The Neverseen's Last Resort

48

Dex

"We've gathered the ogres, goblins, dwarves, gnomes, and some trolls, too." Oralie cleared her throat, smoothing her frilly, pink dress. It was frillier than usual, Dex noted. And much too obvious that she was hoping to impress the council. It wasn't working. Frills and baggy eyes always clashed-- he'd heard Biana mention it once. And of course Oralie was tired. After being kicked from her tower, she'd slept-- actually, Dex didn't know where she'd been sleeping. But he knew Oralie hated it, almost as much as she hated Councillor Alina. 

Dex glared at Alina, though she didn't seem to notice. She was too busy, it seemed, filing her nails. Dex was sure Bronte was regretting the council's decision now. They'd obviously fired the wrong person. 

"--and the Lost Cities will be ready for war, soon." 

"Are we seriously going through with this?" Alina grumbled, and half the council nodded their agreement. The only exceptions were Councillors Bronte, Liora, and Terik. 

"Yes," Marella snarled. "Your plans always fail, whether you want to admit it or not." 

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

"But Fitz isn't going to be involved, right?" Alden asked, his eyes wide with paranoia. 

"Not unless you give him consent," Councillor Emery assured him, and Alden eased back into his chair. Della wrapped an arm around her husband's wrist, giving it a comforting squeeze. Today, they'd decided to have their meeting at Havenfield, Edaline kindly hosting it. It seemed she'd decided not to go down another dark hole of despair as she'd done for Jolie. 

This time, she was determined only to get Sophie back, while Grady was an entirely different story. He'd been hiding out in his room for days now, not even coming out for food. Edaline happily supplied for him, though. 

"That's not fair!" Fitz protested, and Dex flinched at the volume sounding so close. Oh. It was because Fitz was so close. He was ranting again, pacing around the room in a rage. And the scream had sounded right as he'd reached Dex's spot on the sofa. "I should be allowed to fight! Get revenge for Biana!"

"We understand, Fitz," Alden said. "But let the council get your revenge. Right now, we want you safe." 

Fitz scoffed. "You're starting to sound like Grady and Edaline." 

Edaline flinched, but quickly masked the pain with a smile as she set a tray of mallowmelt down on the table. "Anyone hungry?" No one answered, distracted by the drama going down in the living room. Sighing, Edaline snapped the mallowmelt onto the center table standing in the middle of the meeting. 

"Thanks, Edaline," Dex said, taking a mallowmelt slice in hopes of making her feel a little better. 

"Revenge is only revenge when it comes from the victim!" Fitz roared. 

"Then it should come from Biana," Della said, expression neutral. "When she wakes up." 

"Even when she wakes up, her mind is broken!" The fighting went on for what could've been ages. The Vacker parents would calmly address Fitz with reasonable explanations, while Fitz would retort with reasons he should be in charge of his own health. 

A door slamming silenced the room, and everyone turned to see Elwin, who'd been checking up on Biana, bursting into the room. 

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the update. "She's awake." 

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While everyone had wanted to check on her, Fitz not included, the Vacker parents thought it best to limit the number of visitors. To Dex's relief, Fitz hadn't been ready to see his sister yet. And it made sense. When Dex had offered to take Fitz's place, he'd expected to feel relieved that she was awake. And he was. But it hurt so much more to see her in that state. Constantly talking gibberish to herself, eyes glazed over, and seeming to not be able to understand anything that was going on.