Page 81 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

‘I’ll admit, Romero’s attempts to usurp my throne and execute me, distracted me from the threat of the empress.’ His smile slipped as I refused to accept his bait. ‘And if we allow our squabbles, our feuds and disputes of the past, to blind us to the real threat now, it won’t be long until it’s not only Asmar being crushed under her twisted heel.’

I cast my gaze around the room, at the begrudging shuffles and muted ayes.

‘For the time being, Raine and I have put aside our differences.’ I met their gaze, ‘They’re still there and if, Evella bless us, we’re the victors in this war, those differences won’t suddenly vanish. But at least then we’ll have the opportunity to reshape Asmar, Shutera and The Alliance. The world will be a clean page, the words written ours to mark it. But we need to hear the Insurgence out.’ I met Raine’s stare, inclining my head. ‘Raine has learnt of some developments. You’ll notice the absence of the Brotherhood. There’s a reason for that.’

Raine stood, their jaw tight, glancing around the chamber before meeting my gaze. I nodded. Ready to speak the words, they signed. If we did survive this, I’d ensure signing was taught to every child so Raine wouldn’t be beholden on someone to translate their words for them.

‘For the last few months, we’ve suspected the empress had more… detestable aims.’ Someone grumbled as Hawk pushed through. I glanced down quickly, frowning as Sorrow sat coiled, her hand slipping to rest on her thigh. Raine tapped the table.

‘Sorry,’ I signed. ‘We have eyes and ears in as many places as we can. The Brotherhood, under Abbot Eiriulf, refuses to work with us. As the abbot has clearly aligned himself with the empress, we warned Queen Enfys against speaking to them, eliminating the risk of alerting the abbot to our plans.’

I raised a brow. I may still blame them for my father’s demise, but my judgements of the Insurgence were constantly shifting. They clearly had a finger on the pulse of politics, and their intel was valuable. Perhaps I should have listened to Mother. Perhaps, there was a place for them in the new Alliance.

‘Our spies, in both the Brotherhood and Asmar, have worrying reports. On the outside, she appears to be a tyrant, intent on destruction. Wiping the culture, history, records of each nation from existence. But our spies look deeper. They’ve noted her interest in certain areas of our world, The Chronicles. She’s tortured religious experts, those with interest in mythical antiquities of the Gods. We feel she’s on a path intent on our destruction.’

The crowd sat up. I almost forgot to translate as Raine spoke the impossible. My skin prickled as I recalled Musa’s breaking voice barely reaching through the dungeon bars. The warnings he’d been unable to divulge. He’d known…

‘We now know she is in possession of two fragments of the “Heart of Vyrus”.’

Sorrow gasped, her eyes locked on Hawk. He rested his arms against his knees, leaning closer, hunger burning in his gaze.

‘She took one from Yepana – the one she’s been using to control the tattooed. She now owns one from the Palace of Solace⁠—’

I stared at them. Surely, they’d got it wrong. ‘Sorry,’ I asked, my breath catching. ‘Could you repeat?’

Raine signed again, and my stomach lurched.

I dragged my hair from my eyes, remembering the ruby Sorrow had worn the night I’d set Danté on his arse. The one Father had gifted my mother when they became engaged. The one matching the ring she’d given Sorrow. My eyes darted to Sorrow’s leg, to where her white fingers gripped the ring in her pocket. She shook her head at me in warning. The message was clear: keep the ruby a secret.

‘The Palace of Solace…’

The room erupted. Cries of traitor, just like his father, slammed into my chest.

‘Enough.’

We all jumped as Sorrow’s fists slammed against the table. ‘I’m the one who struggles with my vision and even I can see Matthias had no idea. Let Raine continue.’

She sat back, her chin high, and damn if my pants didn’t just get a bit tighter. I crossed my arms, looked pointedly at Raine.

‘The empress is in possession of half of the Heart of Vyrus. She has her abbot scouring rare texts, some in the old language. At this moment, we’ve come to one conclusion.’ Raine stopped signing, their eyes boring into mine, a silent message to just repeat what they signed without a reaction. I nodded, clenching my trembling fists as realisation coated me with ice. ‘We need to keep the remaining pieces away from her. We think she wants to… raise Vyrus. To allow the God of Vengeance to finish what he started.’

I glanced to Sorrow as the room stilled. If anyone knew the texts and legends, it would be her. Surely she’d have some opinion. She swallowed as her gaze remained on the Deviant. I glanced across as he met her stare, his head tilted, and a burst of anger rallied in my chest. If he continued glaring at my wife like that, I’d tear over this table and⁠—

Raine tapped an annoyed beat, and I apologised again.

‘She seems intent on reaching Drufaera, where she’ll have access to Vyrus’s temple, the volcano. It seems that destination is the key to her resurrecting the God. We have suspicions about the location of a third section…’ Skye’s grip tightened, and I wondered if she recalled the matching ring to the necklace that she’d played dress up with as a child. ‘Though if we secretly hide it from the empress, we reduce her opportunity to obtain it.’ Raine raised their hands. ‘The fourth, final section appears to be lost, but we know the empress is prepared to raze the world to locate it. Our focus needs to be on keeping the two remaining pieces of the heart out of the empress’ reach. In one turn of the sun, we’ll meet back here. Give us time to plan, research.’ They looked in Sorrow’s direction as she tore her eyes away from Hawk, her lips pale. ‘Come up with a plan. As long as we set our differences aside, Queen Amala will allow us to remain. As King Matthias says, we have to find a way to come together in harmony, or else we’ll burn in her fire.’

They crossed their arms; a signal they’d shared the dire information. Skye finally released her grip. Those gathered glanced around. Their shock was a bitter taste tainting the air. I reached towards Sorrow and gripped her hand, slumping into my chair.

‘We’re fucked,’ I said, rubbing my thumb along her spiking pulse. ‘So very fucked.’

Her head snapped in my direction. ‘That ruby. I never wear gems, never, and something drew me to that damned ruby. Did you know?’ she whispered.

I cocked my head, ‘You think I’d let you wear the shattered heart of a God? A God you were supposed to be sacrificed to? I knew the empress was using it to control me. Mother had a suspicion her ring was a shard of the same heart. But… The empress has used it to do horrible things. You… you don’t know what the empress…’ Visions swirled in my head and suddenly I struggled for air. The old man, the child, the death she clung to like a shroud – and I closed my eyes. Sorrow reached forward. Placed a hand on my cheek. I wrapped my fingers around hers, pressing her warmth into my skin. ‘She’s evil, Sorrow. More evil than Vyrus. The things she made me do, see and… So, no, Sorrow. As usual I had no clue.’

I gripped my hair, my heart faltering. She had the facts, half of the heart. How were we going to stop her?

‘And,’ I glanced at her, wishing we truly had just remained by the waterfall, ‘I can see her binding the God to her will. Imagine it, Sorrow. Imagine.’