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It was held in an enormous banquet hall inside the lodge, one with a podium and plenty of
seating. Despite the businesslike atmosphere, you could tell this room had been designed for
things other than meetings about massacres and defense. The carpet had the texture of velvet
and showed an ornate floral design in shades of silver and black. The chairs were made of black
polished wood and had high backs, clearly intended for fancy dining. Paintings of long-dead
Moroi royalty hung on the walls. I stared briefly at one of a queen whose name I didn't know.
She wore an old-fashioned dress—too heavy on lace for my tastes—and had pale hair like
Lissa's.
Some guy I didn't know was in charge of moderating and stood at the podium. Most of the
royals on hand gathered at the front of the room. Everyone else, including students, took seats
wherever they could. Christian and Mason had found Lissa and me by that point, and we all
started to sit in the back when Lissa suddenly shook her head.
"I'm going to sit in the front."
The three of us stared at her. I was too dumbfounded to probe her mind.
"Look." She pointed. "The royals are sitting up there, sitting by family."
It was true. Members of the same clans had clustered near each other: Badicas, Ivashkovs,
Zekloses, etc. Tasha sat there as well, but she was by herself. Christian was the only other
Ozera there.
"I need to be up there," said Lissa.
"No one expects you to be there," I told her.
"I have to represent the Dragomirs."
Christian scoffed. "It's all a bunch of royal bullshit."
Her face set into a determined expression. "I need to be up there."
I opened myself up to Lissa's feelings and liked what I found. She'd spent most of the day quiet
and afraid, much as she had when we'd found out about Mia's mom. That fear was within her
still, but it was overpowered by a steady confidence and determination. She recognized that she