“Sisters! It seems we have a new ally. Everyone raise a glass for the trolls!” she calls out, laughing.
The drunken stupor follows suit, and something akin to relief softens my shoulders. Allies were allies, even if it was feeling less and less like this would be a permanent solution.
As if reading my thoughts, Mrath extends a finger and bids me draw closer.
I do, feeling nausea grow with each step.
“I am a woman of my word. You and a team will go after your bride first,” she says.
Tension that’s been knotted tight in my chest for weeks starts to unravel.
“We will need several hundred to get her from Zlosa and?—”
She cuts me off with a tsking sound. “Never forget that I know far more than you. Rholker is preparing to hold himself a coronation.”
I blink. “And you wish to kill him during his coronation…?”
She shakes her head. “I think we should take your pretty mate home first. He’s quite obsessed, and I think it will weaken him to have her taken again. Then, we’ll give him a few weeks of him wallowing in loneliness to make a fool of himself in front of the giant court...”
“And then we relieve his body of the burden from his big head.”
She smiles and nods. “I like the way you think.”
I take another step closer. “Just how many of your assassins will you send with me?”
She taps a pointed fingernail to her lips. “Two dozen.”
“Twenty four women? That’s not?—”
“It will be enough because I say it. Do you understand?” she all but growls.
I glare back at her, flexing my jaw. “Of course.”
“Of course,” she mocks gently. Then she traces her finger over my cheek and across my lips. “Never forget that I am your only hope.”
The movement shocks me, it takes a second for the seal to set in.
Bound by magic.
With the ritual complete, she waves me away and relaxes on her throne. “So, dear king, please elucidate the facts for me—exactly what do you know of theCumhacht na Cruinne?” she asks suddenly.
I swallow, thinking back on Liana’s words. Before I’d left, the wise woman had explained the three orbs of power given to the king, the heir to the throne, and his firstborn daughter. The one with the most power would be declared sovereign.
Mrath looks over at Thorne, who nods. She winks at me.
“He can smell lies. Good thing you chose to be honest without forcing me to castigate your friends.”
“I know that it’s the greatest portion of gods-given power your people possess. Typically, it was meant for the king while the lesser potions of magic were given to the two royal children,” I say, repeating what Liana had told me.
Then she leans back on her throne of thorns. “Well well, youarestudious. Do you also know that was what your father stole from us during the Great War?”
I nod.
She smiles, pleased. “The court of the elves is a game of power—the one with the most wins. Arion wants the orb returned to him to solidify his rule. As the firstborn son,he has the greatest portion of power from my father. We will assist you with the giants, and you will bring me that artifact, which we will use to establish me as the new Queen of the Elves.”
I take a deep breath, still deeply mistrustful of the woman.
She laughs, exhilarated.
