NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: The First Night: A Conspiracy Unfolds
Midnight Meeting #1: The Duke and The Duchess
The duke paced around the room, his shadow flickering like a caged panther under the candlelight.
The duchess reclined in an armchair, sipping a wine with the calm of someone who'd just survived childbirth and her husband's melodrama.
"Antoinette is a fine name," the duke insisted, waving a parchment of family trees. "Grandmother Antoinette united the northern clans!"
"By marrying them. All three clans. Simultaneously." The duchess arched a brow. "Do you want our daughter to inherit her nickname: 'Antoinette the Bed-Hopper'?"
The duke choked.
"That's—! Historians exaggerate—"
"Cassian. The last Antoinette literally wrote her memoirs on palace walls. In lipstick."
Outside the door, I (swaddled in a maid's arms for "fresh air") mentally facepalmed.
Note to self. Burn Grandmother Antoinette's diaries if I ever find them.
The duchess tossed a document onto the table.
"Kraevia stays. It's your mother's name, and the people adore her. But Evangeline for the first—it means 'bearer of light.' A fitting jab at the temple's 'Child of Shadow' nonsense."
The duke groaned.
"Must everything be political?"
"Darling," she purred, "you proposed to me during a siege. Don't pretend you don't live for this."
Midnight Meeting #2: The Head Maid and the Court Mage
In the wine cellar (where "secret" meetings were coincidentally near the good vintage), Head Maid Gertrude cornered Court Mage Alaric.
"The mark glowed," she hissed. "During the archbishop's blessing. Blue as a winter sky!"
Alaric, a man who'd survived three royal coups by being selectively deaf, pretended to inspect a bottle.
"A trick of the light. Babies are… shiny."
"Don't play coy! The maids say you've been peeping the prophecy scrolls!"
A beat. Then.
"Fine!" Alaric slammed the bottle down. "The 'Child of Moon and Shadow' is supposed to 'bridge realms'—whatever that means. Last time a Kraevia heir had a prophecy, they accidentally married a forest."
Gertrude blinked. "…A forest?"
"Sentient oaks. Very clingy."
Above them, I—being burped by a maid—hiccuped. My mark flared, and a spectral oak leaf materialized in Alaric's wine.
"By the gods—!"
"Told you," Gertrude smirked.
Midnight Meeting #3: The Brothers' Initiation
The four Evernight heirs crept into the nursery like assassins (which, to be fair, Cedric was).
Cedric (22, Sword Prodigy): "She's defenseless. We need a guard rotation. I'll take the first shift."
Lucien (19, Scholar):"She's two hours old. Her greatest threat is spit."
Dante (16, Chaos Mage):"I've enchanted her rattle to explode on command. For protection."
Theo (10, Unwilling Participant):"Why am I here? I'm ten."
I yawned loudly.
"Did she just—?"
"Coincidence," Lucien said.
I kicked my blanket off.
"Definitely coincidence," he squeaked.
Then Dante's "enchanted" rattle rolled into my grip. I held it thoughtfully.
**BOOM.**
A harmless puff of glitter filled the room.
"...Okay, that was her," Cedric admitted.
Theo, now sparkly, glared at Dante. "I'm telling Mother."
The Baby's Inner Monologue.
Current Mission: Survive the Night
Threat Level: High (See: Exploding rattles, prophetic oak fetishes)
Assets: Four overprotective brothers, a mother who terrifies gods, and a mark that might summon ramyeon if glared at hard enough
Weaknesses:Can't roll over yet. Unacceptable.
I burped. The sound echoed like a war horn.
Note: Master burp-based communication. Then, conquer naptime.