With my arms folded over my chest, I glanced around the room, but not a single person had stopped talking. I tried to give my dad a look, encouraging him to speak louder, but he wasn’t looking at me.

“If I could, uh, have your attention,” Dad said, and I could barely even hear him at the back of the room.

“Hey!” Ridley shouted and clapped his hands together. He grabbed a chair, stealing it from a tracker in the front row, and then he climbed up on it. “Everyone. Shut up. The Chancellor needs to speak to you.”

The room finally fell silent, and my dad gave him a smile. “Thank you.”

Ridley hopped down off the chair, then offered the chair to my dad. “The floor is yours, sir.”

“Thank you,” Dad repeated, and with some trepidation, he climbed up onto the chair. “I want to thank you all for coming out for this. I know it was short notice.” He smiled grimly. “We’ve got a lot of great trackers here, and even some of the Högdragen. So thank you.

“Let’s get right into it, then.” Dad held his papers at his waist and surveyed the room. “We have reason to believe that our changelings are under attack. Last week, Konstantin Black and an Omte associate of his, Bent Stum, went after Linus Berling.”

Murmurs filled the room, and I could hear Konstantin’s name in the air. Dad held up his hand to silence them, and reluctantly they complied.

“As most of you know, Konstantin Black is considered a traitor for crimes against the King and Queen, and, um, the Chancellor, specifically.” He lowered his eyes for a moment, but quickly composed himself. “He’s been on the run for the past four years, and we’re not exactly sure what he wants with the changelings, but this no longer appears to be an isolated incident.

“Yesterday, Konstantin Black and Bent Stum attempted to take another one of our changelings,” Dad went on. “He assaulted a tracker, but thankfully, both she and the changeling weren’t seriously injured and made it back to Doldastam.”

“You think he’s going after other changelings?” someone in the audience shouted.

“Yes, that’s exactly what we fear,” Dad said. “There’ve been two incidents with Konstantin Black in the past seven days. We don’t want a third. Which is why we’ve called you all here.”

“Are we going after Konstantin?” Kasper asked, and I straightened up.

“We don’t know where he is, or where he’s going to strike next, so that doesn’t seem prudent,” Dad did his best to explain. “We’re going after the changelings.”

Everyone erupted in protests, saying how it wasn’t possible or how it would ruin our economy. With over five hundred changelings between the ages of four months and twenty years old out in the field, we didn’t have the manpower to bring back every changeling, and it would cripple our finances if we did. Not to mention that a lot of the changelings were still just kids, many under the age of ten. The American and Canadian police would have a field day if we kidnapped hundreds of children.

“Calm down!” Ridley shouted. “We have a plan, and before you guys get your panties in a bunch, you should at least listen to what it is, don’t you think?”

“Konstantin’s attacks haven’t been random,” Dad elaborated, once the room quieted down again. “The first changeling he went after was Linus Berling, who as you all know is next in line for the throne if the King doesn’t produce an heir. The one he targeted yesterday was Charlotte Salin, who is right behind Linus in line for the throne.

“He’s going after royalty,” Dad concluded.

“But how is he getting this information?” Tilda asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting had started. “It’s classified. Almost no one has access to it.”

“We’re not sure, but we’re investigating,” Dad assured her.

“As soon as we find the leak, we’ll be able to find Konstantin and put a stop to this,” Ridley added.

“But until then, we need to keep ourselves protected,” Dad said. “That means more protection here in Doldastam, which is where the Högdragen come in. Linus Berling and Charlotte Salin need extra guards on them. The front gate needs to be locked at all times, and we need to instate a patrol to go around the wall. Doldastam must be impenetrable.

“As for the rest of the trackers, you’ll be going out to get our more elite changelings that are coming of age. We think that’s who Konstantin will target next, and we want you to get to them before he does.” Dad pulled out his papers, looking down at them. “I’ve got all the placements right here. When I call your name, come up and get your file, and then you’re to leave as soon as you’re able.

“Tilda Moller and Simon Bohlin, you’ll be paired together,” Dad began.

“Paired together?” Tilda asked as she stood up.

“Oh, yes, after the incidents, we thought it would be best for the trackers to be paired up,” Dad explained. “Both for your safety and for the changelings’.”

“But what if we don’t need to be paired up?” I protested, and Tilda gave me a look as she made her way to the front of the room.

“Everyone is paired up. No exceptions,” Dad told me without looking up.

“But we’re wasting resources,” I insisted. “We only have so many trackers. If we pair up, then you’re cutting our number in half. If we went on our own, we could get twice as many changelings.”