Page 255 of Kingdom of Ash

“Why not defy them? Why bow to their wishes? What have they ever done for you?”

Sorscha’s pained face flashed before his eyes.

“There is no other way,” he said at last. “To end this.”

“The keys could end it.”

To wield them, rather than seal them back into the gate.

“They could do anything,” Maeve went on. “Destroy Erawan, banish those gods back to their home if that’s what they want.” She angled her head. “Open another door to realms of peace and resting.”

To the woman who would undoubtedly be there.

The dark, predatory power stalking his mind faded away, pulled back to its mistress.

Aelin had done it once. Opened a door to see Nehemia. It was possible. The encounters with Gavin and Kaltain only confirmed it.

“What if you didn’t only ally with me,” he asked at last, “but with Adarlan itself?”

Maeve didn’t answer. As if she were surprised by the offer.

“A bigger alliance than merely working together to find the key,” Dorian mused, and shrugged. “You have no kingdom, and clearly want another. Why not lend your gifts to Adarlan, to me? Bring your spiders to our side.”

“A breath ago, you were livid that I enslaved your friend.”

“Oh, I still am. Yet I am not so proud to refuse to consider the possibility. You want a kingdom? Then join mine. Ally with me, work with me to get what we need from Erawan, and I shall make you queen. Of a far bigger territory, with a people who will not rise up against you. A new start, I suppose.”

When she still did not speak, Dorian leaned against the door. The portrait of courtly nonchalance. “You think I’m trying to trick you. Perhaps I am.”

“And Manon Blackbeak? What of your promises to her?”

“I have made her no promises regarding my throne, and she wants nothing to do with them, anyway.” He didn’t hide the bitterness as he shrugged again. “Marriages have been built on far more volatile foundations than this one.”

“Aelin of the Wildfire might very well mark you as an enemy, should we make a true union.”

“Aelin will not risk killing an ally—not right now. And she will discover that she is not the only one capable of saving this world. Perhaps she’ll even come to thank me, if she’s as eager to avoid being sacrificed as you claim.”

Maeve’s red mouth curved upward. “You are young, and brash.”

Dorian sketched a bow again. “I am also exceedingly handsome and willing to offer up my throne in a gesture of good faith.”

“I could sell you to Erawan right now and he would reward me handsomely.”

“Reward you—as if you are a hound bringing back a pheasant to its master.” Dorian laughed, and her eyes flashed. “It was you who just posed this alliance between us, not me. But consider this: Shall you kneel, or shall you rule, Maeve?” He tapped his neck, right over the pale band across it. “I have knelt, and found I have no interest in doing so again. Not for Erawan, or for Aelin, or anyone.” Another shrug. “The woman I love is dead. My kingdom is in pieces. What do I have to lose?” He letsome of the old ice, the hollowness in his chest, rise to his face. “I’m willing to play this game. Are you?”

Maeve fell silent again. And slowly, those phantom hands crept into the corners of his mind.

He let her see. See the truth she sought.

He withstood it, that probing touch.

At last, Maeve loosed a breath through her nose. “You came to Morath for a key and will leave with a bride.”

He nearly sagged with relief. “I will leave with both. And quickly.”

“And how do you propose we are to find what we seek?”

Dorian smiled at the Fae Queen. The Valg Queen. “Leave that to me.”

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