“I imagine you can guess why,” I continue.
“You think she was the one who murdered Alaric and Elowen,” he says.
“I think she organized it, yes—with encouragement from the Temple, who wanted her wearing the crown. She didn’t know about me at first, but she got past that obstacle easily enough. Now, there’s very little in her way…and a lot working in her favor, because she’s got powerful backers.”
I watch Harman’s face for a reaction. I’m still deciding how much I’ll tell him. Understanding how much he already knows will play into that decision.
“We’re well aware that Oclanna is loyal to the Temple. Her husband’s family makes up some of their greatest supporters in Godom. I suspected the circumstances of the king’s and queen’s murders weren’t to be taken at face value, and if you also think it’s possible she’s behind their deaths…”
“There was very little evidence that the fae killed them, and it could all have been faked pretty easily,” I say. “And the night I left the palace, someone tried to kill me—a human I didn’t recognize. Prince Leonidas and Lord Gyrion saved me.”
Harman frowns, looking genuinely sympathetic. “That must’ve been terrifying.”
I blink, because up until now I don’t think anyone’s acknowledged exactly how hard all of it was. The weeks of not knowing what waited for me around the next corner, the sudden discovery I was being attacked, or kidnapped, or who knows what else.
“It was,” I say. “But I’ve gotten stronger since then.”
Harman watches me for a moment.
“When they started rounding up the rebels fifteen years ago, I thought there was no way I could survive it,” he says. “Even if Alaric protected me, even if I physically lived to tell the tale, I thought everything I was would die with my friends. But I was wrong. Even while grieving them, I only wanted to fight harder, to come back fiercer and better. Sometimes, the moments that feel the most hopeless are just life’s way of getting us used to the darkness, so we can learn to find our way out of it.”
I smile, knowing he’s right. “Will you help us then?” I ask.
“Help you kill the woman who murdered our father? Or help you save Trova from a ruler controlled by the Temple?” he asks.
I examine his expression cautiously. “What do you mean? Aren’t they the same thing?”
“That depends. I’d assumed you were planning on becoming Trova’s queen, but I noticed you didn’t ask me to help you reclaim the throne. What comes after we’ve killed Oclanna?”
I bite my lip. This is the obstacle I knew we’d come up against eventually. There is at least one thing I have to tell my brother.
“You know I was hidden away until the king and queen were murdered,” I begin.
“Of course,” Harman says. “You were raised in secret. That much is common knowledge.”
“Yes, I was locked away in a remote manor for twenty-one years.”
Something is dawning on Harman’s face—a mixture of horror and curiosity. “Locked away?” he repeats. “I had no idea. That’s barbaric. You weren’t allowedanyfreedom?”
I shake my head. “Only the scraps I could steal without my guards knowing.”
“But how could they…” He trails off, thinking. “Did they believe the danger was that strong? I can’t think of any other reason why they would do such a thing.”
I exhale, hoping I’m not about to make a mistake.
“Harman, you know that most of what the Temple says is lies, right? That they make up all kinds of things to control us better—to keep us afraid and compliant?”
“Of course.”
“That includes what they say about solari.”
For a split second, he just looks bewildered—but then understanding floods across his features, his eyebrows rising.
“You have celestial magic,” he says softly.
“Yes. I didn’t know it myself until after I left the palace. My power was suppressed with a potion I thought was keeping me alive. But the point is, as far as the Temple and most of Trova is concerned, I’m an abomination. I’m a heretic only good for being cleansed and executed. That’s why Ican’tbe queen.”
“That’s not true.”
