Another wave of suffocating silence swept through the room as everyone’s eyes drifted to the n lining the walls. Every last one of Ashley’s people had their hands in the air, a few of them visibly smug about it.
The chamber mbers and their staff were not amused.
Gustav, for his part, was fighting a losing battle against a smile. Lukas just scrunched his nose — their votes didn’t count, and the whole thing was absurd, and yet...
His gaze wandered until it found Nikki. Her expression had gone dark. Seeing it didn’t satisfy him the way it might have once. Instead, there was a tightness in his chest, because he knew — this ti, they were not on the sa side.
"Oh!" Ashley turned to the room with a bright smile. "It looks like I have quite a few votes."
"That’s not quite how it works." mphis let out a mild laugh and pushed his glasses up. "The vote for the next Black Dragon is cast exclusively by the mbers of the High Chamber and a select few outside it."
He smiled pleasantly. "No offense intended, Madam. I an none at all. Though I will say, your n voted for you without a mont’s hesitation. That counts for sothing."
"Madam." Another mber cleared his throat, visibly working to keep his composure. "Even for a first appearance, one is expected to have so understanding of how Dominion is structured. We acknowledge that the master chose to keep you removed from this side of things. But basic respect for this chamber is still expected."
"This is not an ordinary eting," a third added. "Regardless of how you entered, this room demands a certain standard. You may not intend to make a mockery of us, but ignorance of how to conduct yourself here is its own kind of disrespect."
They kept their tones asured, even courteous. But the words were pointed, and they knew exactly where to aim them.
It was a notable shift from when she’d first walked in. These n were quick to recalibrate. They had seen what happened when they weren’t, and none of them were interested in repeating it.
"I’m not mocking this council," Ashley replied evenly. "And as I said, I am only nominating myself as a temporary proxy until the Black Dragon recovers."
Frowns rippled across the table. Lukas and Gustav both looked at her.
"What do you an by that?" Frank asked. "Madam, we are already aware of the master’s condition. We know there is no cure."
"If you know that, then I assu you also know there are ways to prolong his life," Ashley said. "And yet, this council keeps circling back to my inexperience and my ignorance of Dominion, rather than making that the actual focus of this eting."
Her jaw tightened. "Lucian built this organization the way it is now. He is the reason everyone in this room, in this territory, operates within a legitimate empire. And yet this council is already deliberating over who replaces him — as if the man you’re trying to replace is so easily replaced."
Quiet settled over the room again with every eye on her.
Those loyal to Lucian gave subtle nods. Those who opposed him did not.
Just from the reactions, it wasn’t hard to tell who stood where.
Frank offered a small, unexpected smile. "Madam, everything I am doing is for the master’s sake."
"How so?"
"The master kept his condition from everyone. From what I understand, he refused treatnt — refused the transplant." Frank’s voice was steady. "The mont I learned of his condition, I arranged for a match imdiately. Isn’t that right?"
Ashley said nothing. She just watched him.
She knew that. She had known it. But she hadn’t considered that Frank would use it as a weapon in this room.
"I found him a compatible donor as quickly as I could so the operation could proceed," Frank continued, his tone persuasive and unhurried. "Unfortunately, his body was not yet stable enough for surgery. And now, the master is no longer in the hospital."
Anyone without the full picture would have found him entirely reasonable.
"But I’ve been thinking since last night." Frank glanced briefly toward Lucian’s people before returning his gaze to Ashley. "I find myself wondering whether this surgery is truly what the master wants."
He let a pause settle before continuing. "He concealed his condition from all of us. He refused treatnt that could have slowed the progression. Doesn’t that suggest he had no desire to get better? I have to ask — is this his choice? And if it is, shouldn’t this council respect it? Offer him what we could, a dignified ending for a dignified man."
Several heads nodded around the table.
"Exactly," one of the n said, finding his footing again. "As you said yourself, the master is irreplaceable. But in this world, respect ans sothing. He is a man this council has always recognized and held in the highest regard."
"If we didn’t respect him, we would have pushed back when he chose to marry into the Di Carpios," another said. "No offense, Madam — but the relationship between Dominion and the Di Carpios was not a smooth one before the marriage."
"And frankly, it wasn’t as though the Di Carpios brought anything transformative to the table."
"This council makes the difficult decisions. It isn’t always convenient — it rarely is. But that is precisely what we are here for. The hard calls, made for Dominion’s sake, whether we like them or not."
"We are all trying to survive, Madam," another said, his tone firr now. "You may see it differently, but you’ve only been in this room today. We’re extending you patience on that basis. In ti, you’ll understand the weight of what gets decided here."
One by one, they spoke. And for all the self-interest woven between their words, none of it was entirely untrue. This room had always been where the worst decisions were made — the ones no one wanted to make, but couldn’t avoid. That much was real.
The mbers who stayed silent — those who stood with Lucian — glanced at Ashley. They wanted to intervene. They had co precisely for that purpose; every seat in the room was filled for a reason. But their colleagues were using sound argunts, and speaking now risked undercutting her more than helping. So they held back and watched.
This was politics.
What was being said was true. That didn’t an it was clean.
The room waited. So wanted her to turn it around. Others were waiting for her to slip. Her own n were quietly tense.
Instead of answering, Ashley lowered her head.
Like she had lost.
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