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outward demeanor. His quiet countenance meant nothing when it came to his inner strength or confidence. Two, he was loyal. And three, his fierce loyalty meant that his protectiveness knew no bounds, especially when the object of that protectiveness was his one and only little girl.
    “Gav,” I soothed him, “we’ll talk about it later. Don’t be angry with Greta.” I turned my attention to the leaders. “This picture is familiar. It’s located in the castle. My daughter will take us there and we’ll report back.”
    “Now hold on, just a second. We need to vote. This information—whatever you think this picture and message means—is important to all of us, and we all have a right to know.”
    “Of course you do,” I agreed, “but there will be no vote on this. It’s not safe for everyone to search this passage all at once, it will only cause more commotion. As queen and king of the new kingdom, we withhold the right to be the first to see it, do you understand?”
    The leaders scoffed, their shock evident, but I didn’t care. I was far from the girl I was years ago, the girl who cowered in fear and didn’t recognize her own inner strength. Sure, I might have seen a flicker of that strength back then, might have known it was there, but feeling it—really feeling it—was an entirely different thing. It had been years since I’d been that scared girl from Louisiana, and the villagers of Amaranth had spoken when Gérard and Samira’s reign fell.
    They hailed us the new king and queen of the realm, and we’d risen to the challenge.
    It wasn’t every day we asserted ourselves like this. We were regular villagers, commoners, just like everyone else. People naturally chose peace here, and good old-fashioned votes when it came to important issues. I guess the desire for peace had stemmed from coming from so much war. After so much bloodshed and pain, the last thing you wanted to do was pick another fight. The Amaranthians had steered clear of arguments and discord, but my demand to explore this secret passage alone could very well change that.
    By the look on Gavin’s face, he thought so, too.
    “Who do you think you are, speaking to us like that, young lady?”
    Denise cleared her throat, stepping in front of Greta. “Sir, with all due respect, I believe you should address Camille by name. Young or not, she and Gavin are the reason we’re standing here, alive today. We created and dedicated that statue on the castle grounds to them for a reason, remember? You’d do well to keep that in mind.”
    “That might be true, but they’ve never treated us as inferiors, as they are right now!”
    “We declared them king and queen,” Denise’s jaw clenched as she spoke. “Let’s not forget they have our best interest at heart. Don’t you?” She turned in question, her raised chin making a show of her defiance for the leaders’ protests.
    “Yes,” Gavin answered sincerely, “of course we do.” He ushered Ava to my side and stepped around the table, assuming his leadership position, the one I still loved to see him own. When it came to speaking to the people, everything he was—genuine, compassionate, and humble—really shined. People just responded to him, naturally drawn to whatever it was he had to say. A quiet confidence really was sexier than a cocky display of dominance in my book, and Gavin had more than enough to go around.
    “Gentleman,” he began addressing them, then swiveling in place to include the Haven’s crowd of onlookers, “everyone, we don’t know anything yet. All we have is this new development, involving the Book of the Ancients. My daughter has apparently found something that might explain whatever is happening here, but other than that, we’re just as much in the dark as you are. Please believe me when I say that Camille and I will look into this and return with a full report. We’ve been in worse situations than this together, right? I might not have handled everything