In a world where locating hidden treasures was prized above all, the power to be able to find anything was valuable indeed.
“You’re going to help me find the Queen’s crown.”
My breath was trapped in my chest, his words repeating like a drumbeat.
Help me find the Queen’s crown.
This couldn’t be real.
I thought he was going to kill me, but instead I’d been given an opportunity.
There was still a way I could find the crown, still a way I could tear down the wall.
“Why do you need it?” I asked, my voice wary.
Washeplanning to take down the wall to the human world?
The Viceroy barked out a laugh. “Every king in every Court would slaughter for a chance to possess it. Azari’s power was to unravel. It gives you the magic to crush your enemies, to drain their power, to create something new. It is both the power of creation and the master of all magic. And you are going to be the key to me finding it.”
My hands gripped the bars in front of me tightly. The silver-haired fae still hadn’t said a word, but he was looking at me just as intently as the Viceroy was.
“And if I don’t?”
He gave a small smile. “That isn’t an option. You either choose to assist me, or choose pain. Either way, the relic will be mine.”
I swallowed, sensing the truth of his words, and the power there. But I wasn’t going to refuse him. Finding the relic was always the goal, I just needed to steal it from him first.
The silver-haired fae finally straightened and spoke, his voice the same low timbre from the forest.
“You are a scholar.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” I answered, the first true thing I could say. Then I repeated the same question I’d asked in the woods. “And who are you?”
The Viceroy barked out a laugh. “You are speaking to my hunting dog, little cat. It is he who will be doing the torturing should you decide to resist.” He leaned closer to the bars. “It is he who will execute you, should you not prove useful.”
The fae with the silver hair didn’t blink at the Viceroy’s assertions. He never took his eyes off me. “You aren’t interested in the crown? To use it for yourself?”
His words were low, curious, but I sensed an urgency underneath them. And a feeling that he cared about my answer far more than he wanted to admit.
“I have an interest in history,” I finally said, realizing my answers were flimsy at best.
“You killed the general.” His mouth lifted the tiniest fraction, as if the thought didn’t displease him. “That alone qualifies you for interrogation. Torture. Death. It raises the question of your motives—are you working with the Red Jasmine Rebellion?”
His question was cold, but his voice was not, and its low rumble trickled through me like honey.
“I’m not. I’m not in league with them. I don’t even know who they are. I am simply a scholar interested in history, who happened upon a girl who needed help.”
It was a weak excuse, I knew, even though it was mostly the truth.
But it seemed to be enough. The silver-haired fae turned his head back to the Viceroy and gave a nod. Then he slipped into the shadows, a moon dipping behind the clouds.
The Viceroy smiled brightly, as if he hadn’t been speaking about my torture moments ago. “As of today, you work for me.”
I exhaled. “And what exactly am I doing?”
“You’re helping me find the relic that will make me the most powerful Viceroy in the seven Courts. And your magic belongs to me.”
I didn’t agree with any of that, but it wasn’t the way out of this cell.
