Chapter 67. Preparations

Lotus’s POV

The world smells like snow and steel. Even inside the council chamber, where the fire burns high and bright, the cold finds a way in, curling around my boots, creeping through the seams of my sleeves. It feels fitting somehow. The Winter Palace has always been more ice than warmth, especially now with the threat of another battle looming over us.

I stand before the triplets, my hands clasped tight behind my back, as if that will stop them from shaking. I don’t know why they have called me here, but I can only assume it is bad news. Lennox leans against the table, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the map stretched across its surface. Levi paces. Louis just watches me, his gaze softer than the other two, but no less determined.

They take turns talking, and it feels like they won’t shut up. They’ve been talking for ten minutes. I haven’t heard a single word since they said ceremony.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I say finally, cutting throug