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The moment of faith surprised me.
“Why would you trust anything I say?”
“I don’t trust what you say. You’re a hopeless liar, a recreational deceiver, a monster of the first order.” Her lips quirked. “But I trustyou.”
I tilted my head to one side, studying her. That was unexpected. But it didn’t matter right now, as long as she listened.
“Kallus’s powers come from Ebba, and they’re fading because of Ebba. He’s seeking his own key to Ebba’s power. Before Ebba can find a body and reach his full power—and take back his stolen magic—Kallus has got to drain Ebba’s powers. And you can’t let him do that, Honor.Youhave to be the one to defeat Ebba.”
It was a firestorm of information, but she nodded.
“I’d love to,” she said dryly. “How do I do that?”
“You can end Kallus by ripping out that shred of Ebba’s power. It’s within his heart. It’s given him more power than he was ever meant to have.”
She winced. The sense of distress she felt at the thought of hurting Kallus washed over us both, along with a sense of sadness. She liked him. She wanted her uncle alive. “And then Ebba?”
“You need to draw the united magic from the kingdom.”
“Is that all?” She let out a little laugh. “Have you seen the kingdom, Zehr?”
“Youcan access all the magic in the land, just as much as Ebba can. You’re meant to rule. But you have to pull the magic from the land. From its people.”
She tilted her head at me. “How? I don’t have any magic, Zehr. Maybe some of it is coming back because we can talk, but...No onehas any magic. We’re getting routed by Kallus’s troops because of it.”
“Don’t be stupid,” I said. “You always have magic. You can pull it from them.”
Her brows had risen at the wordstupid.I cupped her hands with mine before she could pull away. “Call your fire, Honor.”
It was just a hunch. Ebba was terrified of her, and Kallus had tried to drive her away from her men. But why?
She gave me a skeptical look. But she lowered her gaze to our joined hands. The next second, a curl of flame—just a wisp of one—glowed across our hands. I yanked away, feeling the burn across my palm, and she grinned up at me. “I should stomp on your instep for telling me not to be stupid.”
“But I wasn’t wrong.”
“You’re always wrong when you’re mean, Zehr.” She cupped her hands again. “Anyway, it was the faintest wisp.”
“All you need is thefaintest wisp—and your place on the throne—and you can draw on the kingdom’s magic.Yourmagic. You’re as linked to it as any king. As Ebba himself.”
She bit her lip, lost in thought. But I could see what was going on in that busy brain, even before she said quietly, “Time to be queen.”
Despite all her insecurities, all her fears.
“You are ready,” I promised her. “And when we see each other again, Honor, maybe I’ll finally bow before you and grovel like you wished.”
“That sounds like it’s worth living for,” she said with a mischievous grin.
And right now, when I wasn’t sure if I would live or not, I agreed. But it was that smile that seemed worth living for.
“What else?” she asked.
“I wanted to kiss you good night before you go back to them,” I said.
“Just a kiss?” That impish smile had come across her lips, the one that I could never resist.
“People think I’m the devil.” I rested my thumb on that perfect, rounded lower lip. “But you’re the devil. I’d just be your servant.”
Her lips parted in a smile. “Knowing you, you think that’s a compliment.”
