Fires of War (War and Deceit #4) - Erin O'Kane Page 0,150

knew the king was corrupt, but I thought he would at least try to protect those who were loyal to him. He killed his wife and beat his son, using him as bait to blackmail you. Of course he wouldn’t, I scold myself.

“The king gets slaves that do as they’re told.” The queen laughs, smirking like she’s talking to a simpleton. So that’s what she offered him. For his support and soldiers, she would give him immortal slaves.

“Slaves that will never die, rebel, or betray me.” The king grins at me and shrugs his shoulders. “What’s not to like?”

I grip my staff tightly, trying to stop myself from leaping forward and slamming it into the king’s chest. “They’re dead! You’ve killed children!”

“Besides,” the queen calls, ignoring me completely. “I had to get your attention somehow.”

She may want to ignore the issues, but I’ve rattled the king. A slight frown has settled between his brow as he stares at the undead children. I remember our conversation back in Arhaven. He didn’t want to accept the queen’s offer, in fact, he was disgusted by the forsaken. Was this what he was trying to avoid? I knew that by rejecting his ‘offer,’ he would side with the queen, but I had never thought she would stoop so low as to turn children into forsaken. Judging by the look on the king’s face, he might not have had much say in the matter.

I face the queen, since she’s the real threat here. “You want my attention? You’ve got it, I’m here.”

She smiles and hums to herself, tilting her head to one side. “You see, Clarissa, I just wanted to kill you when you first showed up, but you made things more difficult for me.” She runs her hand up and down her arm, trailing her fingers along her skin as she speaks, and I see small trails of darkness following in their wake. It’s like she’s painting her body in darkness. It stays on her skin for a few seconds before disappearing, being reabsorbed into her body. The casual way she speaks of my death shocks me, but when she has caused the death of so many, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

“I’ve been planning this for centuries, and then you come along and ruin everything.” Her mood changes instantly, shifting from gleeful to furious in a second. Snarling, she strides towards me, her hands balled into fists. “You, an ex-slave, a half-elf nothing.”

I feel a change in the air as she gathers a ball of dark power in her hand. Staring at the magic, I know if she throws that pure power at me, I will die.

My mates will try and get to me, battling their way through the forsaken, but I can’t sit here and wait to be saved. The odds are stacked against us, and I can’t rely on them getting to me in time. Besides, everyone keeps telling me I’m stronger than I think, so maybe it’s time to show them.

Needing to distract her, I try to get her talking. I clear my throat, look away from the power in her hands, and meet her eyes. “What were you planning?”

It works, my question seems to take her by surprise. Needing to gloat, she uses the opportunity. “The goddess was dying, we needed new leadership, so I decided to take it,” she explains, but my attention is on the magic, which is slowly being reabsorbed. Relief makes my knees weak, but I can’t show her that, instead, I frown as I process what she just said.

“The old gods abandoned us, even our sacred Menishea, so I was going to become our new goddess.” She says it so simply, like becoming a goddess is something any sane person would consider. “He came to me in a dream.” Her eyes glisten, her smile wistful now. “He whispered tales of the old gods and their powers. He told me how to become one, that he would give me some of his power to help me ascend.” A hint of mania has entered her voice, and I realise the queen’s mind has been twisted. I remember the darkness that had infected my thoughts, tainting them. I hadn’t even noticed and probably wouldn’t have if the Mother hadn’t warned me. It’s easy to imagine how the queen’s mind has been changed over the years by the darkness. If ‘he’ really has been coming to her dreams for years, then it’s difficult to know which of her