"Gavriel? Not Caspian?" Aiden asked.
Adriel shook his head. "Caspian has never been a leader. He has said so himself on many occasions. His place for now, is at Magnus' side helping him recover." He sighed. "Besides you need four royals to confirm a new prince, even an interim one." He looked to Kendrick, who nodded. A moment later, the room was soundproofed. Adriel continued. "Some of you may not know, but I am of Gavriel's bloodline, an Ambrosios. I have chosen not to claim it, I am happy as I am, as unit leader."
Gavriel leaned forward his elbows on his knees. "Now that I have the Ambrosios Book of Life, we can easily prove our claim."
"Caspian is a Rioux, that makes three." Ellie pointed out. "What about Broderick, Beth and Eva as mates? Do they count?"
Adriel shook his head. "No, only those who carry royal blood can confirm a new prince. Magnus was only able to be confirmed with the support of Caspian and the last DuCoeur. When the remaining members of the DuSang family saw that DuSang's own mate supported Magnus, they threw their lot in with them."
"I thought the DuSangs died in that skirmish thing?" Meryn said frowning.
Adriel nodded. "Nearly all of them did. Only a handful returned to the city with DuSang. He was later challenged by Magnus. When his own family turned against him, he slaughtered them right there in the council room before the Elders."
"I bet that's why the skirmish got left out of the history books, Magnus laying the smack down probably seemed more important," Meryn mused.
Vivi sat very still barely breathing. She clutched at her mate's hand tightly. He gave her hand a squeeze and when she looked up, she saw nothing but support. Without words, she knew what he was trying to say. That he would back her, no matter what she decided to do. Movement by the door caught her eye. Hal stood quietly watching her closely. He smiled and nodded giving her his blessing as well.
"Since Beth's pregnant with a royal can't she just cast a vote for little Jack?" Meryn asked.
Beth sniffled then laughed. "Stop calling my baby Jack."
Gavriel blinked. "I never would have thought of that." He looked over at Meryn. "I love the way your brain works."
Meryn shrugged. "Made sense to me."
Adriel rubbed his chin. "I do not think that will work either. The Famil
ies could just as easily claim that the child would vote against confirming Gavriel."
Kari leaned against the sofa. "If we do not figure out something soon, this could turn ugly very quickly. Some of the Founding and Noble Families have been positioning for power for years according to Magnus' past reports. Short of an outright coup there has not been much they could do, so they have been held in check, this could be the opening they need to begin a takeover."
"So we have an unknown virus spreading, the city is locked down, fae portals don't work, the city's leader is incapacitated, the council elders are in a different city and to top it all off, we could be facing a civil war?" Meryn asked.
"To be put it succinctly, yes." Aiden confirmed sourly.
Vivi swallowed hard. "If there was a fourth royal, how likely is it that the Founding and Royal Families would capitulate and follow Gavriel's lead. Couldn't they just ignore the confirmation?"
Kari tapped her lips. "I believe they would fall in line. As long as we are able to prove that Gavriel is a true royal and can confirm him using established vampire law, there is nothing they can do to block us. It would be the single rare occasion where them following tradition to the point of idiocy would work in our favor. Confirming a prince is one of our oldest established rituals, they would never overturn it." She looked at Vivi. "Why ask?"
Vivi's throat turned sand dry. She looked between Etain and Hal. Her squire walked over and stood behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder as Etain took her one hand in both of his.
"I could be the fourth. I could confirm him." She spoke softly almost as if by not saying it louder she would be able to call her words back. No one said a word.
Gavriel's eyebrows were nearly to his hairline. "You are a royal?" He really looked at her. "Gods! You are a DuSang. I should have guessed. The DuSangs were known for their blood-red hair." He shook his head. "Of course so many dye their hair nowadays."
Adriel looked shell shocked. "Why hide? Why not step forward and claim your heritage?"
Vivi raised an eyebrow then pointed to him and Gavriel. "Like you, I am perfectly happy as I am. You have an honorable past to embrace. Mine is littered with bodies and filled with bloodshed."
Adriel winced at her response. "How did you escape? It was months before we got an accurate count of the dead." His face tightened. "My own parents were killed in the crossfire returning to Noctem Falls." He paused. "Gods! You were just a baby, an infant!"
Vivi pointed to Hal. "My mother's mate chose him for me. He raised me and kept me safe."
Kendrick chuckled. "I love being right."
Vivi scowled at him. "You are annoying, has anyone ever told you that?"
He nodded. "On multiple occasions in different languages."