The gathering above quieted as Allie’s energy stormed. I needed to return, quickly.
“Who sent you here?” I asked. “Beren?”
“Don’t insult me.”
At least she still saw Beren as the foulness stuck to a boot that he was. “Then who? The one who attacked the Protectorate wedding?”
Silence.
An opening.
Something to crack this shell of insanity she hid under.
“The coward who still hasn’t shown their face?” I asked.
“Don’t you dare speak of him like that,” she bit out.
Finally. A lead.
“Do you seehimanywhere?” I splayed my hands out to the sides. “If he was at the wedding, he failed in whatever he was trying to accomplish–”
“He did not!”
“And if he showed his face during the war, he lost.” Gods helping, he was dead. But that would have been too easy. Nadya was obviously convinced he was still alive. “From where I’m standing, he’s a loser–”
“Shut up!” she said so viciously, spit dribbled down her chin. “The true heir will prevail and he will burn you all for what you did to him.”
I blinked the stupor away. Who in gods’ name was this pathetic being that sent children to do his dirty work and contorted their minds so much that they considered it some great opportunity?
“What did we do to him?” I asked calmly instead.
Her eyes steeled with hatred. She realized she’d said too much. “You know your sins better than me.”
“That’s why you never wanted to step foot in our temples or crypt.” I shook my head. “Whatever–or whoever–you believe in has warped your mind.”
“He set it free,” she grumbled.
“Nadya, you’re imprisoned in the dungeons with an entire city asking for your head because of your murders. How is thisfree?”
More silence.
I stared at her. This was the kind of foolish obstination I didn’t know how to fight.
“Why is thisheirtrying to destroy Solkar’s Reach?” I asked.
“He’s not. He’s making it return to its true glory.”
“Before it was a crater, only a patch of dirt existed here. So I’m assuming he’s referring to the giant falling star that burned everything in its wake, which doesn’t seem so glorious–but probably what would happen under the watch of a coward like him.”
She clenched her jaw. “The crater’s not very happy under your watch, so that would only be an improvement.”
“You caused this chaos.”
She scoffed. “I did a lot of shit, but I can’t take credit for this.”
“Then who can?”
“You.”
