Page 11 of Magick and Lead
By now, it was no surprise who had engineered the coup that had killed my mother and destroyed our palace and capital city. But hearing Ollie say the names aloud sent my hackles up again.
“And you’ve been there all this time?” I asked, confused. “How did you keep yourself concealed from them?”
He just looked at me.
“You weren’t concealed from them,” I said slowly. “You werewiththem.”
“And Hoatan is there still,” he said.
Pocha and Lure exchanged a look.
I could feel my face getting red, my hand trembling as anger boiled up in me. “All this time… you werewiththem,” I said again.
“Come, Essa,” Ollie said. “You know the way of the Torouman.”
“Triangulation,” I said with venom. “Playing all sides. Yes, I know. And did you also help them overthrow the crown?”
Ollie held my fiery glare for a moment, then glanced down to the cup of jinjin in his hand.
“Of course not,” he said quietly.
“Did Hoatan?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know how much Hoatan knew or when he knew it. After the fall of the city, he summoned me to him. He’d gained Kortoi and Natath’s trust, made them believe we were on their side. And since Hoatan is my master, they trusted me as well. I know their plans, Essa. Some of them, at least.”
“Why did they do it?” I asked, hating the sensitivity, the sorrow I heard in my voice.
Ollie sighed. “They’d lost faith in the Skrathan and in your mother’s leadership. The war with the Admites had dragged on far too long, and they felt a change was needed. And, of course, they simply wanted more power.”
“And so, they conspired with those Admite necromancers across the sea to wipe out the dragons, their riders, and my mother?”
“In short—yes,” Ollie said. “But here’s the good news. They’re finding it difficult to govern without a queen. The Brothers have been working hard to win over the populace, but at the news of your mother’s death and your ouster, rebellions have broken out in both the north and the south. The Gray Brothers and the nobles are planning to send an envoy to the URA to broker a peace deal, hoping that will make them heroes to the people. But they know the window to negotiate is closing fast. If the situation here devolves into all-out civil war, the Admites will have no reason to come to the table and negotiate. They’ll easily be able to come here, wipe out what’s left of the nobility, and take all of Maethalia for themselves. We’ve already lost ground on Dorhane because the knights loyal to the crown have turned on the Lacunae and their golenae beasts. The situation is deteriorating fast. And their only hope of stitching it back together—is you.”
“Me…?” I whispered.
“They want you to come back and be queen, Essa,” Ollie said. “The dragons and your Skrathan are to remain in the Yrdam Mountains. You are to support a peace deal that includes ceding Dorhane and the dragon hatching grounds there to the Admites.”
Never,Othura’s voice rang in my mind. She was listening through me, of course.
“Never,” I echoed.
But Ollie put up a hand, appeasing me. “And in exchange,” he went on, “you get your throne.”
“Right. As a pawn and a puppet,” Lure snarled, unable to keep silent any longer.
“A crown is a crown,” Ollie said. “No monarch in history has ever had a completely free hand. They must all have powerbrokers who support them.”
“And mine would be the same ones who killed my mother?” I demanded.
“No way,” Dagar shook his head ferociously.
“How about we kill them all and shetakesher throne back?” Pocha said.
Ollie took a pull from his pipe and made a show of glancing around. “Sure. With what army?”
The question struck us all to silence for a moment.
“With the Skrathan,” Lure said at last.
