Page 111 of The Forgotten Queen
“I want to show you something over here.” He steered her toward the post-Desolation map of all seven kingdoms. “Surely you know what this is.”
Sydria studied it, reading each word. “I’ve seen it in a flashback before.”
Now we’re getting somewhere.
“But it means nothing to me.”
Marx’s shoulders slipped, and his hope dropped, but he plowed ahead anyway. “You know, Tolsten,” he pointed to where the kingdom was on the map, “had some crazy things happen to it in the last ten months. King Adler,” he paused to see if a spark of recognition flashed through her eyes—it didn’t, “had been building and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction for years without the Council of Essentials knowing about it.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. He wasn’t a good guy.”
A frown crossed over her lips.
“He had a daughter, though, Princess Myka…Mykaleen.” Again, he waited to see if she remembered something, but nothing happened. “Myka was the one who destroyed all the weapons. Her father died, and she ran in the election and became the first female elected ruler in over one hundred years.”
“She sounds like a powerful woman. She must be an excellent leader.”
“I’ve never met her, but I will at the next Council of Essentials in nine years.”
“Have you met all of the other leaders?” Sydria asked, glancing over the map.
“Yeah, I’ve met the rest of the kings.”
“What are they like? Are they good rulers too?”
“I guess it depends on how you would define a good ruler.”
“Do they care about their kingdoms? Do they fight for what’s good and right?”
“I think they try to, for the most part.” He dropped his eyes to the floor. “But by that standard, I don’t know thatI’ma good ruler.”
“I’ve seen firsthand that you’re an excellent king. You don’t give yourself enough credit. You care about your people, but for some reason, you don’t like people knowing that. Your ideas are strong. You know how to command a room, and you keep your promises.”
“You make me those things.”
“No.” Sydria shook her head. “You were those things long before I came along.”
He wanted to believe that.
She stepped to the side where they had a list of each ruling monarch and their royal families. Marx leaned over her shoulder. Maybe if she saw Adler or Myka’s name in writing, it would do something.
Sydria studied the paper, looking through the names. “What happened here?” she asked, pointing to New Hope where King Bryant’s family line was listed. “Why is this one crossed out?”
“King Bryant’s daughter died.”
Sydria looked at him. “How did she die?”
“Well, it’s actually a really sad story. She was killed at her own wedding. I guess the artifact keeper crossed her name out after it happened.” He glanced to his own family, where a line was drawn through Palmer’s name.
“That’s too bad,” Sydria said. “She had the same initials as me.” She shrugged before moving on to the next display.
Marx froze.
He looked down at the paper.
Seran Alyssa Haslet.
