Page 9 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

She and I were betrothed and I had failed her.

I was supposed to protect her. Keep her safe.

Guard her heart.

I had failed her by keeping one little secret from her.

I should have known better. I knew how much she valued honesty.

I knew how much her trust was worth. How hard I had worked to earn it.

I lost it all in the blink of an eye. With one single sentence, everything we built crumbled.

And now we were to be married. She was going to be bound to me for eternity.

Unless I could find Astria’s spellbook. Which is why I needed to find the witch Scribe. I would not fail Lennox again. I could do this one last thing for her. Free her from me.

Even if my own heart rebelled against the thought.

I could take the coward’s way out.

Marry her. Tie her to me forever.

But that’s not what she wants.

It’s not what I want either.

I want Lennox to choose me for herself because she wants to be with me. Not because someone forced her to.

So I spent these past two months doing nothing but trying to find Astria’s spellbook. If I managed to find it myself and give it to my grandfather, I hoped he’d let Lennox out of our arranged marriage.

He had to.

Which is why I had to find the witch Scribe today. It had been Luciana who turned me onto her. She heard about the ancient Scribe from another witch in her coven. According to Luciana the Scribe held the oldest collection of books in the entire Mystic Court. If anyone was going to have Astria’s spellbook it was bound to be her.

It took some inquiring on both of our ends to figure out she traveled from court to court; it just so happened she was due to arrive in the Blood Court this month.

The impending arrival of the witch Scribe couldn’t have come at a better time.

Nico nudged me, pulling me from my thoughts as he directed me towards a stall where a small, dark-skinned woman sat. Painted on the banner on the front of her booth was a moon, a sun, and three stars, the signs of each of the witch covens.

A witch,finally.

“Let’s go.” I steered Nico towards the witch.

“Hello, my lady,” Nico drawled. “We were hoping you’d be able to help us find one of your sisters.”

The witch assessed Nico, her brows pinching and nose wrinkling. “Why should I help you, wolf?”

Nico’s brows rose. “How do you know I’m a wolf?”

“Please, I can smell it all over you. You pups stink.”

“Hey—”

“Now is not the time Nico.” I placed my arm in front of him to draw him back.

“What my friend is trying to say is we’ve been looking for the witch Scribe.”

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