Page 92 of Of Nine So Bold

“Silence,” I spat, not taking my eyes from the map.

“You could find out so easily, though.”

I tsked at him. “It hardly matters.”

A concerned sound came from the shards. “You’re slipping, pet.”

“Lord Thomas and his peasants cannot hide forever,” I snapped. “They’ll starve behind their city walls or they will bend to my will. Either way, I win.”

“And the girl?” Alaric teased. “Is this truly all you plan for her?”

Incredulity made me recoil, but I refused to grant him with my full attention. “AllI plan?”

His silence spoke volumes, most of them mocking.

Growling under my breath, I pressed my fingertips to the tiny, unmarked space on the map that hid the mines of Eliantra. The Voidborn bastard was a fool. That sentimental child had fallen squarely into my trap, lured by emotion and idiotic loyalty that rendered her absurdly predictable. And there she would stay, caged beneath earth laced by magic and silver until she finally starved.

My lips curled with anticipation. Before starvation took her, she’d suffer. Hunger would hound her—and all those infuriating giants as well. One by one, those brutes would fall, the weakest collapsing first and leaving the rest with a choice.

Eat the bodies of your own… or die.

But Gwyneira’s punishment would be far worse because while she could outlast the pathetic mortals around her, she was still a creature I’d made. And that creature would need to feed.

Oh, she’d try to resist. She’d hem and haw, fretting like a ridiculous, emotional child. But every passing day would chip away at her pretentious morals. Before she even realized how it happened, she’d start making compromises, weighing the worth of this life over that one. Until slowly but surely, she’d decide it was okay to just takeone…little…sip.

Her hunger wouldn’t give her a choice.

Of course that wouldn’t be the end of it. Eventually starvation meant she would feast on those men she treasured, the ones who stood with her against me, mocking my plans and thinking to condemnmeto the darkness rather than her.

Maybe they’d even beg her to do it, whether out of their disgustinglovefor her or to put themselves out of their misery.

It wouldn’t change the ending.

“When this is done,” I told Alaric, “that sentimental child will be nothing but an emaciated ghost surrounded by the dead. All alone in the dark beneath the earth, going mad among the bloodless corpses…” I chuckled. “She’llwishI’d been so kind as to leave her to the empty realms.”

Alaric made a considering noise. “But didn’t you have areasonfor wanting to feed her to the empty realms in your place?”

In spite of myself, I looked away from the map, and my eyes found the shards of glass. Within each one, a tiny image of Alaric’s eel-like face swirled. “What?”

“A proxy, yes? A sacrifice to spare you the… less pleasant aspects of our bargain, while preserving the better parts for yourself.” His brow rose as if waiting for me put the pieces of his puzzle together.

Ihadplanned that, it was true. “But what does that matter? I have all the power I could need, andyouare nothing but a distracting illusion cast by Voidborn fools—ones I will happily kill once I uncover their identities.”

He hummed in surprise. “Allthe power? Is there such a thing, pet? It seems rather unlike you to think so.”

What was he getting at?

His fangs flashed as he grinned. “Are yousureyou’re still sane?”

Of course I was.

Irritated, I turned away. Simply because I was satisfied with my own progress—I was on my way to ruling the world, after all—he had no reason to question my sanity.

Moreover, why was I even engaging in this debate? Alaric was dead. These images were all some illusion. If anything, I should be hunting down the Voidborn who were toying with me in this way.

Admittedly, none of the Voidborn were in the room with me now. But perhaps they’d left a spell token. I hadn’t found anything on my previous searches, it was true. Yet it could be covered in charms and spells to make it invisible. And if therewassome object bound with magic to make me see?—

“What if there wasmorepower to be had?” Alaric commented. “Would you truly turn your back on that?”

---