Lies. More lies. But who is lying? What is truth? Could Maldrak really have noble motives?
“Well, I can’t take down The Decay. I don’t have the fifth relic so my magic is still partially bound,” I say in a desperate attempt to delay…everything.
Maldrak waves a hand at me dismissively, “A simple problem, with a simple solution, no doubt. And where are the rest of the relics?”
With Kael in Thornewood.
“I don’t know,” I lie, and he knows it.
He huffs a laugh, “That’s a problem for another day. Today, is about your choices. As I said, it’s not my preference to kill you, Elyssara. I’d rather you choose all of this. By taking down The Decay, it would remove our reliance on Dravara for food and medicine. We’d prosper again, I can stop sending them threvenar, and your people would remember your bloodline once more—your birthright.” Maldrak stands, striding around the room in a grand fashion as if he’s speaking to a room of nobles. “You’d rule over the Dravari people as you were always meant to—rule all of Aevryn with me. I’d help you take your vengeance on Thalmyr for what he did to your parents and your people. I’ll even help you exact vengeance upon Kael. He’s replaceable now that he’s delivered you to me.”
My stomach sours. Kael’s image races through my mind—a dream or a nightmare, I’m not sure. I need to get out of here. I need to get back to Ronyn and Seren. To escape Aevryn. Kael once mentioned other continents. Caeloria? Nymeris? I’ll go there, seek refuge, find a way to help Dravara.
“I’ll bring down The Decay for you… on one condition,” I declare instead, infusing my voice with a bravado I don’t feel.
“There’s the Queen of Dravara,” Maldrak croons, eyes lighting up. “Yes?”
“Grant me my freedom in exchange for The Decay,” I assert boldly.
Maldrak stares at me for a long time, my bare skin feeling more and more on display with every passing heartbeat. I’m rudely aware of the dress—the way the bodice cuts into my skin, the way my exposed thigh gleams in the flicker of candlelight.
Maldrak breaks his silence. “I would love to grant you this, Elyssara.Really. But you see, the Dravari people won’t accept me as ruler without you by my side. I’d be nothing but a conqueror to them. You, however, would have their loyalty—especially their Starborn army. I need you, so no. You won’t be leaving Kryntar until I get what I want.”
“So if I don’t choose all of this?” I snarl, memory of Fern’s words returning to me.That is… not an option.
He huffs in annoyance. “Elyssara, if you prove incapable of taking down The Decay, well then, you’re useless to me other than the god’s magic in your veins. I’ll keep you for breeding, and to sit forcibly on the throne by my side to appease the Dravari people. But as I said, that’s not my preference.”
The blood drains from my face. The thought of living out the rest of my days as a tool for conquering lands or a broodmare for a divine army turns my blood to ice.
“He’ll come for me,” I whisper again, almost inaudibly, a desperate clawing thing dragging out of my chest.
Maldrak lets out an exasperated sigh, “Elyssara, Kael is not coming. He is loyal to the crown, and will not go against his orders. I need you to be willing to work with me on this, so until then, I have to send you back to the dungeons. I can’t risk a magical outburst while you’re still so emotional. Guard!” Maldrak calls to the oak doors, and they swing inward almost instantly. “Take Elyssara back to the dungeons. Now!”
The guard drags me from my chair and snakes the lillath chains around my wrists again. I hiss in pain as the chains sear the skin around my wrists, but I know this is what I need to do.
Because if I know anything about Kael Thorne, it’s that following orders goes against his very nature. Kael’s not loyal to Maldrak.
He’s coming.
He has to.
CHAPTER SIX
KAEL
Council Hollow crackleswith hot tension, like the living hum in the air after a storm. Seren and Ronyn eye me with urgent intensity—the kind that demands action now. Answers, bloodshed, strategy. Something.Anything. Eldric, Lady Sylvaine, Varian—they’re all ready to play political chess. Waiting for orders, calculating plans, sharpening their mental fortitude.
I know it’s needed—people who can wage wars with their words. Because it can’t be me. I am no politician. I am a war hammer. A honed blade. A disciple of bloodshed.
“Lady Sylvaine,” I say while fixing her with my stare, “prepare for travel and secure passage to Nymeris. We need Queen Ilyra’s army—if we’re successful in taking back the throne of The Wastes, we’ll have Dravara rattling the gates for threvenar before we can even take a fucking bath in Kryntar Castle. We need Nymeris holding the line at The Joining while we replenish, gather allies.”We fucking need them.
“Understood, my prince,” she bobs her head courteously. “I’ll send a missive with news as soon as I have it.”
I nod curtly, and swing my attention to Eldric. “Queen Maireth is elusive, Eldric. She knows a political maneuver whenshe sees one, and won’t be played—she needs to know we’re a strong ally. She’s a kingmaker, and we need to make fucking sure that she makes the right one.”
Eldric straightens in his chair and clears his throat—a sign that he’s about to tell me something he’d rather not. “Kael, I will do my best—you know I will. But it is worth noting that if she were to look at Zerynthia and Dravara as potential allies based on resources alone, she would be stupid to side with us. We have a small unit of warriors, meager provisions, next to no additional weaponry, and at present, no castle or kingdom to speak of.” Eldric holds my stare, but there’s only pity in his eyes. He’s not trying to be conceited, he’s just stating the very raw truth.
I pause for a moment, weighing my options. “You know her better than anyone on the war council, Eldric. What would sway her?”
