“But,” I say, “if my father swears it’s blood magic, that makes me believe it must be anything but that.” Fionn nods, brows furrowed in thought. “What of the rumors?” I ask him, teasing in my voice. “Do you believe Thayaria is leached of magic and oozing black from the very ground, or that she tortures her people and steals their blood to fuel her witchcraft? That she kidnaps children from their beds and drains their bodies of blood so she can control their parents?”

Fionn’s face drains of color. “I guess we’re going to find out,” he says with a visible swallow. Despite his casual words, I know his fear of the Witch Queen is rooted in his upbringing as a commoner, who deeply believe my father’s propaganda. Though he knows the truth about the Golden King now, some beliefs are hard to shake.

“Find out what?” Silene’s voice calls across the cavernous space. She crosses the damp, underground cave that houses four separate sparring rings, abandoned for the training yard my father built several hundred years ago to train his army, making this the perfect meetup place for the three of us.

I hesitate for a moment, not sure how much to tell her about my father’s threats. As she reaches us, I decide to only share the details of the trip and not the information he’s discovered about her nighttime activities through his network of spies. Information she hasn’t even shared with me yet. She should have known better than to test the reach of palace informants, but I understand all too well the need to fight against the constraints placed upon her. “The Queen of Thayaria has agreed to allow an envoy from Velmara to visit, and she’ll be sending her own here. I’m to be the official ambassador.”

Silene’s jaw drops. She looks between Fionn and I, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “We’re not messing with you,” I say. “It’s true. I leave in a week.”

She shakes her head in disbelief. “Why? Where is this coming from?”

“According to him, he and the Queen have agreed to this arrangement to repair the relationship between Thayaria and Velmara. He ordered me to get close to her and learn about her magic and the kingdom. Report back to him as a spy. But those can’t be his real motivations.”