April Sylkrana slammed her hands on the long table, startling the whole horde of advisers seated with them. "What do you mean you can't find him?" she growled at the Eastern General who just reported that her brother was nowhere to be found east. "He's literally been where you were assigned!"

"M-my lady—"

"April, my dear," the Sovereign interjected, cutting the Eastern General off. "Youth is essentially the absence of patience. Do sit down and we will discuss this further."

"No, I'm done discussing with a bunch of maggots who clearly don't know how to keep an eye on someone who is so easy to track with the Virtakios with him!" April drew up and massaged her temples.

This method usually worked when she was dealing with her useless counselors back at Falkirta. She made grown men cry as part of a fun exercise to get them to follow. She's going to be the next High Queen, for Crintine's sake. She's not going to go soft just because she's working with the Synketros now.

These people were under her just as much as her advisers were in the Floating City. If she's not going to be firm, no one would respect her. No one would surely treat a child her age seriously if she's going to follow what her maids say about being demure.

No. Demure would get her a partner. Demure would not get her a crown.

The Seelie Court maintained its stand regarding April's succession to the Imperial throne. Catch the criminal responsible for the previous High Queen's murder and April would get what she wanted.

Nevrin Sylkrana. Their mother.

April's stomach soured as she turned to the Sovereign who sat at the head of the long table with her chin propped on entwined fingers. A dismayed and annoyed expression painted the leader's face.

Well, let her be annoyed. Without April's help, they wouldn't even know where Cardovia would strike next. It's thanks to her wings that they were able to hold their claim on Lanteglos. Without her, their underprepared explosives would have burned their own army to the ground.

If anything, they needed April more than she needed them. Information about June was all she asked from them and these mercokis weren't delivering as she expected them to.

"April, do sit down," the Sovereign's soft voice bled through the hall's expansive walls. "I'm sure General Rolim doesn't mean to let your brother slip through the borders."

April saw the pointed look the Sovereign gave the Eastern General who whimpered before schooling his face into a neutral grimace.

"My brother is good with disguises and he can make anyone believe his lies if he wills it," April crossed her arms as she strode back to her seat. "These people wouldn't have known that."

The Sovereign's eyes flashed. "I'm sure they'll be learning soon enough," her tone slowly honed to an edge. She turned to a woman with long dark hair seated to her right. "General Ril, have you heard of the Death Knight?"

The woman's ponytail bounced when she nodded her head. The Western General, if April recalled it correctly. "He is a popular figure in Lanteglos known to have slaughtered all the deceased High Queen's enemies," the General answered. Her armor glinted when the light from the chandelier hit the soft grooves etched on it when she shifted in her seat.

"No, not the High Queen's enemies," The Sovereign regarded April as if this was common information before turning back to the Generals. "She sent the Death Knight to kill those who have come close to discovering that she had an illegitimate half-blood son. So far, he was only caught once before vanishing without a trace only to have someone take his place as another Death Knight the next three years towards the High Queen's death."

"General Vijar," the Sovereign shifted her attention to a clean-shaven man with tan skin and dark brown hair. His lips quivered as he flinched to meet the Sovereign's gaze. "Do you know who the first Death Knight is?"

"No, Kriachoria," the General replied, addressing the Sovereign by her ancient name.

The Sovereign clicked her tongue at the answer, her blood-red lips bright against the yellowish ambience of the room. "Why, he's no one but the man our dear April is searching for," she waved a hand in the air. "Do you understand now why he was that hard to capture?"

The Generals and the select advisers murmured to themselves and to each other, piecing together information on who June Sylkrana was. April clenched her fists on the table. Despite her aching legs, she didn't sit down. She wouldn't adhere to the Sovereign's orders. Not now. Not ever.

This was her only chance. She's not going to let it slip. The island was in chaos already. Her island was bordering on collapse and ruin. If she wouldn't be able to kill him, she couldn't take the throne and drive Cardovia out with her forces. She wouldn't be able to do anything except sit still and listen to witches talk about how impossible it was to capture the elusive Death Knight. She slammed her hands on the table again, silencing the whole crowd. The Sovereign sighed pointedly.

"Let me go out there and deal with him myself, just as I intended in the first place," April turned to the Sovereign to find the leader's face resembling a hard, unmoving stone. "I need to be the one that gets to him. The Seelie Court will not credit it to me if I get help from anyone."

It wasn't helping anyone that April's tone had come close to begging.

The Sovereign raised an eyebrow. "Why come to us, then?"

"Because Cardovia failed to get him when he was still weak and dying," April said. "Cardovia had other priorities in mind other than getting me to the throne."

The Sovereign's eyes narrowed. Thinking. She's thinking. But what about? April couldn't seem to know what was going on in that woman's head. "We are honored to have you with us," the Sovereign merely replied as she fell against the back of her seat. "We need you to sit back and let us do the dirty work."

"I've been letting you do that since forever and there is no progress," April frowned. "I see no punishment enacted for slacking or failure. Is this really how you run your organization?"

The Sovereign's eyes flickered. She smiled, showing her teeth aligned in pearly white rows. "I appreciate your criticisms on how I run things. Rest assured that they will know better than to not produce results the earliest time tomorrow," she twined her fingers together. "But you need to understand that we simply cannot allow you to go out and fall into the wrong hands or worse, killed."

Apri's frown deepened. The stares she had been getting since earlier only sharpened. "I'm not some throne that can 'fall into the wrong hands'," she jabbed a finger against the wooden table. "I can protect myself and I can find June better than anyone. The faster I get to the throne, the faster I can work on fixing this island. Me sitting around isn't going to help anyone."

"And you dead is not going to help anyone either," the Sovereign noted.

This woman...

April leveled her gaze at the Sovereign. "I can take care of myself, thank you. I've been taking care of myself since forever," she turned to the Eastern General. "Now, where did you last see my brother?"

General Rolim pursed his lips before looking to his left and right to his companions. Perhaps, he's already praying to his gods that April would show him mercy and not flay him alive. No matter, April could decide on which later.

"H-he was last seen carrying a girl around his age at the plains of Ansevir," General Rolim reported, his multiple earrings flashing gold against the light. "My forces couldn't get close enough as it is Cardovic territory already. The Nature fairies are adamant in their alliance with Cardovia and are imposing a strict rule by the borders."

"And from Ansevir, where do you suppose he will go?" April asked, mentally calculating the distance between Synketros's new hideout and Dwanzeig. It would take...perhaps about a week?

The Eastern General cast his eyes upward. "The border to Peltra is in our control and falls under General Arbane's territory. I can ask their troops to keep an eye in case he decides to go into the Pixie Territory."

"But Peltra is a barren land right now after Kriachoria ravaged it to the ground," General Ril laid a gloved hand atop the table. "If he isn't in line with Cardovia and not with us, he will be mostly operating in places that have the least control from both sides. That only means one thing..."

"He's going to Thenaserine," April finished for General Ril. Amazing how a single brain was still thinking in this brood. She turned to the Sovereign who had listened to the whole conversation with a faraway look on her face.

"Kriachoria," April called. The Sovereign's eyes shifted to her. "Since most of Lanteglos is under our control now with Thenaserine being the site where I helped around the most, is it not my privilege to go there and finish what I started?"

"And if you fail to kill him there?"

April would not fail. That much she was sure of. She couldn't fail this time. "Then I'm going to chase him up to the end of the world," she met the Sovereign's hooded eyes once more. "Have you reached out to the Seelie Court? Be sure to get them on my side when I bring my brother's head on a sack."

"I really can't stop you, can I?" A light chuckle rose from the Sovereign's chest.

April grinned. "No, you can't," she pushed past her chair and smoothed her hair off her forehead. She turned to the Generals eyeing her and waved her hand at them. "Give me a satchel full of potions. It's time to sharpen every bit of iron in me."