Page 90 of Queen of War and Ruin

Blayne picks up his fork and knife, cuts a piece of meat, and puts it in his mouth. He chews loudly. I turn to stare at the place setting in front of me. There’s no knife next to my plate.

I have to play this well, my mind whispers. Malrik thinks I lied to Zarek, that I actually want to be married to Blayne. And where did he get that idea?

From Blayne himself, I would guess. My former tutor, with his room filled with books and all his lectures about history⁠—

History. My mouth goes dry.

Blayne always loved history. He focused on Vsenrog, naturally, but he knew all the stories, even the ones that felt more like fairy tales.

Like the elven wars. The ancient battles when the Kingdom of the Summer used dark magic to trap the Kingdom of the Fall underground.

I shiver as screams echo through my skull, carrying smoke and dust, and the horrible ripping sound as the earth pulled itself apart before the walls of Ethiria’s palace.

Blayne told me about the trapped elven Kingdom of the Fall. I thought it was a myth, or some kind of metaphor. Because magic like that is impossible. You can’t trap a kingdom underground. You can’t rip the earth apart.

“You’re not eating.”

I look up, startled out of my thoughts. Blayne is watching me with that same expression, like he thought I’d be better, stronger perhaps, or smarter. Like it’s my fault I’ve disappointed him.

I smile politely.

“I guess I haven’t worked up much of an appetite,” I say.

Blayne’s frown deepens into a scowl. I glance down at my plate. My meat has already been cut into pieces, as if I were a child. I stab one of them with my fork and put it in my mouth. Blayne’s expression shifts slightly, from the frown back to his usual look of annoyance. I swallow the lump of meat and give Blayne what I dearly hope is a charming expression.

I can’t climb out of the window or get a message to Zarek from here. But maybe I can learn something useful about the elven monster who’s captured my husband, and the magic he used to tear apart the Kingdom of Ethiria.

Because maybe that kind of magic has been used before.

“I wonder,” I say, like the thought just occurred to me, “if I might have a book.”

“A what?” Blayne asks, raising an eyebrow.

I glance down, like I’m embarrassed to be asking for something so trivial.

“Just…to pass the time,” I say.

Blayne chuckles. I used to think that laugh meant I’d done something to make him happy. Now, it sounds like he’s laughing at me.

“What would you want to read?” Blayne asks.

I glance up at him, then turn my head away.

“Maybe,” I begin, “something about elves?”

Blayne laughs. It’s a harsh, barking sound, and it’s so sudden that I flinch.

“Aren’t you a little old for fairy stories?” he asks.

He doesn’t know.

Cold certainty fills my chest. Perhaps Blayne hasn’t heard the stories coming out of Ethiria, or perhaps he’s heard them and doesn’t believe them. Either way, Blayne has no idea that the weapon King Malrik dug out of the Dragon Mine is an elf with magic that can rip the earth apart to swallow an army.

He doesn’t know I’m asking about something that’s horrifyingly real.

My teeth grind together behind my polite smile.

“I know,” I reply, trying to look embarrassed. “You’re right. But, they aren’t all fairy stories, are they?”