#otherwise it would’ve been a dot-pointed mess of my thoughts and predictions

[hockstuff]

expansion draft; Isles Protected List Prediction

this is honestly mainly for me to just have my prediction anywhere that isn’t my notes app lol so read if you want but also pls don’t it’s just me going on nonsense spiels ahahaha (also sorry to the anon from like months ago that asked about my prediction list but i never actually properly answered it yikes take this as a dedication to you)

disclaimer: if you do end up reading this (bruh why) - these are just my guesses, my predictions, and my opinions based on my knowledge of the team and the expansion draft. this is all in good fun!

PROTECTED FORWARDS

Mat Barzal

Anthony Beauvillier

Anders Lee

Brock Nelson

JG Pageau

Josh Bailey

Jordan Eberle

Wahlstrom is exempt from the draft so he does not count towards the protected numbers.

Choosing only 7 forwards is hard enough for any team but with the isles it might be slightly harder, seeing as they have such a strong core and all 4 lines produce results - one of the best fourth-lines in the league imo. ok so my issue here is, i see Eberle as a prime candidate to be taken by Seattle (as much as i hate it) but in saying that, i have him protected purely bc the only other person i would put in his place is Cizikas (maybe Clutterbuck too i can see getting a protected spot). But Cizikas is a UFA going into 2021-22 and probably won’t be re-signed before the draft, which makes him less appealing to seattle lol. if cizikas for some weird reason gets signed before the draft, he’ll be protected and take Eberle’s place - also not to mention getting rid of Eberle would free up cap space. i also wouldnt be surprised if they took Bellows

highly potential forward target(s): Cizikas, Clutterbuck, Martin (pls god no, not my beloved dilf line aka first line of my heart), Bellows

PROTECTED DEFENSEMEN

Ryan Pulock

Adam Pelech

Scott Mayfield

Dobson is exempt from the draft meaning he doesn’t count towards the protected number.

this was a no brainer in protecting Pulock and Pelech - isles top 2 defense pair and are crazy good. if there was any choice it would be between Mayfield and Leddy… and listen, i love leddy - great defenseman, puts up tons of points in the regular season, and sets up amazing plays! but he’s very expensive. he’s very expensive for what he produces in my opinion. and that’s not to say he should be paid less! it’s just he carries a $5.5M AAV cap hit compared to Mayfield’s $1.45M AAV and i think if we lost Mayfield, it’ll be a lot harder to find a replacement for him than Leddy. also same with eberle, getting rid of Leddy clears up cap space

highly potential defense target(s): Leddy

PROTECTED GOALIE

Semyon Varlamov

Sorokin is exempt from the draft meaning he doesn’t count towards protected numbers.

this is pretty simple considering Sorokin is exempt, and i don’t see Lou leaving Varlamov unprotected despite his hefty cap hit.

what i think might happen

out of those left unprotected, Leddy is probably the biggest name and the most appealing. the only thing that might stop seattle from taking him is his cap hit. seattle could also potentially go for younger players like Bellows, and there are other options in Hickey, Dal Colle etc. but they might prefer experience and recent impact.

the only way i don’t see seattle taking Leddy is if Lou negotiates a deal where they take someone else along with younger players and/or draft picks - which i hope doesn’t happen. this team needs to develop its younger players (wahlstrom, Bellows etc.) and deepen their prospect pool imo

in a perfect world: seattle, or literally anyone at this point, takes Andrew Ladd away from us pls and frees the isles of his godforsaken contract and cap hit🔪🔪🔪💀

if you made it this far and actually read any of that (lmao whyyy), let me know what you think! or what your predictions are bc i’m ~nervous but also love talking about the expansion draft 🥲

[heyitssmiller]

Clandestine - Chapter Two

Alright people, say it with me: Trust Issues. Also Finn goes from zero to one hundred real fast.

This is definitely a filler chapter; we’ll get to more spy stuff next chapter.

@lumosinlove

Chapter One

.

Finn made sure to get to the office early enough to have time for a trip down to the Archives, his second cup of coffee in hand as he took the elevator up to the fifth floor of the building. He needed intel. Not on the Snakes – they were getting briefed on them later today. No, he was looking for files on his new partners.

Granted, he could learn a lot from observing them on his own time, but that could only give him so much. In order to get the full picture, he needed their hometowns, history, information about their families, jobs they’d done in the past, you name it. Because, for one of the only times in his life, he was stumped. His entire job was based on how well he could read people; this was frustratingly unusual.

Unusually frustrating? Finn questioned as elevator opened with a ding.

It was both frustrating and unusual. There.

Figuring Logan out was harder than he’d thought it would be. Finn was having a really hard time connecting the Logan he knew from two months ago to the one he was trying to get to know now. He was so different compared to the version of Logan he’d met at the New Year’s party… but alcohol tended to have that effect on people. The guy who cuddled with him on that ratty old couch while nursing a rum and coke now kept his distance. The easy smile and contagious laugh Finn remembered hadn’t been seen or heard since. He was so guarded. About everything, it seemed like. That made him hard to get to know, hard to predict. 

And then there was Leo. Leo made absolutely no sense, in Finn’s opinion. With constant movement but controlled, practiced actions, he was a paradoxical combination of restless and serene. His nerves pointed towards inexperience, but his eyes told a different story – one with complete confidence of his capabilities. He was an enigma. And Finn couldn’t seem to get a read on him.

That was important to Finn. He needed to be able to read and understand his partners. He needed to be able to know their thoughts, predict their every move, trust them. They wouldn’t work together otherwise.

So he woke up at a god-forsaken hour – it was still dark outside – and here he was, outside the Archives.

Staring at the back, broad shoulders, and brown hair of one of his new partners.

Fuck.

He put on a smile. “If I’d known I was meeting you here, I would’ve brought coffee for you.”

Logan didn’t tense, exactly, but his shoulders stiffened slightly. He turned and smiled back. It still wasn’t the smile Finn remembered from that night, wasn’t the one he wanted to see again so badly. “Hey. I see you had the same idea as me.”

“And what’s that?”

He shrugged, indifferent. “Getting intel on your new partners.”

“Nah,” Finn lied as they walked side-by-side to the front desk, “I’m here to brush up on the previous missions against the Snakes’ before our briefing this afternoon. But it’s nice that you want to do your research on us.” He winked. Logan’s lips twitched in an attempt to withhold a smile.

“Can I help you boys?”

Finn turned his bright smile to Lily Potter, who was manning the Archives desk. “Hello, my fellow redhead! We would like the files on past Snakes’ missions, and then the files on Knut, Tremblay, and yours truly, please.”

She arched an eyebrow. “How much time do you have on your hands?”

“Don’t have anything on my schedule until this afternoon. Why?”

“The missions will take you at least two days to get through. It’s probably eight, ten years of files.”

Finn whistled lowly. “Holy shit.”

He hadn’t really thought this through. In his defense, though, it was a spur of the moment idea.

“Well, just the other files, then. Someone over here wants to do research on his new partners.”

Lily sent Logan a curious glance, but left to grab the files. Finn turned to Logan with a flirtatious smile, resting his arm on the desk. “So, what all do you want to know? I’m an open book.”

“I seriously doubt that.”  Logan snorted, nose crinkling in the process.

Finn’s smile turned more genuine. God, he was cute. “Ok, then ask away. Here, I’ll help you out. I’m a Gemini, I graduated from Harvard, I’m a sucker for green eyes, I enjoy long, romantic walks on the beach as long as there’s no seaweed-”

“Why would you think any of that is relevant?”

“I give you all this information and that’s the first question you ask? I’m offended.” Lily chose that moment to return with three files, two significantly thicker than the other one. Finn thanked her and grabbed Logan’s file for himself before passing the other two to Logan.

“Have fun researching!” Finn said as he turned to head for the elevator again. He paused before looking back at Logan and adding with a wink, “Oh, and pass along Nut’s file to me when you’re done reading it.”

***

Remus stepped foot into the briefing room to find Sirius already there, messing with a laptop. Where he got said laptop was unknown. And a little worrying, seeing that he’d shown up in Gryffindor with a bag of clothes, some cash, and nothing else.

He glanced up at Remus and looked him over with a smile. “Good afternoon. Long time, no see.”

“What are you up to?” Remus asked as he set his bag down, clutching his cup of tea in his other hand and looking back at Sirius. There were bags under his eyes, reminding Remus of the fact that he was still sleeping on his couch. Sleeping was a loose term, though. He had also been awake when Remus had gone to bed and when he got up in the morning. Did the man ever sleep?

“Oh, nothing much.” Sirius said, hitting a few keys on the laptop in rapid succession. “Getting ready to brief the cubs.”

“The cubs?”

“Your logo is a lion. And they’re the youngest ones here, right? Hence the cubs.”

“Cute.” Remus sat down in one of the chairs with a sigh and took a sip of his tea. “So what are you briefing them on today?”

“Members of the Snakes. I have a powerpoint with pictures and everything.”

“Oh god.”

Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus. “Oh, come on. It’ll be fun. Better than me droning on and expecting them to stay focused.”

“They’re spies. Sometimes, that’s part of the job.”

“Sure. But it doesn’t have to be.”

Remus smiled a little at that. “How thoughtful of you.”

“I try.”

He hummed, cupping his mug with both hands. “You know, if you were really thoughtful you’d stop leaving your dishes in the sink.”

That startled a laugh out of Sirius. “Now, why would I do that when it’s so fun to get on your nerves?”

“You don’t get on my nerves.”

Sirius arched an eyebrow. “No?”

“No.” He took another sip of tea to hide his smile. “I’m a very patient man.”

Sirius was still laughing by the time Knut, O’Hara, and Tremblay entered the room. They all sat side by side, not really talking much and still a little unsure of each other. That needed to change soon. You couldn’t afford to be doubting your partners while on missions like the ones they’d be getting into.

“Alright, cubs! Let’s get started, shall we?” Sirius asked, connecting the laptop to the room’s projector. “Today we’re going over the members of the Snakes and what all you need to know about them.”

An animated picture of a snake in a party hat showed up on the projector. Remus sighed.

“Ok, so we’ll start at the top.” He switched to the next slide. “This is Riddle. Fuck Riddle. He’s in charge of every little detail of the Snakes, and very paranoid about handing over tasks to other members. He’s got a lot of messed up ideas about ethics and – well, pretty much everything.”

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” Logan asked, still staring uncomfortably at the yellow eyes on the screen.

Sirius shrugged. “I think it’s a genetics thing. Something about liver issues. I never really paid attention. On to the next member!”

A picture of a greasy-haired man with a sour expression on his face glared back at them.

“Snape.” Remus said with disdain. At Sirius’ look, he just shrugged. “Pots has gone up against him a few times. He hates the guy and makes sure everyone knows it. He works in the drug side of their operation.”

“Exactly.” Sirius smiled, which proved to be more distracting than Remus thought it would be. There had been teasing smiles, flirty smiles, sarcastic smiles, but this one was new. This was one of the first genuine smiles he’d seen from the ex-Snake. “I think I like Potter a little more now.”

“I think you two could actually be really good friends, and that terrifies me.”

“Ok, next is Bellatrix. Please, please avoid her as much as possible. She’s certifiably insane.”

Finn frowned. “She’s got one of the flash drives, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes. So it’s going to be up to you to distract her and Leo to grab the drive, probably.”

Both boys paled a little, then looked to each other, seeming to have a silent conversation all their own.

Sirius moved on to the next slide, where a man with cold eyes and a feral smile looked back at them. “This is Fenrir Greyback. Don’t fuck around with this one, he’s ruthless.”

Finn and Logan’s eyes snapped over to Loops, who looked pale and slightly nauseous. His hand was on the juncture of his neck and shoulder, massaging the muscle absentmindedly. Not for the first time, Finn wondered what exactly happened on that mission. All he knew was that Loops was supposed to take Greyback down and he came back with a mutilated shoulder and new cuts on his face that were sure to scar. He hadn’t been back in the field since.

Leo’s gaze moved from one person in the room to the next, slowly piecing together the story. He didn’t know all the details yet, but he knew they couldn’t be good.

Sirius, who was still talking, finally seemed to connect the dots. His eyes got wide and his sentence trailed off to remain incomplete. He stared at Loops in horror. “Fuck.”

“I think that’s enough for today.” Leo said quietly but firmly, getting out of his seat while giving Remus a meaningful look. His partners followed suit. “We can pick this up again tomorrow.”

The three of them left in a hurry, leaving Sirius and Remus alone. Remus started grabbing his meticulously organized notes and shoved them in his bag. He could feel Sirius’ gaze on him, but he refused to look up.

“Listen, Remus, I had no idea –”

“Of course you didn’t.” Remus cut in calmly. “How could you have known? Hell, you probably congratulated him after that mission –”

“That’s not true –”

“But you were there. You knew what he did to people and yet you just stood by.”

“Why do you think I left?” Sirius demanded, his voice raising. Remus finally met his gaze. “You weren’t the only one who got screwed over by the Snakes. I grew up watching that shit, just assuming it was normal because that’s the way it’s always been there. And then I realized my parents were monsters and started thinking for myself and realized how fucked up that organization is. Do you really think I’d be here if I condoned that sort of shit?”

“Honestly? I wasn’t sure you cared. The only motivation for wanting to take the Snakes down that you’ve deigned to share with us is that you want your brother safe. You’ve never said anything about how you feel about the organization itself.”

“What are you smoking?” Sirius asked with an incredulous laugh. “I want my brother safe because he’s in that hellhole. What other reason –”

“Then tell us that!” Remus shouted, finally getting Sirius to stop talking. “You keep everything so close to your chest, you don’t seem to want to interact with any of us, and you don’t tell us anything but the bare minimum. How are we supposed to get anything done if we can’t trust you?”

“That’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? I swear, you’re one of the most guarded people I’ve ever met!”

“Well, you don’t really need to get to know me, do you?” Remus fired back. Sirius froze. “You’re here to take the Snakes down. That’s it. When all this is done, it’s not like you’re going to stay. You don’t have to trust me as a friend, but trust me as an agent.”

“That’s it, huh?” Sirius asked, voice dangerously blank.

“That’s it.”

“Fine.” He said gruffly, slamming the laptop closed and grabbing his jacket from the back of a nearby chair. “I’m headed out. Don’t wait up.”

Remus sighed, staring down at his mug and swirling the now-cold contents. Even though they’d gotten along surprisingly well the past couple of days, they weren’t friends. And they didn’t need to be friends. This was business. They were working together to get a job done. That was all. 

Remus knew that the two of them getting along so well was like an already-lit fuse - it was bound to blow up in their faces sooner rather than later. 

***

Finn walked into the safe room, whistling lowly as he looked around. He’d never been in here before – he hadn’t had a reason to. There were safes of all different types and sizes littered around the room. On tables, on the floor, embedded in the walls. He wondered how many safes there were total, and how long it had taken to collect them all.

Leo was seated criss-cross-applesauce in front of one, pressing a stethoscope against the door of a safe and rotating the dial slowly. Finn smiled a little at the sight. This made more sense, seeing it in action. The constant fidgeting was replaced with stillness, the only movement being those of deft fingers against the dial. All that motion and pent-up energy were now focused solely on the safe. 

He walked up to Leo, completely unnoticed, and tapped on his shoulder. Leo jumped a foot into the air, yanking the stethoscope out of his ears and whirling around to look at Finn. “Fuck, you scared me.”

“Sorry, Nut.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Coming to see you, obviously.” Finn said with a wink. “Tremblay and I were wondering if you wanted to get dinner with us. You know,” Finn made a weird motion with his hand and then cringed, moving his hand behind his back and grabbing it with his other hand to keep from performing any more weird, random movements. “Get to know the team and all that.”

Leo’s smile lit up the room. “I’d love to! Y’all headed out right now?”

Y’all.

Wow, his genteel southern-boy routine could really take him places in this profession. With that combined with his looks, no one would ever think he could possibly be guilty of anything.

“Probably. It’s almost seven.”

Leo blinked, confused. “Is it?” At Finn’s nod, he uncrossed his legs and stretched, his back popping in the process. “Guess we should get going then, huh?”

“Yeah.” Finn held out a hand and helped the blond to his feet. He really was just a giant. How did he find clothes that fit him? Finn glanced down at Leo’s shirtsleeves and - sure enough - they were an inch or two above his wrists. He realized he was sort of staring at this guy’s wrists, of all things, and his eyes shot back up to meet kind, albeit confused, blue eyes. “We were thinking Sid’s for dinner? You been there before?” When Leo shook his head, he groaned. “You’re missing out, Nut. We’re fixing that right now. Come on.”

He led Leo back down the hall to the bullpen, where Logan was still pouring over files. How he ever expected to get through the huge pile of files on his desk, Finn had no idea. “Look alive, Tremblay. We’re getting pizza.”

Logan instantly looked up with a hopeful smile. “Sid’s?”

“Where else?” Finn laughed as Logan shot out of his seat and grabbed his coat. He’d never seen the other agent move so fast. “Hungry?”

Logan turned to look at him, his arm getting stuck in the sleeve of his coat. He grumbled under his breath in a language that definitely wasn’t English and shoved his arm into his sleeve. “I’m going to eat an entire pizza and you can’t stop me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

They stepped out of the building together, taking a right and heading down the street. It wasn’t actually that cold outside, for a Gryffindor winter – only thirty-five degrees or so. But Nut still shoved his hands into his pockets and nuzzled his nose into his coat. Finn couldn’t hold back the smile at the sight, noticing red-tipped ears and a slight shiver.

“Cold, Nut?” Logan asked, also noticing the blond’s hunched shoulders.

He looked at his new partners, then buried his nose again. “Don’t judge me. New Orleans winters aren’t nearly this bad.”

“New Orleans, huh?” Logan questioned, although Finn knew he was already aware of Leo’s hometown. It was in his file, after all. “I’ve always wanted to visit.”

“Ooh, yes!” Finn agreed, leading them around a corner. “The home of Mardis Gras.”

Leo shrugged. “If we’re being technical Mobile, Alabama had the first Mardis Gras celebration in the States. We just do it better. There’s a ton of people, though. If you really want to see the city, come at a better time in the year.” He sent the other two boys a smile. “Maybe summer, so you can experience real southern heat. And humidity.”

“No thanks.” They said in unison, making Leo laugh. The conversation trailed off as they waited for the sign at a crosswalk.

“Where are the two of you from?” Leo finally asked as the red hand morphed into a walking man and the ticking from the crosswalk speakers changed tempo. They stepped into the street with Logan staring down cars that could potentially start moving again and hit them.

Finn thought that was cute.

Maybe Finn was looking at his personality the wrong way. Guarded wasn’t the right adjective for him - protective fit much better.

“New York City.” He rushed to answer Leo’s question as they reached the other side of the street, pointing out the Sid’s sign for Leo.

“Canada.” Logan said a bit gruffly, but you could hear the fondness in his voice.

Leo arched an eyebrow. “Now I understand why you’re so accustomed to the cold.”

Finn held open the door to Sid’s, motioning for the other two to go on ahead. “You’ll get used to it, too, Nut. Logan, can you believe he’s never had Sid’s before?”

Logan went off on a tangent about the perfection that is Sid’s margherita pizza as they were led to their table by a young waiter, who eyed them curiously. They sat down and Finn noticed Logan choosing a seat facing the rest of the restaurant, back to the wall. He looked around at the others in the building, only relaxing when he deemed the coast to be clear.

They quickly looked over the menu, Finn and Logan giving recommendations about their favorite dishes (practically all of them) and began telling lighthearted stories about where they were from and how they grew up while waiting for their food. Leo’s leg was constantly bouncing under the table, but he looked happy and relaxed, which Finn took as a good sign. Finn finally, finally got one of those rare New Year’s party smiles again, as well as a new sunny, dimpled smile from Leo - both of which he really wanted to keep seeing.

He didn’t understand why he was making such a big deal of causing his partners to smile.

Ok, he might’ve had a slight idea. But he didn’t want to think about it too hard. Not yet, at least.

It was only when their pizzas arrived that Logan brought out the big guns.

“So what made you decide to do this for a living?” He asked, sticking his tongue out to catch a stray string of cheese from his pizza slice. Finn tried not to follow the motion too closely, for his own sanity. “For me, it was Dumo. He was our next-door neighbor growing up, after we moved from Canada. I remember he was always away on business trips, but he would  come back looking exhausted and a little beat up. I’d go visit Celeste while he was away – she was always so worried, so I knew something was up. I can’t remember exactly how I found out, but I think I was thirteen or so when I figured out what his job was.” Logan shrugged. “Nothing else really interested me after that.”

“You guys are close, then?” Leo asked, maintaining eye contact with Logan and grabbing the container of red pepper flakes, liberally adding it to his pizza. Finn watched on in horror. Had he previously burned all his taste buds off or something?

Logan smiled. “Yeah. He’s like a dad to me. The whole family’s great. I babysit their kids all the time.”

That was a mental image Finn would be thinking about for the foreseeable future. God, he was screwed, wasn’t he?

He hurried to talk and take his mind off of it. “I got recruited right out of college. I’ve got a good memory and a knack for predicting people and how they’ll react to things. I jumped at the opportunity.” 

He smiled fondly at the memories his mind brought up. “My brother and I grew up on James Bond movies. How cool would it be to do that for my career? So I joined. The obvious next step was becoming a conman, I guess. It’s where I fit best.”

They looked to Leo, who seemed mildly embarrassed. “My Mama caught me pickpocketing on Bourbon Street.”

Logan and Finn took a moment to process that, and then cracked up. Leo waited for them to calm back down, smiling sheepishly before he continued, “She said if I was going to do stuff like that, I should at least be doing some good in the world. So she googled and found Gryffindor and asked some recruiters to meet with me. I came home from school one day to Blizzard and Talker sitting on my couch, eating my mom’s jambalaya.” Logan and Finn laughed again while Leo dragged his crust through some marinara sauce. “Next thing I knew, I was driving a moving truck across the country.”

“Do you miss home?” Logan asked, finally shoving his plate away.

Leo shrugged, looking back and forth between the other two knowingly. “Doesn’t everyone miss home, in one way or another?”

Finn wasn’t even sure what home was to him anymore. Maybe he’d figure it out one of these days. He glanced over at his new partners. Logan also looked pensive, apparently grappling with Leo’s words as well. 

Leo seemed completely unfazed, his leg bouncing again. “Does anyone want dessert?”

[elliemarchetti]

The Scam (part 3)

Previous chapters

Words: 1453

Breakfast was nothing special: Mare was escorted to the women's room wearing Gisa’s umpteenth creation made following Cal’s advices, and found waiting for her only the queen and the Queenstrial’s favorite, a hateful and snob girl that even Elara didn’t seem to like that much. As Cal had predicted, she was invited to take part in the gala lunch and if that morning, although reluctantly, she felt foolish, wandering around the city covered in lace, she was now grateful that she had worn something that launched an incredibly specific message: she was a noblewoman old enough to get engaged but too young to marry. Moreover, although she immediately hated her etiquette teacher and after the first lesson, which lasted three and a half hours because, according to Cal, a noble who hasn’t yet been presented in society has no more important commitment or greater desire than to please the royals, she had returned home with back pain for posture lessons on how to sit, stand, walk and even sleep -even though she was sure she would never have slept if she laid on her back with her arms stiff at her sides- she had to admit that they hadn't been completely useless, especially the part about court rules -who would’ve thought there was a specific order for walking!- and on the various names; she was slowly beginning to understand the hierarchy between the various families and yet she was sure that she would make a mess anyway. Talking about her “father’s family” history was easy since nobody wanted to remember the insurrection that occurred during the reign of Caesar II, nor how the Titanos family had to rise from their ashes during the reign of Julias II and III, therefore Mare had been able to know very little about what had happened before 151 N.E. but if the topic shifted to the Nolles the situation became more complicated and with Cal’s family was nearly impossible to don't get confused and mix all the names in an explosive cocktail for her scam. Of course some slips in the first period would’ve been forgiven, after all it would’ve made sense if she hadn't been updated on the Silver affairs, given where she had grown up, but it would’ve made her unsuitable to reign when, although she never would’ve sitting on the throne, she and Cal had to convince everyone otherwise, which was reminded her on the glass terrace where the lunch was held, on the lower floor than the women’s room, at the end of the longest corridor she ever seen. Once she crossed the threshold Mare was hit by a fresh breeze; with the hot sun on her face, if only he could’ve closed her eyes, he could’ve pretended that she had never accepted Cal's proposal and that she was again only Mare and not Mareena but it wasn't like that and the decorations, all purple and silver, were enough to remind her. So really that would’ve been the day of her debut. How many things would’ve changed? Many. Too many, a small voice coming from the bottom of her heart corrected her, which she stifled promptly, trying to concentrate on the glass roof that refracted the sunlight in a rainbow of colors that danced combined with the guests’ clothes, supported by transparent columns masterfully carved and decorated with silver bows. Gisa would’ve been over the moon there and her heart ached at the thought that she would never be able to see it in its full splendor. But perhaps it was better that way: she didn't want her surrounded by Silvers, not after what had happened in Summerton, it didn't matter that Cal had solved the situation because it didn't erase what had been done to her. The Silvers, unlike the Reds, were used to not having to suffer the consequences of their actions and to forget them when someone else remedied them but even if she had to pretend, and he would’ve to do it all her life, Mare wouldn’t have become like them. Silver in the mind, Red in the heart. In that period of visits to the palace it was something she had often repeated herself.

"There aren't many places like this where you come from, I guess." said a female voice that made her jump. It was a girl in a dark blue and red dress, that placed her in the Iral family, who spoke, sporting a fake and cold smile, although behind the mask a pride that not all of them sported was clearly visible, which made her an obstacle for her plan and a danger for her safety. If she was even a bit ruthless like Evangeline she had to find a way to eliminate her, just like her friend, a shadow of house Haven, judging by the black dress, with pale skin and bright red hair braided in a crown. Yes, if she had been forced to participate in the Queenstrial they must’ve been out of the game.

"It’s certainly a pleasant welcome." Mare commented, showing off in turn a sharp smile that she hoped was enough to hide her suspicious gaze.

"Kind of you to notice my little thought." commented the queen behind her. The two girls bowed deeply but Elara didn’t look at them: she wanted that it was she who accompanied her on stage for the official announcement, so Mare followed her and stopped next to Cal.

"We all remember our beacon of hope in the darkness brought by war, our captain and friend, General Ethan Titanos." the king began, speaking to the crowd. A moved buzz arose in the room and even house Samos’ patriarch bowed his head in respect.

"He led the Iron Legion to victory and pushed back the enemy lines that had endured for nearly a century. The Lakelanders feared him, our soldiers loved him," continued Elara, and although Mare doubted highly that a Red soldier could love his own General Silver she would grant the dead man who they wanted to pass off as her father the benefit of the doubt.

"The Lakelands spies murdered our dear friend, sneaked among us and trampled on the only hope for peace we had." resumed the king, another lie that Mare had managed to unmask as soon as she had access to some more reliable source than the Reds’ history books as it was evident that the war continued only as a method of population control. Although that information was public domain among the Silvers, if someone had questioned the topic to such an extent that they could connect the dots and see the general design they hadn’t bothered to put an end to it, also because it certainly doesn’t concerned their people. Or, and that was a completely different option, which made the royalty much more dangerous than she had calculated before agreeing to help Cal, the Calores were willing to get rid of their opponents even if they were their people. Seeing it from that point of view it was difficult to imagine that the Lakelanders were suddenly able to penetrate the impenetrable defenses of a Silver general and simpler to suppose that the royal family wanted to get rid of a sharp mind that, over time, would’ve managed to put an end to that farce. But also to kill his wife, an innocent woman, in order to achieve their goal? No Silver was really innocent and their own knew it well. Not that it made any difference to her: the king's poignant words about the dead Titanos benefited her and the queen's feigned tears only validated her cause in front of the Queenstrial girls and their families.

"My friends, we are delighted to welcome Mareena Titanos, daughter of Ethan Titanos and Nora Nolle.”

Those present forcedly applauded and Cal took her hand. It was just a small sacrifice, giving up on herself to save her family. The king told the twist of her dramatic story built by her and Cal then announced that he intended to reward her father and her family for the enormous contribution made to their kingdom by announcing the union of their families. At that point, Mare turned pale: they couldn’t have gone so far, not so fast, but a quick glance at Cal, stretched like a violin string, told her that she was wrong, that she shouldn’t have taken that chance so lightly. So Cal spoke the ritual words, which must have been taught him when he was still a child and Mare couldn’t help but accept, slamming the rest of her life out the door when she was introduced as the future queen of Norta, the first, and probably last, Red queen.