As soon as Cordelia, Valeria, and the children were brought to Nevermere, into the palace where Sylas was residing temporarily as he crafted enchanted shields for Nevermere, he was immediately informed of their arrival and why. He had made immediate action at that point, but not to see the new Arynnite visitors. No, instead he hurried to make his way home right away. Using the necklace that would portal him to it's other half, he appeared in his bedroom in Arynn Frey. Kezia was not there. She had left the necklace behind when she left, something he was still burying behind a turmoil of emotion that he had not let anyone see.

The walls shook and trembled, plaster and stone falling in pieces from the ceiling. By the time he made it to the throne room he was far too late. The Eldouir were gone, Ophelia was gone, only Akagi's body as the peacekeepers worked to move him. The looked up at Sylas as he approached them, hesitant in their actions now that Akagi's brother was there. Sylas said noting to them, only gave a brief not to assure them to continue. He stared down at the lifeless body of his brother, his king with no expression. Sylas had always been good at hiding how he was really feeling behind a blank mask. Inside there was turmoil, fury, and anguish. Inside, something dark was cracking.

The peacekeepers took away the body as Sylas stood motionless for a long time. Finally it seemed he'd come back to himself. He blinked and inhaled a deep breath. His gloved fingers stretched out at his sides and he turned on his heel. There was no time to wallow in grief. There was only one person he cared to see right now, Ophelia. It didn't take long to find her and he stepped into the room shortly after Cordelia had, seeing the two women embracing as he entered. He stepped inside but kept his distance from joining in their sorrow.

He had never been good with words, he was a man of action, and he had always struggled to be sensitive or thoughtful. He waited for a only a moment to give them time to embrace before he spoke. "Lorelle is too young to rule," he said, the statement obvious. "I will act as Regent until she comes of age." After all, if Akagi did not have a child, then the lineage of rule would naturally fall to him and he certainly couldn't allow Ophelia to do so. Unlike her daughter, she had no Arynnite blood and Sylas was not going to simply hand over his kingdom to Nevermere. He had nothing against the woman. He rather liked seeing how happy she had made Akagi but this was not about feelings and sentiment. This was about order.

Ophelia’s expression remained unchanged as she embraced Cordelia. She hugged her tightly for a moment before pulling back, looking up at the woman with sorrowful eyes but with her mouth in a firm line.

“Lorelle is to be brought to Arynn Frey,” Ophelia said with firmness, but kindness, “It is not a request, Cordelia.” She squeezed the woman’s arm with affection. Nodding to one of the witches. “Assist the peacekeepers outside. Lady Usher and Lorelle are to come at once. That’s an order.” The witch would set off to do her bidding. Ophelia was still queen, one who had goodwill among her people. It was unlikely that the peacekeeper and the witch would disobey the order when given once more.

It was then that she turned to Sylas. Admittedly, Ophelia had hardly noticed him. Akagi’s brother had always existed on the fringes, and though there was no ill will there was certainly no closeness between them. But she had always understood Sylas and Akagi’s relationship to be one of mutual respect and affection. And so with that, the prince’s next words surprised her.

“Your brother’s body is not yet cold,” Ophelia said, tone level but eyes wide, "Can you give no moment for his loss?"

Sylas dropped his gaze down to the floor. Kezia had been the one to encourage sensitivity in him and since her departure he found it harder and harder to find that skill in himself again. Perhaps he'd only had it because he was feeding off of her own powers of empathy. He was grieving, of course he was, but he could separate his duties from his personal sorrows into separate parts of himself. He would grieve on his own time. He didn't like to share that with others but he forgot that not everyone shared that preference.

As he aunt reached for him to squeeze his arm he had to fight the urge to try to avoid her touch, allowing her to do so but it provided the opposite of comfort. Only Kezia had ever been able to touch him without him feeling like his skin was crawling. He had to admit though that it was a sense of relief when his mother entered, a familiar sense of control that did provide him with comfort.

"My apologies," Sylas stated, looking up from the floor and to Ophelia. He moved towards her though did not reach out to try to physically comfort her. "I know how hard it is to lose the one you love," he said, looking into her soft eyes. He'd lost Kezia twice after all, though no one knew about the second, and though he thought she was dead the first time it had not been true in the end. "I did not intend to overstep. You and Akagi were the happiest I've ever seen another couple. I am so sorry you have to go through this," he said to her.

Ophelia’s eyes did not leave Sylas, even as his mother entered as a new figure in the mourning party now forming. It was only after the prince’s gaze fell that Ophelia let her attention drift to Kimora Llewellyn . Her relationship with her mother-in-law had never been overly warm—Arynnites or Nevermereans did not tend toward such things, after all, particularly royals. But there had always been respect between them, and on Ophelia’s part, admiration. And they had both loved Akagi. And they’d both lost him. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at the once queen. They swam with love, with sympathy, with all the raw emotion of the moment lay bare on the Nevermean’s face. She responded to Sylas, though her eyes remained on Kimora.

“We have all lost A—Akagi,” His name almost would not come, “—and so we will go through this together,” Ophelia said, though the words seemed more for Kimora than for the one who’d spoken. After a thoughtful pause, Ophelia let out a shuddering breath, shoulders falling a little as she did.

“Your point is well made, Aunt. The children will stay in Nevermere for now.” This wasn’t a battle Ophelia was going to fight, and certainly not at the expense of alienating Cordelia Olivarius —someone she hoped would remain an ally. For the first time, Ophelia addressed Sylas Llewellyn directly.

“The safety of those in this room is my primary concern. The king had already arranged for witches to aid the training of peacekeepers, and no doubt Commander Hadrian Usher will offer more if asked. I will speak to him. At the same time…” Ophelia looked about the room, “The Eldouirs a sin of Lorendale that has twice visited Arynn Frey. We should not hasten to shed Arynnite blood for Lorendale’s sake. They must mend what has been broken; until then, we protect our own.” She looked to Cordelia Olivarius . She was the acting king’s hand, so she would continue to look to her for guidance. “Augustus Rainecourt was once ambassador to Arynn Frey. Once the palace is secure, we must make contact with him. The queen is within the Eldouirs' grasp, but perhaps the prince is still within reach.” She looked to Sylas Llewellyn …to address the elephant he’d led into the room.

“There will be time to discuss the future. But at present, there is only time for action. I will be my husband’s voice, so long as—as I can still hear it.” Ophelia swallowed as her voice quivered with grief.

Like his mother, Sylas did not much appreciate Ophelia’s words. Any of them. Though particularly the last. The Llewellyn family had lost their position as true rulers once before to the council and Kimora had taken it back. He certainly wasn’t about to step aside and let Nevermere do the same. Without Akagi, Ophelia was even less of of one of them as ever before.

He glanced at his mother from the corner of his eye but he too remained silent for now as the questions were asked around the room. He hadn’t been privy to the information either. Unfortunately only Ophelia was likely to have any answers at this point.

Ophelia nodded in grave agreement at Cordelia’s words. Yes, the Elduoir were Lorendale’s responsibility. Lorendale had failed and would be held to account. She would answer both Cordelia and Kimora’s questions as one, for both were similar in effect—the why and how, intertwined.

“They came to demand the return of Elena Eldouir. When I heard—I tried to make it in time, but I wasn’t. Quick enough. They murdered him.” Ophelia swallowed, shaking her head. “I don’t understand. Why would he let them in the palace? Why greet them alone, without guard, if he knew they were coming?” She looked at Cordelia.

"You were with him before you came to fetch me. What is it he said?"

Cordelia swallowed at Ophelia's words. It was up to her now to tell them what had happened, but would she speak the truth, or only part of it?

She put her hands in front of her and sighed shortly, closing her eyes for a moment. "We were discussing Elena." And now a lie or a truth would follow. And she chose the lie. "He- he had suggested doing some experiments on Elena, since we had her in our care. We had talked about asking Lorendale to experiment with Gifted, and he thought Elena was a good starting point. See if we could extract her power, that sort of thing. Eventually, he asked me to harvest Elena's soul, so he could make an enchantment with it to protect Arynn Frey. We were admiring the diamond which holds her soul when Captain Commander Usher used his portal key to tell us the Eldouir were on their way to fetch Elena." She looked at Ophelia. "He had hoped to make an enchantment with her soul before they arrived. I don't know why he went to meet them alone. I don't know what he told them, but I suspect he told them that he had taken her soul." She swallowed. "He had said since it was his idea, be would take responsibility for it."

The pure disgust she felt for herself and her lies settled in, but due to the circumstances, her teary eyes could easily be contributed to Akagi's death. Cordelia had been a close advisor for many years, and not once had she lied. People would have no reason to think she just did.