He sighed. “The former king passed unexpectedly and his son has taken the throne under…less than ideal circumstances. Incidents over there have reached a critical point, enough for them to make contact after so many centuries.”
I swallowed, my previous bitterness now at war with my curiosity. “I’m surprised you’re telling me this.”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t trust you?” he asked, cocking his head.
I felt as if I was being examined under a magnifying glass. Every move, every word was a test. Did he trust me? Did we trusteach other? It was all a mind game—a minefield of hidden traps, each step more precarious than the last.
“What do they want from you?” I asked slowly.
“Well, first and foremost, they wanted assurance that I didn’t have their king assassinated.”
“Didyou?”
His cold gaze pierced me. “You believe I would do such a thing?” His voice was quiet, controlled, but his words slithered across my skin like oil. “Who exactly do you think I am, dear niece?”
“Someone who takes what they think is theirs.” I shoved the book back in its place. “At least, that’s what you told the challengers, isn’t it? That we should be willing to do whatever it takes to gain what we want?”
His eyes narrowed as he crossed to his desk, letting my words hang in the dust and shadows of the room. Only when he pulled his chair out and took a seat did he respond, his attention now on the ink and parchment before him. “I have no interest in gaining anything beyond our borders, Miss Wolff, and I don’t appreciateyour insinuation. Now, if that’s the only reason you came here tonight, then?—”
“Fine,” I said, cutting him off and striding to his desk. I gripped the edge of the wood, and it bit into my fresh cut. “What aboutwithinour borders? Do you still care about what happens there?”
He met my gaze, something lethal lying in wait behind his mismatched blue and white eyes. “Speak candidly, niece. I grow tired of this game.”
My anger split open. “Your people are being attacked in the streets and you donothingto stop it. Do you even know what’s going on in the provinces? In your own capital?”
The air chilled several degrees, but Theodore stayed silent, baiting me.
I scoffed. “Allow me to enlighten you.” A warning in the back of my mind told me to stop, to beg forgiveness before I crossed a line, but the words flowed from my mouth unbidden. “The provinces arecrumbling. Those with stronger magic think they have the right to invade the weaker ones to the point where people living on the borders uproot their entire lives to find safety in Veridia City. Because that’s what they should find here—protection. A better life. Justice. Isn’t that what you want to give your people,uncle?” His eyes tightened, and that voice inside my head grew louder, a pounding rising in my bones. “Instead, they’re met with violence. Anyone considered an outsider, anyone deemed ‘less than,’ is tossed aside. Are you telling me you haven’t heard of the attacks happening beneath your very nose?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I am aware of certain extremists taking matters into their own hands, yes.”
“Then why aren’t youdoinganything about it? Is it because they’re too weak to deserve your attention?”
He held my stare. “Choose your next words very carefully.”
Taking a breath, I tried to calm my boiling blood, but it was like trying to rein in a tempest. “None of this would be happening if people didn’t think they could get away with it. If they don’t think our own emperor cares, why would anyone else?”
“Survival thrives on competition,” he said, his voice slow and imbued with power. “I have spent my reign ensuring this empire is mightier than ever before. My people have the strength to fight for what they need. To rise above what they used to be. You may not know what this land once looked like, what weaknesses the Veridians once had to endure, but I made a vow to cut that away.” He enunciated every word, his lips curling as if fighting a snarl. “Poverty is down. Hunger and disease are almost eradicated. People feelempowered.They know how to fend for themselves and pursue their desires, how to openly embrace their magic instead of shy away from it.Thatis the world I have created, Miss Wolff.Thatis what I have been doing for the people.”
I felt that same inkling I always felt in his presence, urging me to stop and consider his view, to take a step back and understand his point. But my cold fire chased it away, the memory of the ransacked house burning across my eyes.
“Have you ever thought we might be becomingtooreliant on that magic?” I pressed. “What you’ve created is a society based on conflict and superiority. Sure, some people may be better off, but only if their magic deems them worthy enough. And eventhatcomes from this ridiculous tournament.” I gritted my teeth, years of bitterness pouring out as my voice rose. My hair rustled against my chest, but I ignored it, my focus solely on the man before me. “What about the provinces whose magic is dying? Your ownhome? Who will fight for them? I’ve seen attacks at our borders. I’ve seen families beaten for nothing less than the type of magic running through their blood. Dowenot deserve the same empowerment?”
I broke off, chest heaving, only to find Theodore’s eyes trained on something behind me. Spinning around, the sight before me made me stagger back against his desk. My hand grappled for purchase on the slick wood. I looked down to find blood from my cut smeared across the surface.
“Wonderful,” he murmured. I swallowed thickly, taking in the scene.
Books and loose pages had floated from theirstacks and were suspended in midair. Inkwells, glass vials, packets of herbs, dried plants, every item lying around his study was floating of their own accord, hovering as if on an invisible cloud. Even the liquid from the vials was frozen, like miniature waterfalls free flowing from nothing.
Wind swirled again at my hair, and I glanced over at Theodore to find his long locks swaying at his neck.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Nothing.” He took a step around his desk. “This isyou, Rose.”
“But I—I didn’t even cast a spell. I wasn’t trying to do anything.”
He bore the same look of pride on his face that he had the day I used blood magic for the first time, but this expression was laced with something more. Something that made my feet shuffle backward.
