“When we beat him.”

“What then? Are you going to rule over these people just like he did?”

“Of course,” said Serpine. “What did you expect? You really think we’d let mortals run the world? Look at them. Watch them stumble and fumble. Gaze into their dull eyes. Can you see even the faintest glimmer of intelligence? Mortals are not fit to run their own lives, Valkyrie, let alone the world.”

“If you give them a chance—”

“They don’t want a chance. They need guidance. They need wisdom. The oldest mortal is still only a child compared to a sorcerer. Would you trust children to run your life?”

“They’re not children.”

“You haven’t had your Surge yet, have you? So you’re as young as you look, and as such you’ve probably still got sentimental attachments to a mortal family or friends … But you’ll learn. You just need a few more years. Please, would you come with me?”

Valkyrie glowered, but she couldn’t just stand in one place until she thought of something better to do. They walked up the road a little, to a tavern.

“You are not buying me a drink,” she said.

Serpine smiled. “I can be quite charming when I put my mind to it, you know. You might even find yourself liking me.”

She didn’t even bother responding to that, and he laughed.

They walked into the tavern. Immediately, the atmosphere was different. The people in here held themselves straighter than those outside. They were stronger. More alert.

Sorcerers.

A girl drifted over to them, pale, with a scar curling from the corner of her mouth.

“Valkyrie,” said Serpine, “you remember Harmony, don’t you? Harmony is my … assistant.”

“Valkyrie,” Harmony said. “A pleasure to see you again.”

“Harmony used to tell me what to do,” Serpine continued. “She used to mock me. I think it’s fair to say she didn’t like me at all. Maybe she despised me as much as you do. Would that be fair, Harmony?”

Harmony glared at him.

Serpine smiled. “But that didn’t stop her falling for my charms. Oh, it was an illicit affair. Torrid, even. She hated me, yet was drawn to me. Very passionate.”

“I really don’t need to hear this,” Valkyrie said.

“And then the dearly departed China Sorrows ordered me to help you and your skeleton friend to sneak into the city, and Harmony feared she’d lost me. You feared that, didn’t you, Harmony? You thought I’d be killed. But I returned. And it was China who died so, so tragically. The Resistance was in tatters. It took someone special to draw them all together. There was only one man for the job. But then he died too, also tragically, and I was the only soul brave enough to replace him. After that, Harmony began looking at me with a newfound respect – nay, admiration.”

Harmony set her jaw.