“Not really.” I tilt my head at her, knowing she won’t resist telling her tale.
She shakes her head at me like I’m being childish.
I am.
“You’re powerful. The entire kingdom knows Violence Starling was a powerful little girl. It would only be accurate to assume you’d be an even more powerful woman.”
“Do I seriously have to sit here and listen to her?” Nollix’s annoyance is heavy in his voice.
“What is the point here, Cam?” My gaze catches every emotion her features show me. Apprehension is in her eyes.
Can she trust me?
I pretended to trust her. She can pretend to trust me.
“Your father sent you away so he could breed an army.”
Something in my stomach drops. My thoughts caught up on one word.Breed.
“What kind of army?”
“An army of the dead.”
My lips part as my eyes narrow on her. “How would he even do that? And, more importantly, I think you need to understand that what my father does is none of your business.” It’s a pathetic attempt at defending him. I should know better than to defend the Mad King.
She tips her head up to me, and her pale green eyes swirl with power. I’m reminded of how impressed I was with her abilities when we first met.
She planned all of that. She risked her life to get to me.
And now she has me.
She might regret that decision.
“An Elder Warlock or Witch wouldn’t have a problem raising the dead or bargaining with the devil for souls. Especially if the king’s daughter is the one retrieving said souls.” She cocks an orange brow at me, and I start to wonder why she’s making so much sense all of a sudden.
I never really considered where the souls we detain go. They go somewhere, of course. I just assumed it was an afterlife of sorts.
Is she saying they’re being held somewhere else? Somewhere more... local?
“Why would anyone want an army of the dead?”
Silence pools after my question, and I realize the other three must be just as interested in Cameron’s story.
“You can’t kill what isn’t alive. With a little dark magic, they’d be strong. Indestructible.”
“But what purpose would they serve? Why would my father want this dark army?”
I consider the darkness that this conversation holds. It’s cryptic and disgusting. I can picture my father doing it without conscience.
It also reminds me of the conflict that he’s always stirring with the cities to the south, the Court of Light. Would he really be so stupid as to raise a war with them after so many years of peace?
“I have no idea.” She shrugs slightly.
“Then how do you know it’s happening?”
She looks to the hunters behind me before settling her gaze on me again. “Because your father stole from me first.”
My brows crease.
