Page 40 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams
I turn to the owner of the voice. Morgana Angevire stands apart from the others, her hands by her side. She has no hand outstretched to conjure, even though I’ve heard rumors she has powerful magic.
“Brother?” I repeat, casting my eyes over Sandale. “Yes, I did suspect about his heritage, but it’s nice to have it confirmed.”
She gives me a knowing smile. “I thought you’d figured it out. A man like you is good at sniffing people’s secrets out.”
I incline my head at the compliment.
“Nevertheless—”
“We’re not your enemy, Mr. Wadestaff,” she cuts me off. “I’ll acknowledge that we put your people at risk—but we’re not the ones who harmed them. We mustn’t turn on each other when there’s only one villain here. One group wants to exterminate all of us. Fae or human, rebel or criminal.” She adds an ironic note to that last word. “The Temple destroyed your empire in Hallowbane; the Temple took Marina from you.”
I’m too good a gambler to wince at the mention of her name, but that doesn’t mean the words fail to strike a blow.
“Personally, I’m done with Caledon taking everything from all of us,” the princess continues. “Aren’t you?”
She’s clever, framing it as about being what I want, aboutmyrevenge. That’s what her brother doesn’t understand, with all his pious preaching about the greater good. For so many of us, a safe life in Hallowbane was as good as we were going to get. I’ve no interest in fighting for the causes of truth or justice…but I can andwillfight to protect my people.
Now they just need to convince me that doing things their way will actually lead to peace and safety instead of more chaos and destruction. So far, I’m not optimistic.
“If you want justice, help us bring the Temple down,” Harman says.
I scoff at the idea. “And lose what little I have left? Why would you even want my help, now that I’ve lost everything and been driven from my own city?”
Morgana Angevire straightens, looking me straight in the eyes.
“You could be a great help, Mr. Wadestaff. Especially now. I’ll need as many allies as I can get if I’m going to become Trova’s queen.”
Chapter 13
Morgana
Iscan the faces of the three men standing closest to me, reading their reactions.
Corrin is clearly intrigued, his eyes brightening at the prospect of being allies with a monarch. Harman’s eyebrows rise in surprise, and Leon’s frowning—likely because I haven’t brought this up to him before now. But this has been brewing since I returned from Qimorna. Caledon must fall, and the Temple of Ethira will go with him. Trova will need a strong leader to weather that storm.
I don’t know if that’s me, but Ihopeit is. I certainly can’t be worse than my murderous, Temple-loving aunt.
“So, what do you say, Mr. Wadestaff?” I ask the crime lord. “Or can I call you Corrin, seeing as we’re going to be such good friends?”
He tilts his head, weighing my offer. “I still don’t know what I can offer, Your Highness,” he says. “My people are scattered, my businesses up in smoke?—”
“I wantyouas my ally,” I say bluntly. “Not your possessions or associates. You probably have more streets smarts than everyone here combined. That means you know how to get things done without the wrong people catching wind of it—when to grease a palm or put pressure on it. Not to mention the impressive list of contacts I’m sure you have tucked awaysomewhere. I believe you can be of great help to me in those areas. And when I am queen, you can expect a reward that reflects that, enough to rebuild your empire.”
Of course, when we’re done, my hope is cities like Hallowbane won’t be needed anymore—that people won’t have to skulk away to some shadowy district to avoid the all-seeing eye of the Temple. But there’s no point getting into that now.
“So you’re saying you just want my expertise?” he asks, considering the idea.
“Yes, you could say you’d be one of my advisors,” I add, testing the title out.
“The queen’s advisor?” He thinks on it a moment. Then he nods. “Yes, I like that. Very well, Your Highness.” Corrin approaches me, and half a dozen people tense, but Dots yips happily and wags his tail, telling me I have nothing to fear. I hold out my hand, and the crime lord takes it, bending to kiss the back of it. “I accept.”
My brother clears his throat and steps between me and Corrin, turning his back on the crime lord to talk to me.
“I thought you were undecided about becoming queen,” Harman murmurs.
“I was,” I say. “And then I decided.”
After his initial surprise, I thought he’d be more pleased. After all, he was the one who pushed for this in the first place, telling me how killing my aunt wouldn’t be enough and that I needed to take the throne. But now he just stares at me.
