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Ah. Now Levet was beginning to understand the male’s grim determination to believe that a miniature gargoyle with fairy wings was a god. Even after he’d watched Levet’s mighty fireballs sizzle and poof into cinders.
“There was another interpretation, was there not?”
The minotaur squeezed his hands into tight fists. “The previous king had his own ideas.”
“What happened to him?”
“He was banished.”
Levet didn’t know anything about the former leader, but he felt an immediate sympathy for him. Like him, Levet had been driven from his homeland. It was a fate he would not wish on any creature.
“What did he see in the vision?” Levet asked.
“What does it matter?” The minotaur abruptly spun away, pacing from one end of the balcony to the other as if his seething emotions were threatening to boil over. “He refused to accept that the goddess’s gift of the labyrinth was intended to keep us shielded from the world,” he burst out, the words sounding oddly defensive. “And that the vision given to the seer was proof of the danger, not a promise of salvation. We had no choice but to get rid of him and his treacherous beliefs.”
Levet wrinkled his snout in disgust. This male had used the previous king’s unpopular opinion to gain power. And now he was desperate to cling to his throne, despite all evidence that he’d made a terrible mistake.
“How difficult was it for you to sway the other minotaurs into believing he was wrong so that you could claim the crown?”
The male came to an abrupt halt, glaring at Levet. “It wasn’t like that. I gave the people hope.”
“And took the throne.”
“He was wrong.”
“Non.” Levet shook his head, belatedly realizing what had been nagging at him since he’d been kidnapped and forced into the minotaur homeland. From the beginning there’d been a sense of familiarity about it. He couldn’t place why it might feel as if he’d been there before. Probably because the two places were so completely different. But now he realized that it wasn’t the surroundings that were familiar, it was the choking sense of claustrophobia that hovered over the fortress. Just as it had once hovered over the merfolk castle. Inga had rid the palace of the rancid atmosphere when she’d become queen, but only after she’d killed the previous king and forced her people back into the world. “He was right.”
The male stomped his foot, causing the balcony to shudder beneath the impact. Levet dug his claws into the railing to keep from falling.
“Impossible.”
“It is always a mistake to seclude yourself in such a manner,” Levet informed the stubborn fool. “The merfolk did the same thing to protect themselves from the dragon wars.”
“We’re not merfolk,” the minotaur snapped.
“Non, but they were isolated in their castle beneath the ocean, allowing the rot to come from inside. It is inevitable.”
“There is no rot.”
“Are you jesting?” Levet waited. It was a legitimate question. He often did not comprehend what others considered funny. When the male continued to glare at him, Levet pointed a finger toward the gaping black hole in the sky. “What do you call that?”
“Clearly it is an attack from some unseen enemy.”
“There is no scent of an invader, not even when the black mist appeared to take the sacrifice,” Levet pointed out in reasonable tones. “Besides, why would they create an opening and not use it to enter?”
“The vision—”
“The vision reveals a darkness in the sky and a gargoyle who happens to look likemoi,” Levet interrupted. He’d seen the prophecy stitched into the tapestry. And like all prophecies, there were several details without any sort of context. Like having a fairy pick a yellow daffodil and a unicorn farting. Both could happen at the same time without having any connection to each other. Levet wrinkled his snout. Perhaps that wasn’t the best metaphor. “My presence doesn’t ensure an end to the threat of your homeland.”
“You are our savior,” the male snarled.
Levet glanced toward the sky, a shudder racing through his body. “I possess no magic that can heal that rot.”
“Don’t say that.”
Levet turned back to send his companion a chiding frown. “You should have listened to your previous king. Your ambition is going to destroy your people.”
The minotaur was shaking his head before Levet finished speaking. “I don’t believe you.”
