Chapter 17: The Price Of Land

POV: GUINE

They tried to take my land with laws and polite words. I answered them with the only language they truly understood, refusal.

Lord Roderick Thornfield stepped forward to the center of the council floor, his posture oozing practiced concern. He bowed smoothly to the five high elders, adjusting the heavy velvet collar of his cloak before pointing a gloved finger directly toward me.

"Elders of the High Council," Roderick began, his voice projecting across the grand stone amphitheater with dramatic flair. "We stand on the precipice of a crisis. Reports of an unknown, dark affliction in the northern valley grow by the day. And where does this threat cluster? Around the walls of Eclipse Hollow, an estate that has sat dormant, neglected, and exposed for decades, now claimed by a packless, inexperienced woman who lacks the garrison strength to maintain a proper quarantine."

He paused, letting his words hang heavy in the quiet room. "For the safety of our shared borders, I petition this council to temporarily place the Ravenshade lands under the protective administration of my house until order can be restored."

While his spoken words dripped with selfless concern for public safety, I focused my mind on his surface thoughts. Away from Kael's mental silence, Roderick's mind was an open book, loud and dripping with unvarnished greed.

(The old silver veins beneath her eastern ridge will clear my debts in three months, Roderick was thinking, his heart beating fast with anticipation. Once the elders grant me administration, I will strip the estate's timber, seize her granaries, and ensure she never sets foot on high-society land again.)

I didn't wait for the chief elder to grant me permission to speak.

I stepped forward into the ring, my dark velvet cloak sweeping against the flagstones. With a smooth, calm motion, I unrolled a heavy leather cylinder and laid the original, gold-embossed Ravenshade deeds directly onto the central council table.

The heavy thud of the parchment echoed off the stone walls.

"Lord Roderick speaks of safety, yet his own loggers have illegally crossed forty yards past my southern boundary marker for three consecutive years," I said, my voice ringing clear, cold, and absolute through the chamber. "He speaks of my estate being exposed, yet my granaries are fortified, my cellars are sealed, and my estate hands are currently arming the outer stone ramparts. Eclipse Hollow is not neglected, My Lords. It is sovereign."

I turned my sharp gaze toward the five elders, watching several of them shift uncomfortably on their marble thrones as they looked at the pristine, ancient imperial seals on my deeds.

"Under old imperial law," I continued, "an ancestral seat cannot be placed under forced administration unless the heir is proven mentally incompetent or the borders have breached defense. My borders remain firm. If Lord Roderick is so concerned about public safety, perhaps he should explain why his private guards were spotted clearing timber near the infected northern thickets three nights ago."

A low murmur rippled across the observation benches. Roderick’s face flushed a deep, ugly red, his jaw clenching as he struggled to maintain his composure.

"Alpha Percival," the chief elder called out, turning his gaze toward the high bench to my right. "You share the northern ridge with Eclipse Hollow. What do you call the Wynthrone garrison?"

Alpha Percival stood up slowly. His tall, imposing form cast a long shadow over the stone benches, his dark mantle adding to his formidable presence.

"The strange deaths along the northern boundary are real, Chief Elder," Percival said, his voice deep and echoing like low thunder. He did not look at Roderick, nor did he look at me. "However, Lady Ravenshade has established proper isolation protocols on her land. The Wynthrone garrison does not support Lord Roderick’s petition for land seizure, nor do we see a legal basis for breaking the sovereign imperial charter."

Percival sat back down in total, unyielding silence.

The chief elder exchanged grim looks with his four peers before striking his wooden gavel against the marble armrest. "The petition for temporary administration is denied. Lady Ravenshade retains sovereign control of Eclipse Hollow. This assembly is adjourned."

The quiet rustle of shifting cloaks and murmuring voices filled the hall as the council broke up. I turned to leave, my four mercenary guards falling into step behind me.

Before I reached the double iron doors, a figure stepped smoothly into my path.

Lord Roderick Thornfield stood blocking the doorway, a patronizing smile gracing his lips, a smile that failed to reach his sharp, cold eyes.

"Very impressive performance, Lady Guine," Roderick murmured, leaning in slightly so his voice wouldn't carry to the lingering elders. "You fight with more teeth than your uncle led me to believe. But do not mistake a procedural delay for a victory."

"Move aside, Lord Roderick," I warned, my hand resting lightly on the silver key hanging at my neck.

"You know," Roderick continued smoothly, ignoring my warning, "Morgause has been remarkably helpful over these past few days. She provided our council representatives with quite a bit of... context regarding your recent mental state. Your sudden violent outbursts, your rejection of your mate, your delusional claims of independence. It seems your own family believes you are unraveling."

The betrayal was no longer hidden. Morgause was no longer content to whisper in the shadows of the Draven pack house; she was actively arming my political enemies with tailored lies to strip my sanity in the eyes of the law.

I looked Roderick straight in his dark, greedy eyes, my face an absolute mask of stone. "Morgause Wren is a parasite feeding on a dying house. If you choose to build your legal strategy on her desperate fabrications, Lord Roderick, you will find yourself standing on very thin ice."

I pushed past him, my shoulder brushing his heavy mantle as I led my guards out into the cold mountain air of the outer terrace.

I took three long strides toward my carriage, my boots clicking against the frost-dusted cobblestones.

Behind me, Roderick’s voice followed me, soft, low, and dripping with poisonous malice.

“Enjoy your little estate while you can, Lady Ravenshade. The moon is changing… and so will everything you think you own.”