Of course, I could change her nature to one of truthfulness. But that could be inherently dangerous. She could tell the truth to the wrong person, and it could get her, or us, killed.
On the other hand, here I am with a golden medallion unlike any other Blacksmith’s, and Dusana may well believe I’m using its power, even if I’m not…
My left hand snaps out faster than Dusana can take a breath, connecting with the side of her face. “Speak the truth.”
She freezes, her eyes flying wide, but they fill with tears. “Ihateyou! If you’d only died in that cave, like Karasi wanted?—”
“Like Karasi wanted? Karasi made a show of keeping me alive.”
“She’s always playing two games. One in plain sight and the other in the shadows. Officially, her orders were to give you safe passage. Unofficially, I was sent to kill you.”
I wish I was surprised by this. “You failed.”
“Which is why I was publicly beaten. Not because I disobeyed an order.”
“Did Elowynn know?”
Dusana snorts. “Elowynn knew nothing.”
“Where is she now?”
“Chained in a filthy prison.”
“Why?”
Why would Karasi chain her own champion?
“Karasi told me to follow your brother and sister into the east. I was to make sure they never made it to their destination. I simply had to drop some apple seeds from the sky, and the darkness would come for them.” Dusana exhales heavily. “My orders were to scoop Thaden up before the darkness got him and bring him back to Karasi.”
“Why Thaden?”
“Because he was changed into a dragon. He must know how it was killed.”
Of course, the Fae Queen would be desperate to know how to kill a dragon. Erik didn’t reveal his claws to me until after we’d left the fae castle and only a handful of people know about Galeia.
“I didn’t realize Elowynn was following me,” Dusana continues. “She saved Gallium and got in my way before I could get Thaden. When we returned to the castle, Karasi flew into arage, called us traitors, and imprisoned us. She only released me to send me here.”
“What of my brother?”
Dusana’s shoulders are slowly sinking. “The last I saw of him, Karasi was keeping him like a pet. If he does something she doesn’t like, Elowynn pays the price.”
My blood boils. I don’t know enough about the dynamic between Gallium and Elowynn, but I know how much it will kill him for someone else to be hurt in his stead. “What about Elowynn’s sister, Gliss?”
“Also in prison. She’s refusing to tell Queen Karasi what the dragons are thinking.”
Before I left the fae castle, Gliss revealed to me that she alone could slip into a dragon’s mind and decipher their thoughts. She explained that dragons aren’t like other creatures. Their thoughts are complex and concealed with light magic, the purest kind. She told me that she was withholding information from her Queen and that if Karasi found out, she would be punished for it.
I want to ask Dusana more, but even if I’m not forcing her to tell the truth, my contact with her mind tells me she’s exhausted.
I will only get one more answer out of her.
“If Elowynn is in prison and you are now our captive, who will be Karasi’s champion?”
“I don’t know,” Dusana whispers, meeting my eyes. “I fear she might fight for herself.”
I remove my hand from Dusana’s face, and she slumps to the ground.
Erik has reached my side and his grim expression tells me he heard everything.
