“What have you done?” asks Quinn. “Father. Tell me you didn’t do this.”
“Father,” says Typhon quietly, shaking his head.
“I swear it! I should have come to you, I know that, but I thought I had it under control. You had enough to worry about with the Grand Festival, and frankly, sir, you don’t understand how the Guild works—”
“Do not tell me what I don’t understand. I’ll tell you what I don’t understand—how you could let someone act against me, act against the church, and sit by and let it happen. Zara nearly killed me. She nearly killedSylvie, and you sit there and tell me you had it under control.”
“I swear, I believed her to have dropped the matter. I gave her a new direction for her research. Something in line with the Codex, something I’d found in my own research when trying to find a solution for the ash problem. She told me she was pursuing it. I thought the matter was resolved. Please, your majesty. She was the Guild Mistress. A light-born, one of the few in existence. I believed her to be good, like your family. I truly had no idea what she was capable of.”
Cyrus’s feelings have grown so desperate that I’m able to sense them, weakly, through my slowly recovering magic and my connection with Ronan. They feel sincere—he certainly believes at least most of what he’s saying, especially the part about the goodness of light magic and House Alta, which is surprising given his general disdain for and underestimation of Ronan. I believe there’s a part of him that took these actions, however ill-advised, out of a misplaced belief that he was keeping Ronan safe from himself.
“What did you give her?” asks Ronan, his voice gone cold and detached. “What direction?”
“There were relics of the early church that were lost during a purge around the same time the apocrypha were removed from the Codex. I came across a list of those items and their last known locations, and I shared it with Zara. I believed—and she agreed—that they were likely magically imbued and could haveextraordinary powers beyond anything we’ve known. I told you just days ago about her research into imparting magic into an object. It seems that she did act on my directions, though I don’t believe she managed to find any of the original items.”
My eyes meet Ronan’s again. Extraordinary powers.The torch.
“Do you still have this list?”
“Yes, sir. I have a copy of it in my chambers.” Ronan gestures to one of the guards, who leaves to begin the search. “Did you manage to find the book of apocrypha in the Guild?”
“No,” I say. “It might have helped if we had known to look for it at all. Why did you tell her to hide it? Why not instruct her to destroy it if you thought it was so dangerous?”
Cyrus goes red in the face. “I thought there was a chance that we might need it someday. If our other options failed. And I knew that would be unacceptable to the God-King. I deeply regret lying to you, your majesty, but I believed I was acting in the best interests of the crown and the kingdom.”
Ronan rises, and the rest of us stand as well. “Lord Cyrus of House Horatio, you are hereby charged with treason against the crown of Selara.”
“Ronan, you can’t be serious,” says Quinn.
“You are removed from your position as Grand Vizier, effective immediately. You have the right to petition your case to the magistrate—”
“Ronan!”
“—and you may represent yourself in that trial, or you may request counsel. Out of respect for your years of dedicated service, you will not be imprisoned, but you are to be escorted to your chambers, where you will remain in confinement for the duration of the proceedings.”
Cyrus holds his head high, nodding his acceptance of Ronan’s terms.
“Ronan, come on,” says Quinn. “He obviously made a massive mistake, but treason?”
“What else would you call betraying the sovereign? Scheming against me with someone who wanted me dead?” He slams the table again. “We are at war! Maybe there was a time when I could sit here and allow people to conspire against me. Maybe there was a time when I could wait and see what they were planning, hoping that I could figure out who was working against me before they were able to act, but that time has passed. I won’t repeat the same mistakes. I will not put myself or anyone else,” he says, glancing at me, “at risk. Not again.”
He exhales deeply, sighing and resting his hand on his chair, exhausted. I reach out and lace his fingers with mine, and he returns my grasp gratefully.
I’m on your side.
“Typhon and Quinn, since I have no indication that you were involved or had knowledge of your father’s dealings, you may keep your positions pending his trial. But you are confined to the palace for its duration.”
Typhon nods, mirroring his father’s dejected stare, but Quinn is defiant. “I have never doneanythingbut support you. To call that into question is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me.”
“I’m not calling it into—”
“Don’t.” She wheels out from behind the table. “If that’s all,your majesty.” She bends forward in a mocking bow.
Ronan pauses for a moment, torn between yelling at her for defying him and begging for her forgiveness. In the end, he does neither. “You’re dismissed.”
Taran directs the guards to take Cyrus into custody as Quinn tears from the room, slamming the door behind her.
“Sir, I want you to know that I support you fully. I had no idea of my father’s dealings. If there’s anything I can do—”
