immeadietly." Kestra replied, quoting Layla's rather rude letter.

"I wouldn't have been quite so demanding if I hadn't known that teleporters were on hand—"

"For an extortionate fee—" Kestra interrupted.

"But getting back to the subject," Layla cut across, glaring at her. "I wasn't referring to the meeting. I need to talk to you alone."

"What is it?"

"I need your support in this meeting. Nala and Lysandra will almost certainly go against me. I need you and Myra at my back. " The double vote for Miras had first been debated, but given the fact they usually all agreed anyway and needed a tie-breaker when they didn't...

"And Nala and Lysandra agree on this?" Kestra asked sceptically. "They agree on nothing, Layla. What is this meeting even about?"

"Something very, very important. I don't want to demand so much of you, but I need this."

"Is this the moment when you pull in all the times you've helped me out of

trouble?" Kestra asked. "Relax, Layla. I'll do my best to help."

She nodded gratefully to her friend.

"What's going on, Layla?" Kestra pressed. "Lysandra has crossed blades with you before, but if this is so important to you, she won't go against your will."

"It's a controversial matter." Layla replied tightly. "And usually I'd trust them to agree with me, but my spies have told me they don't."

"They know already?" Kestra complained. "Why am I always the last one to know these things?"

"If it makes you feel better Myra didn't know either, as far as I could tell. So we're in agreement?"

"I don't yet know what I'm agreeing to, Layla." Kestra sighed. "But I trust you, so I'll do my best."

"Thank you," Layla said gratefully. Now she just had to sort Myra out.

———

"I suppose you're wondering why I called you here," Layla began.

"Of course we are." Lysandra snapped. "After you demanded we come or 'be wiped off the face of the earth'."

"Lysandra, enough." Nala interrupted. "What is it, Layla?"

"I believe you two are aware of Mirael." The two nodded, though their eyes widened. Layla briefly explained for Myra and Kestra's benefit, both watching with identical calculating stares. Like mother, like daughter.

"They're mining it in Kalcin." Layla finished. "And I've brought you here so we can close off the mines and the labs—and ban Mirael forever." Lysandra went red.

"It's my land, Layla! You cannot so much as lift a finger when it comes to the Kalcin Mines, you hear me?"

"Actually," Nala interrupted. "The Kalcin Mines are near the border but technically my territory." Layla's spirits soared; she might not even need Myra and Kestra to win this. "But that's irrelevant. I agree with Lysandra." And just like that, her spirits sank again. Still, she wasn't giving up yet.

"I claim the right of territory," she declared. "Even though the mines are on your

land. Mirael concerns my people above all others. I'm not letting you sell it."

"You haven't stopped us selling iron," Nala pointed out. "Calore needs the money we could get from Mirael! We don't have the Northern State suplementing us anymore and we're near bankrupt."

"Money?" Layla sputtered. "This isn't about money. This is about people's lives. Losing your magic can be fatal, Nala. And survival...survival is arguably worse."

"Poverty is about people's lives, too, Layla. Starvation is about lives. And don't act as though the loss of magic is so unbearable. Humans spend our whole lives without it."

"On the economic side, I'd like to object to Calore getting full profits—" Lysandra interjected, but Nala silenced her with a glare.

"Mirael would never be used to take away magic, Layla." She reassured. "It would be government-monitored and used for—"

"I couldn't care less, Nala!" She snapped, temper rising. "It is an abomination and a plague and it will be used to torture and murder my people! No. The answer is no."

She knew she sounded like a child, but she didn't care. Surely they had to see reason. "I wouldn't permit its use on anyone, not on Diaz or Medea or—"

"Or Julian Corinth?" Lysandra asked. Layla flinched.

How dare she? How dare she bring up that name? It wasn't for the sake of the argument. It was an under-handed and cruel. Layla and the others on the Council had never—not once—brought up Aaron. They'd never flung any of Lysandra's past in her face. How dare she do it to Layla now?

"Lysandra, that was out of hand," Myra said, the first time she'd spoken. "We don't do that to each other. Layla, calm down and take a deep breath. If we're doing this, then this is how it's going to be," Myra said, taking a deep breath.    '

"The Council will take over the mines and laboratories and produce Mirael exclusively for the army. Because like it or not, people like Julian are still a threat. Elves of every city-state will rebel. And we need to be ready when they do.

"If Julian comes out of hiding tomorrow when his nephew at his side and Velith's armies at their backs, then we're going to need Mirael. It will never be used to take away magic entirely, Layla. Never.

"But change is coming. In the past few centuries, technology have adapated. Iron has become widespread. These things will even the playing field. Our gifts are becoming less and less important. Soon, they will no longer decide history.

"That is the tide. Technology and innovation will become more important than magic and war-gifts. Valkyries and elves either learn to embrace and adapt to it, or we will get swept away."

"And what if someone breaks into wherever you store Mirael? Diaz, perhaps?" Kestra asked, taking Layla's side. "This isn't about new technology. This is about a weapon being abused. The tide is not unchangeable and knowledge of Mirael is still secret. If we act now, we can stop the truth from ever being unearthed."

"So what? A hundred years from now someone else finds it?" Nala asked.

"A hundred years of this not being out in the world is worth it," Layla

returned. "A single day of my people being safe is worth it."

"If we wait, who knows who'll discover this next?" Myra asked. "Someone with far, far worse intentions. This is going to be released at some point Layla. We need to control it, not fight against it."

"You agree with me, though," Layla challenged. "This should be buried forever."

"Perhaps," Myra said, pursing her lips. "But the fact remains that it can't be."

"Maybe the ground should be evened. Maybe elves should finally stop having the advantage over everyone else." Nala said. "Maybe it's a time for an even playing field. When my people aren't disadvantaged because they were born to a different race."

"Stop." Kestra snapped. "Nala, you take that back. Now." Nala stood her ground. "You know what you're beginning to sound like? Diaz. Every single person who is trying to tear this new world down. Because they're jealous. Because of things that happened millenia ago when humans weren't given magic—"

"It's not jealousy." Nala replied. "It's simply a protest against elves and valkyries getting every advantage humans don't. Why should you have everything, and we have only death and suffering and a few short decades to live?"

"That's not our fault," Kestra cried. "It's not our fault that you don't have magic, or war-gifts, or a long lifetime."

"Enough." Myra bellowed. "Listen to yourselves. You're like dogs tearing each other apart. Juliet Diaz and Julian Corinth are on the loose and the world we've sacrificed everything for is tearing itself apart at the seams. The last thing we need right now is everyone here ripping into each other when we're the only thing stopping the Alliance from completely collapsing.

"Listen to yourselves. Nala, you've been my daughter's friend and loyal ally for nine years. Yet now you turn upon her for a crime she had nothing to do with. Lysandra, your concerns are only for profit when lives are at stake. Kestra and Layla, you're ignoring all reasonable argument and fighting a tide that cannot be stopped. And worst of all, you're tearing one another apart. I have a hard enough time dealing with the War Council. I thought you, at least, were civilised people."

Layla hung her head in shame, firmly chastised. Myra was right.

"Now, all in favour of making Mirael solely for army purposes and under the strict control of the Elfin Queen?" Myra asked, raising her own hand. Nala and Lysandra's hands reluctantly followed, and Kestra and Layla's came last, albeit begrudgingly. She hated this whole proposal, but Myra was right. They had more important matters at hand and couldn't afford to fight one another. Not when the rest of the world was against them.

They had built a dreamer's world from the ashes of the broken, imperfect one that Medea had destroyed—but they had rushed its construction and in doing so, made it not a world of steel and strength, but one of fear and dissent.

She and her friends had ruled courts of glass for four years, but now glass courts were stained red with blood.