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“I imagine they could be no more stressful than being a traitor to the Realm.”
She was proud when her voice came out steady. Her words seemed to have the intended effect on her papa. She let out her Empath magic now to read him. Her next words would have to be carefully picked. Shock and then tendrils of anger rose off him. Perfect.
“A traitor to the Realm?” Her papa let out a mocking laugh. “I could never be that. I care too much about the Realm; you know this. I’ve devoted my life to it.”
“You care about it like Vanya and Roland did?” Holly challenged. “Seeing as you helped them.” She slipped her hand in her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Kallan hadn’t wanted her to take the original in with her, so she had made a convincing copy of the letter where her papa made suggestions to Vanya about how to destabilize the Realm.
She threw the letter on her papa’s desk. His eyes never left her face as he slowly reached across the desk for the letter. She kept her mask firmly up, not letting her emotions shine in her eyes or on her face.
He unfolded the letter and scanned it quickly. She expected denial, anger, something. What she didn’t expect him to do was laugh.
But he did. He threw his head back and let out a booming laugh, but the sound was harsh and grating. Then he shook his head. “I should have known you would figure it out eventually. You were always smarter than I wanted you to be.”
Holly didn’t respond, didn’t react to his words, knowing the silence would drive her papa into talking to break it. “I didn’t help them,” he said caustically. “I used them. And then they had to go and ruin the plan. Finally, people were staying to their own races. The bloodlines were improving. People were concerned about purity and power, but no. They had to go and find that impure Elven–Fae bitch. They got greedy and ruined the plan with their greed.”
Holly’s eyebrows raised at that. “What do you mean they ruined it with their greed?”
Her papa paused, thinking over his words. Holly readied her Empath magic to influence him to talk, but she didn’t have to.
“Everyone knows Unitam’s greatest people came from the purest bloodlines. I mean, just look at your cousin Desmond and Malcolm. Powerful!”
“And Everett?” Holly reminded him.
Her papa scoffed. “An orphan. No way to know his lineage. But that’s besides the point. Power only comes from purity and our bloodline. Well, I have worked for decades to make sure it’s the purest of them all. Eventually, the Realm would have no choice but to acknowledge that. And everything was going perfectly, until those fools decided that any power was better than pure power. The idiots!”
Holly had hoped her papa would confess, but he was sharing quite a lot, and then he shared his end game. His eyes gleamed as he leaned forward.
“But, dear puppet, our dreams can still be realized. You can play the critical role. You can help your family. I’ve carefully crafted the purest of bloodlines for you. You could be queen!”
His eyes were slightly manic, and Holly realized he truly believed all of this. Her papa was smart, but this was ridiculous—almost madness.
“I don’t want to be queen,” she said softly.
He dismissed her words. “Of course you do. You always spent ages playing dress-up and dolls as a child. You would be perfect.”
“I did that because you never allowed me to play outside,” Holly said.
“Of course not. That wouldn’t be very royal behavior. A tomboy for a queen?”
She was going to have to be firm. “No, Papa. I won’t be queen. If anyone is going to be queen, it’s going to be Claire.”
Her papa sneered. “Claire? That’s a foolish dream.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Besides, I already sent the remaining sympathizers to our cause to the Fae lands to take her out now that she’s without her sight and her magic. She’s defenseless.”
Anger rose in Holly like a tidal wave. “You’ve done what?” Her voice was icy.
“You heard me.” Her papa leaned back in his chair and glared back at her. “There’s still time, daughter, to be useful to me, being that you already failed in keeping your ‘queen’ safe.”
Emotions warred in Holly. Worry and fear for Claire, if his words were true. Anger at his actions and beliefs. But, above all, a solid determination. She had to end this. Surely it had been ten minutes.
“Never.” She stood up. “I’ll never be useful to you again. I’ve spent my life doing it, and I gave and gave and gave and for what? A madman’s dreams.”
She took a step back to the door, and her papa’s eyes narrowed. “Sorry, dear puppet, but I can’t let you leave.” He sent a blast of magic toward her that Holly barely blocked and sent slamming into the side wall. The doors flew open, and Kallan and Synora took up either side of her.
Her papa sneered. “I should have known. You were never strong enough to do anything alone.”
“You’re wrong. She has always been stronger than you. She could take you out by herself easily,” Kallan said simply, “but she doesn’t have to.”
Her papa didn’t answer him, and instead attacked again, but Holly was ready for him this time and blocked his attack. Her papa’s eyes widened slightly, and her Empath magic picked up a small tendril of fear.
