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“Because Sabium will kill him otherwise.”
“You expect me to believe that someone like you cares about someone other than herself?”
Her mouth thinned. “I also care about my own life. It is far too late for you to get help from any other continent. If Sabium takes that power, he will be a god. Unstoppable.”
I knew that much. “After we free Jamic, then what happens?”
“You find a way to kill Sabium, and this continent will finally see peace.”
Peace. And where would Kaliera end up after the war? I was betting she was already mentally redecorating the throne room of this castle.
I glanced at Madinia, but she wasn’t looking at me. No, she was studying the queen carefully.
The moment I killed Regner, Kaliera would come for me. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe she would allow me to become a threat to her power by claiming the hybrid throne. But just how close was she to her son? When we freed him, would he turn on us when we least expected it?
I crossed my arms. “What exactly are you proposing?”
“A formal alliance.”
“And what would this alliance look like?”
“We both want the same thing—Jamic free and Sabium dead.”
It was strange that she still called him Sabium, even knowing his name was truly Regner. It was as if she was unable to reconcile the fact that he’d lived for much, much longer than she could have imagined.
“And what will you be doing while we’re risking our lives?”
“You don’t think slipping you information is risking my own life? I am the one who told Madinia where Sabium was keeping you. And yet you haven’t thanked me for it, Hybrid Heir.”
Her voice had turned frigid, as if I were still one of her underlings. Not long ago, such a tone would have made me feel achingly small. Now, I just raised one eyebrow, staring back at her.
“You needed Prisca alive to save Jamic,” Madinia said, her tone bored. “Don’t pretend you helped us for any other reason.”
Kaliera sent her an irritated look, then turned back to me, her face tight. “You’d be a special kind of idiot to turn down information directly from this castle. From Sabium’s table. His throne room.”
Unfortunately, she was right. I might not trust her, but she wanted Regner dead just as much as I did. And she knew she couldn’t accomplish that herself.
“If he finds out you helped us, he’ll kill you.”
She gave me a humorless smile. “No, he’ll make me wish I were dead. For months. Believe me, I know exactly how high the stakes are. I’m trusting you not to betray me either.”
I kept her secrets. She kept mine. And at the end, when Regner was finally dead, we would turn on each other.
Just the thought made my muscles ache with exhaustion. But I took a single step closer to her. “If you betray us, we’ll make what Regner would do to you look merciful.”
Surprise flickered through her eyes. She stared at me for a long moment, and I let her see just how serious I was. I let her see just how much I’d changed, and how little tolerance and patience I had left.
She sighed. “You need to—”
One of Kaliera’s mirrors was flickering. My knife seemed to jump into my hand, while Madinia created a fireball the size of my head. We stepped farther apart, giving each other room to move.
An old woman walked through the mirror. The first thing I noticed about her was her eyes. They were dark and yet somehow familiar. The second thing I noticed was her power. The dark magic leaked from her, until the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A glance at Madinia told me she was just as wary, one of her palms still lit with orange flames as she watched the woman.
“Are you mad?” Kaliera asked in a strangled whisper. “You can’t come here.”
The old woman cast her an unconcerned look that made Madinia snort a laugh. Kaliera looked at Madinia for a long moment before narrowing her eyes at the old woman.
“Miss the chance to meet the hybrid heir? I think not.” The woman stepped close to me, and I tensed. Next to me, Madinia moved closer as well. The woman paid no attention to the threat she presented.
