Finnegan said. “It’s hard for nobility to exist when dragons unexpectedly destroy most of your kingdom.”
“They all died?”
“Most,” he said. “But we also do things a bit . . . fairer here than in Alyssinia. Guilds deal with their own affairs. And my mother manages it all, to the cost of her social life and beauty sleep.”
“Your mother?” she asked. “The queen?”
“Of course. I’ll introduce you to her at some point, but not today.”
She frowned. “Am I supposed to be a secret?” Hiding from a nonexistent court was one thing, but hiding from the queen?
“No one has secrets from my mother,” he said. “I just want to wait. Until we’ve settled our agreement here. We’ll tell everyone else that you’re a visitor from Falreach. Rose. A foreign noble visiting to use the library. No one will ask questions.”
“Assuming I stay here,” she said, as they approached another guarded door.
“Of course,” Finnegan said. “Assuming that you stay.” He nodded to the guard as he pushed the door open. “Could you find someone to bring a platter to my study, Smith? Anything will do.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the guard said. “Of course.”
Beyond was a bright corridor, lit by a single floor-to-ceiling window at the end. Several doors were ajar. Finnegan led her into a sitting room, with green armchairs and a book abandoned spine-up on the coffee table. The Rushes, the title said.
“You can borrow it if you like,” Finnegan said, when he saw her looking. “But it’s not very good. A bit too pretentious for my tastes.”
“Too pretentious for you?” she said. “Must be unbearable.” She sat on the edge of one of the armchairs.
Finnegan sat across from her. “All right, Aurora,” he said. “You wanted to negotiate, so negotiate. What made you decide you need my help after all?”
She sat up straighter, considering her words. “You know the situation in Alyssinia, I assume?”
“I heard you burned a village to the ground.”
“I heard I burned several villages to the ground. You should not believe all you hear.”
“Not all that you hear, no. But there’s a grain of truth in there somewhere. There almost always is. And I’ve seen what you can do.”
“You’ve yet to see me burn down a village.”
“But I’ve seen your magic before,” he said. “I believe you’re powerful enough for the rumors to be true.”
“Alyssinia is in trouble,” she said. “There are soldiers all over the kingdom, tearing towns apart. Homes are burning, there are riots in the capital. The king has been burning villages, just so that he can blame the destruction on me.”
“And you intend to stop him?”
“I do.”
“And you think I’m going to help?”
She leaned forward. “I know you want me on your side,” she said. “I know there’s something you need from me. You knew about my magic before I did; you came to Alyssinia because of it. You need me. So why don’t you tell me what you want?”
“Oh, there are so many answers to that question, Aurora.”
She tightened her grip on the arms of the chair. “Let’s start simply, then. Why did you come to see me in Alyssinia?”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Finnegan said.
A servant appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray of cakes and a bottle of wine. He poured them both glasses before bowing his way out of the room again. Finnegan sipped his before continuing.
“I was intrigued.”
She waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.
“Intrigued?” she said. “By what?”
“Wouldn’t you be intrigued if someone who had been asleep for a hundred years suddenly woke up? I wanted to see what you’d be like, if only to confirm my suspicions.”
“Did I meet your expectations?”
“Oh, not at all,” Finnegan said. “I would have stopped talking to you long ago if you had. I figured you’d be stuck-up like Iris, or else weak and dull like Rodric. The truth was far more entertaining.”
She leaned forward. “You’re lying.”
“About Rodric being dull? I assure you, it’s true.”
“About being intrigued after I awoke. You were in Alyssinia before I woke up. Not in the castle, not part of the ceremony, but close enough to appear within days. You wouldn’t travel so far, before the ceremony even took place, on a whim.”
“Perhaps I was merely traveling, Aurora. I have interests other than you.”
“You weren’t merely traveling,” she said. “You were preparing. If you think so little of Rodric, you can’t have expected his kiss to wake me. But you needed to be there, just in case. I want to know why.”
“Perhaps I was a jealous suitor,