Page 35 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

I lifted a brow, studying the princess. I knew she had abilities to manipulate others, even if I didn’t understand it. “Your magic isn’t working?”

“I have been informed that we don’t use magic to coerce our allies,” she said, her tone irritated.

“It’s not what Ara would want,” Vanth said. “If we are successful, we’ll want to maintain a good relationship with Athos.”

“I appreciate the optimism,” I replied as I walked toward the door. There weren’t any guards outside the door. The scribes preferred to govern their own space. It was one of the few areas of the palace I had yet to explore or assert my new role over. They’d been responsive when I’d asked for materials and I’d given them their space. It was my way of hoping to keep them on my side through this transition.

I opened the door and noticed that only one scribe was in the room. “Hello?”

He bolted up from his chair, then dropped into a low bow. “Your highness.” As soon as he noticed the others behind me, his eager expression darkened. “You have the outsiders with you.”

“They are allies,” I explained. “They need your help finding some maps.”

“They are not my allies,” he said.

“You heard what happened in Drakous, I’m guessing?” The scribes always knew. Even before I sent anyone to formally tell them. It was something I was going to have to figure out eventually if I ever wanted privacy.

“I’m not sure how this impacts us. The Fae King got what he wanted. Athos is of no consequence. Even if he is irritated with your sister,” the scribe said.

“You’re clearly a terrible scribe,” Laera said.

The man glared at her.

“How can you not see that he’s not going to stop, ever?” Laera asked.

The scribe scowled.

“I need to send a message to the Dragon King,” I said, changing the subject. “Can you assist me with that?”

He reluctantly looked away from the Fae Princess. “Yes, of course.”

“Then I will need you to assist them with the maps they need,” I added.

He frowned, but nodded before leading me toward the back of the room where a large cage housed a beautiful hawk.

It didn’t take long to scrawl a short message for the king. The scribe helped me attach the message to the bird’s leg, then we opened the window and released the creature into the warm afternoon sun.

“You really think the Fae King will come here?” The scribe asked me quietly.

“I do,” I said. “And him coming to us might be our only hope at getting him unprotected enough to destroy him.”

He glanced over at the shifter and Fae Princess. “You think you can convince the sorceress to help us?”

“We don’t have a choice,” Vanth said.

“Don’t worry, Ryvin and Vanth can be very persuasive,” Laera said.

I wanted to ask for more details, but I wasn’t sure I needed the scribe to know any more than he already did.

“Tell me what you need,” the scribe said.

“We need whatever maps you have for the Isla Chamenos,” Vanth said.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from reacting at the name. The scribe didn’t hide his surprise. His eyes widened and his brows shot up. “Chamenos? You’re certain?”

“That’s what the queen told us,” Vanth said, looking over at Laera.

“She wasn’t lying,” Laera assured him.

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