Page 156 of The Mad King and the False Queen

Dagmara’s head snapped up to meet Sabien’s gaze. He approached them, his chocolate eyes burning with ferocity.

“Martine, a moment with my queen,” Sabien ordered, not even glancing in her direction.

Instinctively, Dagmara gripped Martine’s hand tighter.

“I…” Martine started to argue, but Sabien cut her off.

“By order of your captain, I command you to leave us.”

Martine straightened her posture. “I don’t answer to you anymore, Captain.”

Sabien’s brow furrowed. “What did you say to me?”

Dagmara released Martine’s hand. It was time she spoke to Sabien alone. “I’ll be alright. Thank you.”

Martine gave a curt nod. She fired a suspicious glance at Sabien before leaving.

Dagmara was alone with Sabien, and he stared down at her expectantly. This was the man who caused the scene in the ballroom, making everyone believe she had water magic. It was exactly like what Aleksy had done on behalf of Magdalena during the coronation.

This man was a Guardian of Life.

Sabien took a step toward Dagmara, and she immediately countered. “Stay away from me,” she said under her breath, holding her hand out defensively in front of her.

Sabien’s expression darkened. “That is no way to thank me.”

Dagmara let out a sharp, short laugh. “Thank you?”

“They would’ve torn you to shreds if they knew you were an imposter.”

Dagmara could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. She glanced around the hall to be certain they were alone before she stuck her chin in the air.

“How dare you accuse me of being an imposter,” she scowled. “And how dare you let me believe…” she stopped mid-sentence.

How dare you let me believe that I was special? She thought she was the one who had healed Claude in Sailonne.

“Pierre was watching,” Sabien said as though he could read her mind. “Otherwise, we could have had this conversation much sooner.”

“Who are you?” asked Dagmara. “How do you have Life magic?”

Sabien shrugged casually. “I don’t know.”

“Liar.”

“Why do you think I was at the coronation?” he asked.

Dagmara froze. “What does that have to do with my question?”

Sabien stepped closer, dropping his voice to a whisper.

“I went to the coronation to find out why I have these abilities,” Sabien said. Although his voice was quiet, it was sharp. “I thought that I could be a bastard king to the Azuremi throne. I went secretly to speak with King Bogdan, and nobody was supposed to know. The coronation was the perfect time for a chance to speak to him without explaining myself to all of his knights. But he was murdered before I had the chance.”

Dagmara’s mind ran wild with thoughts. If he were telling the truth, she had to keep Magda’s powers a secret now more than ever. If the world knew Magda had the magic of Flaustra, and Sabien had the magic of Azurem, he would have a claim to the throne.

This was worse than Dagmara ever imagined.

“Then I came to find out Claude and Bogdan were working together to assassinate anyone with magic who wasn’t a guardian. It meant they would come after me and kill me. So, I paid the Azuremi border knights to have my name removed from the border list. I couldn’t risk there being a record out there, or to have someone question why I went to speak with Bogdan,” Sabien continued. “Can you imagine what would happen if Claude found out about my magic?”

“Claude would never have you killed,” Dagmara objected.

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