The queen, still not satisfied with how her plan had unfolded, made it her top priority to bring down Edric and Genevieve. She begins to instigate the Lords, council members, and the nobles against Edric's choice to take a human mate. The queen dowager bribed each of them with both lands and gold and also threatened those who would not get involved in her plans with their families.
Finally, on the day of the meeting, The queen dowager summoned all the Lords, council members, and nobles to preside over Edric's choice of mate. With both Edric and Genevieve.
Silence draped the gilded arches and marble chequerboard of the royal palace's grand hall, its tension a palpable heartbeat in the court. Edric stood within, flanked by guards in crimson armor, his emerald eyes stained with torment. Before him, at the dais, the Queen Dowager — his grandmother, the realm's iron-willed matriarch — looked back at him with a gaze as hard and unyielding as winter stone.
