“But am I still a spy?” Harlow scowled at her. Wherever Raven was going with this, it was insulting.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“I’m not. I never was.”
“I’m sorry. I just thought… because of your parents’ history with Eleanor.”
Harlow sighed. “My father is an opportunist. He’s not a bad man. He’s someone who tries to make the best of the situation he’s in. My mother goes along with whatever my father does. He never followed Eleanor because he liked her or even agreed with her politics. At home, it was clear he hated her. He just wanted the best for his family.”
“He was complicit in allowing her to continue in power.”
“Maybe so. Maybe the entire population of Paragon was too. I don’t recall her closing the borders to keep citizens from fleeing. No one knew for sure what was going on up here. The press wasn’t communicating the truth.”
Raven gave her a stern look. “Do you think I was too hard on your family, taking away his business?”
“I think you were right to speculate my family was part of the uprising. When you leave people desperate, they do desperate things. I’m sure it is tempting for my father, honestly. He has nothing. But he hasn’t, and he won’t because he believes in Paragon and in you.”
Raven frowned. “I am sorry, Harlow, but if Darium truly had nothing, he must take some responsibility. It’s been a year. Your father is highly skilled. I’m sure if he wanted to work, he’d have no trouble finding a position.”
Harlow scoffed. “Maybe, if he weren’t blacklisted.”
The queen scowled. “Who blacklisted him?”
“We don’t know. All we know is that the Silver Sunset is the only business in Paragon that would give us the time of day. And I suspect Roosevelt only hired me because he saw me with Marius. No one wants a past supporter of Eleanor’s on their payroll. No one wants to be associated with us.”
Raven pondered that for a few moments. “But you had savings… connections.”
“Our connections abandoned us the minute we carried a whiff of scandal, and our savings didn’t last. That is my parents’ fault, although in their defense, they had to deal with devastating change quickly. It threw them both into a horrible depression. They were slow to adapt, but understandably so.”
Raven looked at her quizzically. “If your father hasn’t been able to work this entire time, how have you survived?”
Harlow sighed. “I supported us by gambling in the pits. It’s why I was so interested in Marius. I used to watch him fight as a young girl, you know. I had such a crush on him. And then when he came back… To be honest, I thought he was larger than life. I just knew he would fight again.” She rubbed Marius’s hand between hers. “I convinced him to let me train him, and the money he paid me kept us afloat. And now, because of him, I have a position at the Silver Sunset. We’ve learned to live modestly. We’ll survive.”
She felt Raven studying the side of her head. “Of course you will. The heirs of Paragon always take care of their mates.”
Harlow scowled at her. “I’m not after Marius’s support or yours. My family and I work hard. We always have.” Her voice held an edge, and she knew she was pushing her luck speaking to the queen like this, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Do you know that my father physically touched every door he produced? Unlike Adradys, who leaves all the work to his apprentices, my father believed in what he did. He poured himself into his art. And yes, he was wealthy, but he earned his money. Paragon is a less beautiful place now that he can’t work.”
Gabriel glared at her with fire in his eyes. She turned her gaze back to Marius. “I’m sorry for raising my voice. I’m exhausted and worried for Marius and Charlie.”
“Don’t apologize. For what it’s worth, I didn’t understand the fallout on your family. I expected it to be a punishment, not a death sentence.”
Harlow said nothing. What could she say? It hadn’t been a death sentence, just a horribly hungry and difficult year.
“Anyway, if you want to catch the New Order, find out who is charming those flyers they leave at the Silver Sunset.”
“How do you know they call themselves the New Order?”
“I found one of the flyers. Roosevelt wanted me to throw it away, but I wanted to ask my parents about it in case they might have been approached. For all the reasons you mentioned, I thought they might be targets, and I wanted to give Marius any information I could get.”
“And what did you learn?”
“The flyer itself must have been enchanted because a man came to me in the street. When I pressed him about who he was, he ran away. I was planning to tell Marius, but we were sidetracked with… this. I haven’t had a chance to speak with my parents about it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Harlow saw Raven give Gabriel a long, hard look.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said.
“You’re welcome.” She turned back to Marius. “His hands feel warmer now.”
