SWNOVELS Chapter 412
Chapter 412
Lanie
I tried not to be insulted by the way they were ignoring me. An Ancient and a
Celestial certainly didn't have to consult me on anything, even if I did have
blessings from the Moon Goddess. Even so, I was her mother, and Stella had
asked me to come along.
This back and forth between her and Malachi was leaving me in the dark. I
waved a hand at them, trying
to catch their attention.
They finally both looked at me. Stella's gaze was calm, but my grandfather
looked cold and distant...and very, very much like an Ancient vampire. I focused
on my child.
“What's Malachi doing?” I asked her.
Stella sighed and looked at him. He gave her a familiar flick with his fingers for
permission. She cleared
her throat.
“The leadership councit is a farce. Brightsky is supposedly built up on the
concept of equality, inclusion, and democracy, but the truth is-"
“I'm the only one in charge,” Malachi cut in. He stood abruptly. “It's all me. Oh, I
pretend to give the council a say in anything that has to do with running this
enclave, because everyone likes to think they have input. But
in the end, I'm the only one with any real power.”
“They all turn to you for advice, and you allow them to believe you take their
concerns and desires into consideration, when in fact you cast a veil over their
minds any time they try to balk you.” Stella frowned and
shook her finger at him. “That's quite rude, you know.”
Malachi rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair.
He still looked tense but was relaxing at least a little bit. “It's impossible for an
Ancient to be rude, Stella
We do what we know must be done. This enclave cannot run under according to
the desires and whimsies of group. We'd be overrun by our enemies within days
if I didn’t keep a tight control over everything that goes on
inside these walls. It's exhausting.”
I shook my head, digesting everything I'd just heard.
“I knew you were arrogant, but this is..."
“Please, don't tell me it's shocking,” he said. “You can't possibly be truly
stunned.”
“I'm disappointed,” I admitted. “You made such a big deal about how Brightsky is
this wonderful place
where all kinds can mingle and have a say in what happens. After what we had to
deal with from the wolf High
Council, it felt so much better to be in a place like this.”
1/2
He shrugged. “To you and everyone else who suffered injustice on the outside.
What nobody seems to understand or at least wants to see is that the old saying
is true: too many cooks do indeed spoil the broth.”
“Brightsky isn't a pot of soup!”
000 ooo oo
His lip curled. “No, but it is a cauldron, bubbling full of ingredients. Too much of
this, not enough of that, a pinch here or there of something unexpected...salt can
ruin a meal with having too much or not enough of it, and any community is the
same. Everyone might think they want an equal say in how things run, but in the
end, what they truly want is only to feel as though they were heard. So long as
they have that, nothing else
matters.”
“He's right. As long as the community is happy, it can succeed,” Stella murmured.
She put her hand over mine, which had clenched into a fist on my knee.
“And the residents of Brightsky are happy, Mother. It runs smoothly.”
“Like an oiled set of gears,” Malachi put in proudly.
“At the end of the day, that is the goal,” Stella explained.
“So, what's the problem then?” Malachi asked with an edge of both irritation and
relief in his tone. “Are you planning on pulling away the curtain to review the big,
bad wizard behind it? Should I prepare myself for the coronation when I take my
crown as king?”
Sarcasm dripped from his tone so thickly I could almost see it.
“You could give her the respect she'd due,” I told him.
“Hear her out. I realize how hard it must be for you to give anyone that
consideration.”
The bright tinkle of Stella's laughter t winkled through the entire room, bright as
the stars she'd been named for. That brightness filled me and made me want to
laugh, too. She turned her glowing smile toward Malachi, and slowly, to my
surprise, he smiled in return.
“Even when I can tell you're using the powers of the Flora, I still find myself
succumbing to it. Flower
nym phs,” he said to me. “You wou
have heard of them. Known for their incessantly cheerful natures.
They can intoxicate you with joy.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing,” I told him.
“Forgive me, Mother. I thought it would help with what I have to tell you next.
Give a sort of buffer,”
Stella said.
Silence fell as we waited for her to speak.
“The wolf High Council has found a way to exploit Brightsky’s weakness.”
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