A Fate of Wrath & Flame (Fate & Flame 1)

“I do not know. If I ask, she will lie to me. It is enough that I know, and she knows that I know.”

“How does she know that you know?”

“Because I know.” He smirks. “This is a fun conversation.”

I smile, despite everything. “Can you read her pulse?”

He snorts. “That woman is a vault. No. Casters are well trained at guarding their emotions. Anyway, the letters she has received are most likely information-seeking and nothing more, but I also do not trust Mordain to have Islor’s interests in mind. You heard what Wendeline said. The guild has its own power struggles. There are those who want to break free of Neilina’s rule. We know they used Margrethe as a pawn in whatever scheme they are spinning, and I can only assume that letter Wendeline revealed was not the first one Margrethe received. It proves that you are also somehow involved in a plot they have whipped up, fed from old prophecies.” He studies his hands. “I fear what role Islor may play in that.”

I’ve learned that Zander is naturally distrustful of everyone, but he’s also not wrong. “You don’t think Wendeline is on the side of Neilina, do you?” Just the thought brings a pang to my chest.

“If you are asking whether I think she was conspiring with you, no, I do not believe so. She is the one who encouraged my parents to take their repast before the ceremony rather than after. It is because they did that Ybaris’s plans fell apart and we are sitting here now. I am quite certain she does not support your mother’s ways, but that does not mean she is not working with those in Mordain who have a specific agenda. Someone taught Margrethe how to summon Malachi.”

“She taught her everything she knew,” I echo. But was it Wendeline who taught Margrethe that skill, or someone else? This mysterious G? Can I begrudge any of them? If Margrethe hadn’t broken the rules, I have a feeling I’d be dead in both this world and my own. “I think you can trust Wendeline to do what’s right, though.”

“I would like to think so, but I no longer trust my judgment when it comes to what I want to be true. For now, I must trust her to a certain degree. Her knowledge is invaluable to us.” His hazel eyes dart to me before turning away. He hesitates. “I did not like seeing what Tyree did to you.” He frowns, as if it bothers him that he would care.

Is that concern tied to this idea of being bewitched by me? I bite back the urge to ask. It’s clearly a sore spot. “I wasn’t a big fan of it either.” I touch the tip of my nose, marveling at how perfectly it has healed.

“And you didn’t like seeing what I did to him.”

“Setting fire to him? You’re surprised?”

“You were terrified. It was as if you’ve seen something like that before.”

I swallow. “I don’t know. Maybe I have?”

He studies me. “Are you afraid I would do something like that to you?”

“You’ve certainly threatened it enough times.” He literally could have ignited that heavy brocade dress as it clung to my sweaty limbs.

“But I wouldn’t.”

I want to steer the conversation away from talk of setting anyone on fire. “What are you going to do about the vials of poison?”

“Send men to watch the area around Lyndel. If we can keep the Ybarisans in the mountains, they can’t cause too much trouble. But we do not know how many there are and informing keepers that their tributaries may be plotting to murder them will have immortals all over Islor taking matters into their own hands.”

“Maybe if you gave them a reason to not want to murder their keepers, they wouldn’t try.”

“Abolish the entire tributary system?” He smirks. “So simple, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” I agree. I’ve lain in bed thinking about how, and the only thing I’ve figured out is that I don’t know the first thing about governing anyone. “Maybe start small. Start somewhere. But start now.”

“It’s probably best I focus on the more imminent problem at hand.”

“Which is what exactly? Quill’s murder, Adley’s political aspirations, or my mysterious coconspirator?”

“Or what this elemental wants with you.” He heaves his body from the settee, stretching when he stands. “What you learned today and what we’ve discussed, it is not idle chatter. It should not be repeated to anyone. Not Annika, not Corrin. And definitely not Saoirse.”

I roll my eyes, though I suppose I deserve that after my stunt by the nymphaeum.

“I should go and …” His voice drifts as he regards my face again, as he did when he entered.

I can’t tell if he’s still admiring Wendeline’s repairs or if there’s something more, but it makes me blush. I clear my throat. “Be a king?”

He scowls, as if catching himself. “Right.”

I don’t know when I’ll see him again. It may be days. I decide to take my chance. “Dagny asked me to go down to the market with her in the morning to look at some fabrics.”