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judgment.
    “I don’t need to be anointed in order to make sound decisions.”
    “Empress, please. It is not our aim to upset you. We want your parents found as badly as you do. We just feel that the timing is wrong, and that you are basing all of your decisions on your emotions.” Lucien said.
    “And when would be the right time to search for my parents?” I asked sarcastically, ignoring his last remark about my emotions.
    “Perhaps once we have the Apolluon under control,” Lucien suggested.
    I was shaking. I wasn’t sure if my trembling was visible and I didn’t care if it was. I needed my parents found now. I needed their guidance on how to handle this thing with Hades wanting to make me his wife.
    “We?” I asked. “You say that as if you’ll be in the front lines battling the Apolluon yourselves. Don’t you mean how I and your children will put a stop to the shadows?” I knew I was behaving with some hostility but I was exhausted with the elders and their superior attitude. I stared at the face of every elder. They weren’t thinking of safeguarding the empire. They only wanted to safeguard themselves. It didn’t seem to occur to them that the Apolluon could very well over power their offspring.
    The silence engulfed the mine and allowed me to listen in on their thoughts. The notion of not being protected by their offspring left them feeling vulnerable. Only one elder, the descendant of Artemis, seemed to sway to my corner.
    “As long as it’s not for an eternity, Julius and Hedea would be honored to assist in any way, Empress Cordelia. Your father was one of the greatest and fairest emperors this empire has ever had and he was my friend,” Stephan Hepolis said.
    “Thank you Lord Stephen. My father will appreciate your support when he returns.”
    He bowed and the other elders followed suit. We all had said enough and the elders vanished. Now it was time for their children to weigh in like a wheel barrel of bricks.
    “The Apolluon are attacking by the hour. The number of mortals in town is slowly decreasing, although they still outnumber us considerably,” Hedea said, stepping closer to me. “We are at your disposal.”
    “I can’t predict how long it will take to find my parents, but I promise each and every one of you that your parents will be protected.”
    “We know this,” Julius added as all the other warriors nodded and agreed. They were my loyal disciples and willing to fight for my cause. I had to be careful of how I used them.
    “I will lay out our strategy in the morning. Until then, prepare.”
    The young disciples nodded, bowed, and then disappeared, retreating to wherever they were and whatever it was they were doing before the council was summoned.
    Now that it was only Evan, Nikolas, Victor, and I left in the mine, I could no longer hold back.
    “Ugh! I can’t allow the elders to treat me like some child. I am an empress. Their empress. I demand their respect. ”
    “I will put the plan into motion by nightfall,” Evan said. “I know the meeting was difficult, but I think you handled the elder council well. Soon they will see that you are right.”
    “Cousin, you had them by the ba–,”
    “Ehem,” Evan coughed and half laughed, cutting Nikolas off before he had a chance to be obscene.
    “Well, the ball is in my court now. We must plan carefully. This search must be done carefully and thoroughly,” I said.
    “Lucien isn’t used to having a younger member reign. He’s as stubborn as your father used to be,” Nikolas said to Evan. I noticed Evan’s eyes clouding at the mention of his father, but he didn’t utter a word.
    Thaddeus Capius had only been gone for a month, so it made sense that Evan still couldn’t put his father’s evil deeds behind him. Thaddeus had murdered too many, my parents included, and even though I had banished both he and Evan’s mother to the Underworld, it was as if a part of him was still present.
    “Let’s stay focused.” I