The moment Ren, Nate, and I came bursting into the meeting room everyone was already inside. All of them were already seated in their assigned places as they waited for us.

We weren’t late, everyone was just early.

“Where’s the queen?” King Michael asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Then his eyes darted back and forth to the three of us, but still, he did not find my aunt anywhere. “Don’t tell me….” Then he let out a sigh. “This is impossible. Without a representative of Thalia, the main ruler of the realm, this meeting is just a waste of our time.”

“Please...!” I gasped as I tried to...