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Michas sighed and rolled his eyes. “All right, let’s get back to what the king’s done. We can discuss other atrocities”—he cut me an aggrieved look—“another time.”
I inclined my head even though Lord Crimsonale now looked like he wanted to burn me.
“Don’t be thinking that I’ll be spending any time in the dungeons, Lady Seary.” Lord Crimsonale adjusted his jacket. “I’m merely an archon who’s trying to right what’s been wronged on our continent.”
Norivun’s guards all shook their heads and made disgusted sounds, but I reined in my sharp retort. The Osaravee archon would likely never take responsibility for what he’d done, but right now, we all needed to find common ground and work together even if the two archons present made my skin crawl.
Norivun canted his head toward the looking glass. “The council needs to see this.”
Lady Wormiful nodded. “That they do.”
“As well as the fae of our land,” I added. “We need all of the fae on our continent to know what the king did.”
“Yes, that too,” Norivun replied.
“So how do we share this with everyone?” I asked. “How do we spread the truth about what the king’s done?” While I knew my villagers would undoubtedlyhelp, it wouldn’t be enough. There were too few of them.
“I shall be in charge of that.” Lord Crimsonale’s chin lifted. “Hand that over. I shall keep it safe and ensure everyone who needs to see it does.” He held his hand out for the looking glass.
Norivun put it behind his back. “I’m not giving this to you. It’s the only proof we have of what my father’s done.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” Lord Crimsonale scoffed.
Norivun’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a fool.”
“Prince Norivun,” Michas said in an irritated tone. “You came to us for help, yet you’re now unwilling to let us help you.”
I shared an apprehensive look with my mate before asking the Crimsonales, “What are you proposing?”
Michas eyed his father, and an unspoken exchange took place between them.
Michas nodded subtly, and then said, “My father and I have contacts throughout the continent. There have been small factions at work for some time that no longer believe King Novakin is who should be ruling this land.”
My eyes widened. It was as I’d suspected. The Crimsonales were actively involved in a treasonous movement to dethrone the king.
Norivun’s jaw worked as he eyed them suspiciously. “How long has this been going on?”
The Crimsonales again shared a look before the older of the two replied, “That’s irrelevant.”
“Hardly,” Norivun growled. “If you want us to trust you, then you must also trust us. How long has such a movement been occurring?”
“Five full seasons,” Michas replied.
His father huffed at him, but the younger of the two shrugged. It wasn’t lost on me that Lord Crimsonale had risen to his territory archon status five winters ago.
“Prince Norivun wants the king dethroned too,” Michas said quietly to his father. “And with all of us working together...”
“Fine.” Lord Crimsonale’s cheeks reddened again when he held his hand out a second time. “I can create copies of the looking glass and disperse them.”
But Norivun shook his head. “As much as I’d like to trust you, I don’t believe you won’t attempt to alter this.”
My eyes widened even more. I hadn’t considered that possibility, and given the growing anger on the older lord’s face, I had a feeling that was exactly what he’d planned to do. Magic rumbled in my gut even though altering looking-glass magic was impossible. He couldn’t have changed any of the actual scenes—the looking glass’s magic wouldn’t allow it—but he could have played certain scenes only. Whatever he had planned, it was possible that it could have portrayed us in a bad light.
“You conniving, evil?—”
Norivun held a hand up, stoppingNish’s rant. “I’m keeping this,” the prince growled, “but I’ll create copies. Your job is to disperse them to your factions.”
Lord Crimsonale’s nostrils flared, and his entire body was practically vibrating. Lady Wormiful planted her hands on her hips, then rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust. “Leave it, Gregorian. The prince won’t be dissuaded. It’s more important that we work to dethrone the king right now.”
