“I don’t know,” I admit. “We’ve been careful in laying low. So careful that our own knowledge of what’s been going on has been limited. We didn’t know witches were placed amongst the courts until we visited Bouldercrest a few days ago.”
He sucks his teeth. “They’re trying toassimilatethem,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Just an excuse to justify placing them in our courts while they terrorize our people and slaughter our animals. Their goal, in my opinion, is to make us feel defeated. The fact that they tried to harm you means they’re escalating.”
I rub the nearly healed mark on my forearm from the witch’s dagger. “We were lucky.”
“How did you kill them?” August asks. “Their leathers make it difficult to harm them.”
“They must be imbued with dark magic,” Asmo says.
Ah, so that’s why my flames did nothing to their leathers. “The only thing that worked was when I set her on fire.”
August raises his eyebrows. “Impressive.”
I barely contain my grimace. Holly stares straight ahead with an empty gaze, and I want to kick myself.
“Fire and beheading should work,” Asmo says, completely oblivious.
“Noted. Okay, so…What’s the plan?” August asks, leaning back on the couch and spreading his legs, also completely oblivious.
“We’re not sure,” I admit. “We know something needs to be done about Marik and Cora. But we’ve been pretty helpless since it’s just been the five of us. We don’t have access to any kind of army to remove them. We don’t know what to do. We need your help.”
August leans forward, resting elbows on knees. “I know it might not seem like it, but we do have an advantage. They must be nervous that you’re out there somewhere and they have no clue where. So, we have two options. We can either tell the kingdom their secret—that Elle is pretending to be you—or we can use Elle on the inside.”
“No, absolutely not,” Holly says, shaking her head. “We can’t leave her in there. We have no idea what he’s doing to her.”
“All due respect, Holly, but I think that’s Elle’s choice,” Asmo replies. “It could work. We can find another way to get back in there and give her the option. Outing Marik and Cora would force their hand and give up the one advantage we have. Besides, who knows what they’ll do to Elle in retaliation? I like the idea of letting them think we’re weak while we’re secretly working against them. It gives us time to prepare without them attacking. And it keeps Elle safe.”
My body feels like it’s shrinking into itself with guilt. I didn’t even think about what they might do to Elle if we attack. And if I know her, she’ll sacrifice herself to help get us the information we need. “If—and that’s a bigif—we’re able to talk to Elle again, and she agrees to help us from the inside, you have to promise me that we’ll get her out the moment it gets too dangerous,” I say.
Asmo nods. “Deal.”
“And how are we going to do that?” August asks, kicking his feet up onto the solid white marble coffee table centered on the rug.
“I don’t know yet. We got in once. There’s got to be another way in. But I need more information on what’s going on. We’ve been secluded in cabins for the last month. We came to you for help,” I remind him, staring at him expectantly.
“Well, I wasn’t aware I’d be meeting with you all today. I would’veprepared my notes if I had known,” he says, then winks at me. Once, it would have made me blush. Now, it makes me feel warm in a different way. A familiar way. “Officially, the kingdom isn’t aware that Cora is working with Marik. Right now, everyone thinks that you and Marik have retreated into your castle and shut everyone out while you play honeymoon. Citizens are pissed about the tithe, but they were told by the High Crown that it’s necessary for the good of the kingdom.”
“What a crock of shit,” Asmo mutters.
“Something about taxes and increasing wages for farmers. Unofficially,” he continues, “Dark magic is spreading throughout the kingdom and people are terrified. It sounds like the Deer Court is the last court to get hit with it, but we’ve been dealing with it since the wedding. As I said, the High Crown has stationed covens of witches in each court. Theirpetshave been responsible for citizens and livestock getting attacked at night. When I brought this to Marik, he said he’d deal with it, but it’s only gotten worse.”
He stands and walks to a dry bar built into the stone wall. “Better yet,” he says with his back to us, “the witches are allowed to come into our manors at any time. And they’re the only guests allowed at the High Castle right now. They report everything back to Marik.”
“Is that what you meant when you asked me about—what was the name?” I ask.
He nods as he grabs a bottle of amber liquid. “Whiskey anyone?”
Holly and I shake our heads. Asmo waves his hand, floating the bottle over to him in response.
“Piss-poor manners,” August mutters as he grabs two glasses from the built-in shelf.
I clear my throat pointedly. “The name?”
August sinks back into the chair and hands Asmo one of the glasses. “Astrid. She’s been a problem. She’s the witch in command around here.”
“How many witches are there here?” Asmo asks as he pours the amber liquid. He floats the whiskey back to August.
August plucks the bottle from the air, uncorks it, and takes a swig. He grimaces as he swallows. “I think twenty-something, but more come every day. Two less now, thanks to you.”
