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Stunned silence follows my words.
“See, all of you,” I encompass all five Allean spies in one sweeping glance, “believe that you’re here to end the war by killing me. In truth, you’ve been sent to weaken us in order to make Nyxar vulnerable to an attack.”
Rhea’s friend recovers first. “Liar!”She shows her teeth.
“Your king has been dabbling in the darkest sort of magic since his child’s death,” I say. “Such magic requires sacrifices.”
Rhea’s shaking her head in disbelief. “That can’t be true.”
I ignore her. “He destroyed small hamlets no one cared about, at first. Then, he needed more. He ventured north, but our borders are well guarded. He rarely ever managed to catch a few vagabond and wild folk—not nearly as much power as he needed. So, he turned to larger villages, small towns, and blamed us for it. He needs victims, and he’s looking to Nyxar to acquire them. I will not allow it, so he sent you to destroy me.”
Rhea’s friend kicks the bars of her cell. “We’ll never believe your rubbish, monster.”
I roll my eyes. “Why would I send my armies all the way to the south, in order to raze small, irrelevant villages? It sounds like a lot of effort, and I have no motive.”
Rhea’s brows furrow in concentration. She’s desperate to find a reason, a logical thread that would justify her beliefs. The problem is, there is none.
I know her mind will turn my words over later, and eventually come to the right conclusion. Truth is often too logical to deny in the end.
“Why would the Kind King kill his own subjects!” the boy in the furthest cell shouts.
“To bring his daughter back to life.”
My words are met with nothing but silence.
“It’s dark magic, but well within the power of the light king. I’m surprised he hasn’t managed yet. But as he hasn’t, he’s repeating the same ceremony every year, taking more lives, claiming more power.”
“I’ve seen them,” Rhea seethes. “I’veseenthe soldiers attacking my village, with my own eyes, and their leader was dressed all in black!”
Vess snorts. “Because no one could possibly purchase a black cloak south of the border.”
She shakes her head again, more resolute. “They were wieldingdark magic. It was shade users! I’ve seen the dark mists surround them when they started the spells thatsucked the lifeout of every survivor! Every child, every old man and woman!”
Ah, the universally misunderstood concept. With an exasperated sigh, I call to my inner power, and let it gather around me without directing it toward any spell.
A golden mist lights my skin, only fading when I let go. “This is what calling pure shade looks like, Rhea. Using darkness attracts light to us. If the magic users you saw in your village were shrouded in darkness, they called to light.”
She doesn’t believe me. None of them do, and I didn’t expect them to simply accept that everything they know is wrong. Not yet.
“You’re all guilty of a host of transgressions, chief among them conspiring to murder me. The sentence for this is death, and so from this moment on, your lives are mine to do with as I see fit.” I look at each of them, saving Rhea for last. “My men will place a location device on your persons. I recommend you don’t remove them, unless you’re not attached to whatever limb they’re fastened around. You will be incarcerated, interrogated…” I pause, measuring my words. “And the rest is entirely up to how obliging I find you.”
My gaze remains on Rhea as the last words cross my lips.
The others, I’ll leave to Vess and Alrion, but she’s all mine.
12
RHEA
I lift my chin, projecting pride, anger, and strength, never fear. But Iamterrified.
I know now I likely would never have managed to murder the king. He’s locked hisheartaway; if he’s willing to go to that extreme, I have no reason to believe it’s the only protection in his arsenal. I doubt any weapon in my possession would have worked. But I had no chance at all in any case, all because of the snake now standing by his side.
I refuse to entertain the lies Doryn is trying to feed us. I know what I saw the night my village was razed. Dozens of spies in the tower have survived similar ordeals. Our king could never have betrayed us like this. He just wouldn’t. Kings don’t destroy their own kingdoms. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to.
“This way, Rhea.” Alrion released my arm to lead me to the cell next to Sorsha.
Sorsha. And to think I believed these two harbored feelings for one another. Another thing this traitor faked, seeing as he’s letting her rot in an icy cell.This, of all things, shows me he was never who he pretended to be. The Alrion I knew would pass her his bread roll. Fill her cup before his or mine. If that man existed beneath the façade, Sorsha wouldn’t now be shivering, her lips blue.
