“Yes, she was very kind. Motherly,” I add.
“She liked you very much.”
“I liked her, too.” I smile.
“It’s unfortunate that she met her end in such a gruesome fashion. The poison wasn’t quick. Horrible to witness. My doctors couldn’t do anything. Not even reduce her pain. We had to sit there and watch her suffer until it finally took her.”
My stomach twists, and real tears blur my vision. My throat is so tight I can’t speak. Nobody should have to meet their end that way.
“Don’t worry, Princess. We’ve suspected a spy in our midst for a couple of weeks. We thought they were after you, actually.”
“Why me?” I ask.
“To prevent the alliance, of course,” he says.
I turn away from him, my mind a swirling tangle of thoughts. Of course, they’d suspect that. It’s exactly what the rebels did, and he doesn’t know they’d already succeeded.
But what if there’s others who want the princess dead?
I scan the room and find Brevan watching my every move. The tiniest smirk tugs at his lips when he catches my eye. He knows I was searching for him. I look away, my cheeks heating.
“They still might be after you, but when I showed up as a weak old man, they must have thought they could get to me.” The emperor leads me into a gentle spin.
I thought the same, so I don’t doubt him. I swallow hard, unsure of how I should respond to this information.
“But you don’t need to worry. Brevan will stay with you until they’re caught. And we will catch them. We always do.” He returns his hand to my lower back, resuming the dance.
“I’m glad you’re alright,” I finally say. “And I do feel safer with your enforcer guarding me. But I also wonder if that’s a waste of his skills?”
“His relic hunting can wait,” he says. “He only returned to Pendralia the day before you arrived. Spent the last two years tracking relics in the mountains near the Iskvalandian border. He even met your father a few times.”
“Two years?” I don’t mean to blurt it out, but it isn’t possible. If he’s been away all this time, Brevan couldn’t have killed my brothers or started that fire. If the Emperor is telling the truth, that means Lee lied to me. Why would he do that?
“I know that must seem like nothing to you. You’ve given up your home forever. And I should thank you for that. Your sacrifice—leaving your homeland and your kingdom to wed a stranger—will save so many lives.”
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Brevan hasn’t been in Pendralia for two years, but the emperor’s words only get worse.
“Save lives? Caiden told me you intend to give the Iskvalandian army magic. That you’re going to invade the Shatterlands.”
“That’s true. But they have wild magic. And they’re cultivating new relics from the stardust they mine. If we don’t stop them, they’ll be more powerful than the gods themselves.”
“Isn’t that blasphemy?” I ask.
“Why do you think the gods allow me to live so long? They have tasked me with this righteous purpose.”
“I’m lucky I’m here, then. And that I can help in my own way,” I say.
“I have a feeling you’ll help more than you realize.” He spins me again, then pulls me closer. Bile climbs up my throat and I resist the urge to push him away from me.
“I hear you spend a lot of time in the empress’s temple.”
“I do,” I agree.
“Then you are familiar with the prophecy of light.”
I nod.
“My wife thought it would be me and her, but alas, she didn’t receive light magic when she visited the temple. And the gods never saw fit to grant me shadows. Though, they gave them to my son. It must be him. When you enter the temple, you will ask them to make you a wielder of light. We haven’t seen one in three centuries. And the last one was killed before she could find her match.”
