#Chapter 100: Council Meeting

Olivia POV Iris and I rode back to the palace in a car Elroy sent to the Moonshadow Keep at dawn. Rodin was with us because Iris refused to leave him behind. It would have been different if the beta actually had a passion for cooking or dreams of being a chef, but once Iris told him he’d make an excellent apprentice as an apothecary at the palace, he’d raced to his room to pack. The travel time to the palace was over three hours, but we didn’t speak much. The importance and the danger of what we knew sat with us like a fourth passenger, silent and brooding. I had an unexpectedly scenic view of the palace as we made a turn onto the ground. It was a sprawling edifice, centuries of add-on wings and ever-soaring towers. It should look lumpy and ill-planned. But instead it was elegant and refined, impressive but somehow still a place I realized could one day feel like home. I took in the sight of the water from a half-dozen fountains sparkling in the morning sun, watched a copse o