I drop the sword, heaving deep breaths. I’m an excellent swordsman, but Fionn is better, not even needing the metal channeling affinities he has to best me. Although I would never admit it to him, he does in fact beat me nearly every time. We walk to the edge of the ring, replacing our training weapons on the rack.
“Do you think she’s really a blood mage?” he asks, concern flashing through his eyes.
I shrug. “I wish I knew. My father has convinced everyone she is, and I don’t know how else she would have achieved the barrier magic she’s been able to maintain for three hundred years. There’s no other explanation for it but spellwork.”
“But…” Fionn prompts with his typical prodding.
“But,” I say, “if my father swears it’s blood magic, that makes me believe it must be anything but that.” Fionn nods, brows furrowed in thought. “What of the rumors?” I ask him, teasing in my voice. “Do you believe Thayaria is leached of magic and oozing black from the very ground, or that she tortures her people and steals their blood to fuel her witchcraft? That she kidnaps children from their beds and drains their bodies of blood so she can control their parents?”
Fionn’s face drains of color. “I guess we’re going to find out,” he says with a visible swallow. Despite his casual words, I know his fear of the Witch Queen is rooted in his upbringing as a commoner, who deeply believe my father’s propaganda. Though he knows the truth about the Golden King now, some beliefs are hard to shake.
“Find out what?” Silene’s voice calls across the cavernous space. She crosses the damp, underground cave that houses four separate sparring rings, abandoned for the training yard my father built several hundred years ago to train his army, making this the perfect meetup place for the three of us.
I hesitate for a moment, not sure how much to tell her about my father’s threats. As she reaches us, I decide to only share the details of the trip and not the information he’s discovered about her nighttime activities through his network of spies. Information she hasn’t even shared with me yet. She should have known better than to test the reach of palace informants, but I understand all too well the need to fight against the constraints placed upon her. “The Queen of Thayaria has agreed to allow an envoy from Velmara to visit, and she’ll be sending her own here. I’m to be the official ambassador.”
Silene’s jaw drops. She looks between Fionn and I, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “We’re not messing with you,” I say. “It’s true. I leave in a week.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “Why? Where is this coming from?”
“According to him, he and the Queen have agreed to this arrangement to repair the relationship between Thayaria and Velmara. He ordered me to get close to her and learn about her magic and the kingdom. Report back to him as a spy. But those can’t be his real motivations.”
“Of course they aren’t,” she says matter-of-factly, “but it’s an opportunity for us all the same.” I look at her, confusion on my face. “I’m obviously going with you, as is Fionn. You’d be freaking out more if we weren’t. And this can be a strategic advantage for us if we play it correctly.” I give her a wide grin. Silene’s always been the political strategist among us, and now is no different. “You know my opinions on the Witch Queen’s power,” she continues. “I think she has an affinity for every possible conduit, maybe even ones we don’t know about. She’s not a blood mage, she’s just incredibly powerful.” Fionn and I roll our eyes at Silene’s unbelievable theory. She holds up her hands, acquiescing. “But if she reallydoesuse blood magic, this is a chance for us to learn more about it and determine if your suspicions about your father are true.” I quickly look around, nervous that we’ll be overheard, even knowing that no one ventures into this abandoned and musty basement except the three of us.
“She has a point,” Fionn adds. “The Witch Queen could help us confirm whether your father also uses… blood magic.” He whispers the last two words, as if even uttering them will suddenly unleash untold evil into the world.
“Are you sure you want to come with me? It won’t be easy getting close to Queen Laurel. It might even be impossible. And it will be incredibly dangerous, guaranteed. Even if we do get close, there’s still my father to deal with. I don’t want to wrap you up in whatever scheme he’s planning,” I say.
Silene rolls her eyes. “We’re already wrapped up in your father’s schemes.”
“She’s right,” Fionn adds. “I’ve been helping you undermine your father for centuries.”
“No offense,” Silene says flippantly, “but everything we’ve been doing here in Velmara barely moves the needle. I know we’ve worked hard to build our network, but stealing a shipment of thayar here and there, poisoning a noble or two so they can’t vote on initiatives, stealing books from the archives… they’re all small actions. It’s going to take ushundredsof years to make any kind of impact using these tactics.Thisis a real opportunity.”
I consider her words, accepting their decision and feeling grateful for their friendship. “There’s more,” I say. They look at me expectantly. “My father has agreed to pay her a thirty percent higher price for thayar imports. In exchange, Thayaria will buy its grain exclusively from Velmara. It could just be part of the negotiation, but…” I trail off.
“But it can’t be a coincidence that something strange is happening with the thayar shipments and your father goes off and agrees to pay more for a good the kingdom desperately needs while only securing a grain monopoly and a single emissary in exchange,” Silene finishes for me. “It doesn’t add up. Maybe we can learn more in Thayaria. They may have more knowledge of the uses of thayar and what a large stockpile could do in the wrong hands.”
A plan slowly forms in my mind. For the last two hundred years, since I began to suspect my father intentionally killed my mother in one of hismagic experiments, I’ve wondered whether he practiced blood magic. I’ve never been able to do anything about it, nor have I ever come this close to having a real plan to confirm my speculation. Fueled by grief and rage, I’ve been undeterred for centuries, finding small ways to undermine him. But Silene’s right—we’ve barely made a difference with the underground operation we’ve built. This could be a real chance to not only gather information to expose my father but also build a bridge with a powerful ruler.
“We do exactly as my father asks, and we get close to the Witch Queen to observe her magic and her court,” I tell them. “We also keep our ears open for information on the flower. But we do it for our own reasons. If we can make her an ally, that’s an added bonus. But either way, we’re going to find the information we need to take down the Golden King.”
“And how exactly do you plan to get information about blood magic out of the Witch Queen?” Fionn asks skeptically.
I break out in a wide smile. “By doing what I do best. I’ll charm her. Seduce her. She’s been in isolation for three centuries. She won’t see my handsome face coming.”
Mazus
Recentdevelopmentsaregoingaccording to plan. Queen Laurel agreed to my proposal for emissaries, and my worthless son will be in the Witch Queen’s kingdom by tomorrow afternoon. The human armies are also growing their numbers rapidly, thanks to my soldier salary program that promises their families two generations of payments in exchange for their service. And the rapidly growing army did not come up once at the Forum of Royals. Not a single person guessed at my true motivations for sending Hawthorne to Thayaria, not even that obnoxious girl betrothed to him who’s too smart for her own good.
I place a single petal of thayar flower on the sterile workstation, then wrap it in enough swirling wind to keep it hovering in the air. While I observe the effects, my thoughts drift to my son and the potential for him to ruin plans that have been in the works for centuries.
I chuckle at the thought. Hawthorne is too kindhearted and weak-willed to go against me in Thayaria. That stupid boy cares too much for his friends and will do anything to keep them safe from the punishment I threatened. And his own natural curiosity will likely drive him to learn more about the female he was once told would be his stepmother.
That plan hadn’t worked out, and thank the aether for that. Had I culled her magic like I’d intended to, it would’ve destroyed the only chance I have at seeing my plans through. Not to mention, marriage doesn’t suit me. Once Hawthorne was born, I’d left his mother to pursue her own life and told her she was free to do whatever she pleased, as long as she stayed out of my way. But the bitch didn’t listen and poked her nose in too many unwelcome places. She wasalsotoo smart for her own good, and it cost her everything.
With another strong push of raw aether, the thayar flower crumbles into dust, and I sweep the remains into a small pile. Lowering my nose to the powder, I snort it up through my nostrils, reveling in the feel of power jolting through my veins.
My late wife’s face crosses my mind. Renowned for her beauty, I’d married her for her family’s line of powerful light channelers, hoping she would produce a strong heir. And she had, though Hawthorne’s magical abilities are eclipsed by other traits he gets from his mother. He is overly sympathetic, rash and impulsive, pleasure seeking, and loyal to his friends. But the people of Velmara have come to love him. I can’t do anything to theirShining Prince.
