I sucked in a breath. “How do you know about Silas?”
Of all the people I expected Lioran to talk about today, my uncle was at the bottom of the list.
“As I said, I came prepared.” He grinned snidely. “As soon as Silas took the throne, he tried to make a pact with the Northern Clans, which we led him to believe we accepted. He wanted support for taking the throne.”
My jaw ticked. The Protectorate hadneverdebased itself by making pacts with the Northern Clans, of all people.
“What did he offer you for this support?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“Information about you. And your cousins.”
Dax and I exchanged a hurried glance that Ryker did not miss. But he didn’t probe, despite the curiosity wafting off him.
“Surely, he didn’t tell you anything about Clara,” Dax said. “The least he could do is protect his own daughter.”
A bubble of sharp laughter escaped me. “Silas has proven he only cares about himself. What exactly did he reveal?”
“Nothing we didn’t already know,” Lioran said. “And a lot of useless information. As if we cared about abandoned libraries and that your thumb ring is named Fanglore.”
“He also gave you wrong information, it seems,” Ryker said.
Because he had paid enough attention to know my precious ring was called Fangloop, which I might have mentioned only once or twice. Despite fighting the very real urge to scream at Lioran and maybe cave Silas’ head in, warmth spread through me as I gave Ryker a small smile.
Dax also relaxed. If Silas had revealed the truth about him, it would’ve been the most important secret the Northern Clans could have gotten their greedy hands on.
Which begged the question–why hadn’t Silas said anything about him?
He’d proven he didn’t have the heart, so there was no reason to protect Dax’s identity.
Or maybe Lioran just hadn’t been privy to that conversation.
“Did he contact any other Clans?” I asked.
“Didn’t care all that much to ask,” Lioran said. “Beren dealt with it. He dealt with everything.”
“And you just followed,” Ryker said. All the emotion he’d kept from his words swirled inside of him, gnawing on his mind. “Did you teach Nadya how to infiltrate the crater?”
“I only became aware of the girl’s existence when she came to us before the attack. I doubt Edrin knew either. He doesn’t care about anything if it’s not at the bottom of a bottle or tucked inside his mistress’ bosom–”
Dax rolled his eyes. “And he calls us melodramatic.”
“It’s the truth,” Lioran protested, shimmying his bound hands. In fact, he was twitching everywhere.
I narrowed my eyes. “What else?”
His nostrils flared.
“You want sanctuary,” I said, unflinching. “Earn it.”
“You were right, Huntress,” he said. “These times have changed you. I warned Beren not to go against Dria Vegheara’s descendants. But he never listened to anything other than his own voice and greed.”
Neither of us spoke, letting the silence enact the pressure for us.
“Whatever messages Beren had to send, he used the shards' reflection to do it. I’m honestly curious how she replied,” Lioran said at last. “But you’re asking the wrong questions. Nadya was only a pawn. Raised to be one. Will die one.”
“Careful, Lioran,” was all Ryker needed to say to get the man to fidget in his seat more. “She wrecked enough to be important.”
“And knows enough to be dangerous,” I said.
