Page 57 of Shadows and Roses

"But neither was he harmed. There weren’t corpses and blood littering the halls. The servant girl he spoke with—did he mention her?"

Two more people joined them while Damon considered. Aphaia and Pelios, who had joined the movement after Damon took over. Pelios stole Jerrl’s beer and asked, "Can we trust you, Castien?"

"Yes. Always."

"Good enough for me."

Damon rolled his eyes. Pelios smirked. "He’s the better half of you, Damon. If we can’t trust him, we’re all fucked anyway."

"Fair enough," Damon sighed. The tension visibly eased. Castien wondered what they would have done if they’d decided he’d been turned. Better not to consider such things.

Damon leaned back. "Think your Queen will put up withme, lordling?" He smiled his crooked smile, a familiar expression of mischief. There was a hard edge to it now.

Castien nodded and spread his hands. "That's why I’m here. She wants the same world we do. I believe her."

"How?" Kevam interjected, a frown on his face. "How can you believe a noble, any noble, would simply give away their power? Especially the Queen?"

The others nodded. Castien knew he was trying to understand. "She’s—" He let out a helpless laugh. "I can’t simply tell you that she’s a good person. She wants to protect people, and all her Escorts are good people. Trust me enough that it’s worth taking a chance to at least talk to her."

Kevam’s frown seemed to deepen. "The facts are that she has not once used her power to help the people, she has not declared a single edict that doesn’t benefit the wealthy and powerful. She’s convinced you with words, Castien, but we can’t live on pretty speeches."

He wasn’t wrong. "She wants to go to war with the other Queens."

Jerrl laughed. "War? And you think that’s good for the people? When has war ever helped anyone?"

"She sounds like a power-hungry bitch," Aphaia mumbled.

Castien corrected, "Not for power. The goal is to tear down their regimes and demand an end to cruelty, or destroy those who won’t bend. Isn’t that what we’re trying to do? But she can’t go to war on her own. She needs allies, and the only people who might support her are the people she wants to free."

Kevam seemed to think about it. Jerrl shook his head.

Throwing up his hands, Castien tipped his chin at Damon. "What do you want? What would you do if you were a Queen? Or… ‘king’?"

Most of them laughed softly, Damon included. ‘King’ wasn’t a word found anywhere except in old poetry.

"Enough." Damon finally spoke. "What does she offer?"

Castien sighed internally, relaxing. As long as Damon didn’t oppose the idea, it was a possibility. "She wants to hear your intentions and plans. Then she’ll send a better representative than a bed servant. I’m just a whore. You don’t need to trust me except under the sheets."

Damon gave him a familiar look—mocking judgment when he referred to Castien's pampered station in life. "Modesty isn’t becoming on you, Castien. You’re an Escort—one of her personal chosen few."

A new Escort and only for the purpose of this alliance, but pointing that out wouldn’t help this discussion.

"Fair enough. Will you oblige her request?"

"With nothing offered in return?"

Castien gestured to himself. "With your request grantedfirst—me, here, alone."

Damon leaned back. "I am curious about that. Are you so expendable, or not actually alone?"

With a raised eyebrow and incredulity in his tone, the courtesan said, "You would have seen anyone approaching—isn’t that why you chose that side of the forest? She trusts me, and by sending me here alone, she extends that much trust to you."

"That we won’t harm you. It helps that you’re one of us."

"That was mostly how I convinced them." That, and nearly two hours of arguing.

"Ah." Damon glanced at the others. "We'll talk about it. Take a walk with Garet."

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