Page 85 of Lady of the Lake

But the lies feel brittle now, dried roses ready to crumble at the slightest touch. I can’t bring myself to lie again. And Talan won’t fall for it anymore.

So, I say nothing, because that’s all I’ve got left—silence.

The wind toys with Talan’s hair, lifting dark strands. “I’ve been inside your mind before.” His voice is cold as midwinter frost. “Isn’t that right, little telepath?”

I nod, just once.

My mind churns wildly like a raging storm.

He knows I stole from him. He just doesn’t know why.

He steps closer, slowly, like he has all the time in the world to destroy me. All the warmth leeches from the air around us. In my thin nightgown, I shiver.

“And why did you steal that map from me?”

My mind starts to flick through the calculations again.

“Careful,” he purrs, and I know there’s danger in the softness of his voice. “Lie to me again, and I will know. I’m watching you closely now. Tell me, little telepath—who are you? Why did you steal from me, and why did you seek me out?”

I look up, my voice barely a whisper. “You might not realize it, but I’m your ally now. I wasn’t at first, but I am now.”

He smiles faintly, a dark curve of lips. “I don’t think so, Nia. But you’re very good at faking it. I know better than anyone how easy it is to fake an entire life. So, what’s your real name?”

I clear my throat. “Nia. That part is real. Not my last name, but that’s not important.”

He narrows his eyes. “Months ago, in the Château des Rêves, you took a map from me. I vowed to find you again, but I losttrack of you. By the time you returned to me, you’d figured out how to shield your mind. You found your way into my castle in Brocéliande. What are you after? Why did you seek me out and let me think that I was the one who found you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t. Lie.” His eyes glitter like dark ice, cold and beautiful. “You stole a map from me. It had important information on it. Important places that I was working to protect.”

Yes. Fey military bases. At least, that’s what Avalon Tower thought. “The Blue Dragon Project. The sanctuary for the war orphans.”

“The map you stole identified their home, and your worthless Pendragon allies attacked it.”

I swallow hard, a sickening feeling opening in the pit of my gut. “What’s your connection to that place?”

The power of his magic raises goosebumps on my skin. “I built it because they needed someone to protect them, and no one else would. But of course, the Pendragons have a brutal tendency to attack without the correct information, don’t they? They’re relentlessly evil but not very bright.”

My breath quickens. “I’m not a Pendragon.”

“Of course not.” His voice drips with quiet venom. “They’d never sully their precious bloodline with a half-Fey mongrel. But youarean Agent of Avalon, a plague to our kingdom. The traitor I’ve been looking for all along. Isn’t that right, darlingwife?”

Wife.He wields the word like a sharp weapon.

“I’m not an agent anymore.” My voice breaks. “At least, I don’t think so. I refused a direct command. Nivene returned to Camelot without me, and now I’ve gone rogue. I tried to get you away from their bomb attack, you know. Don’t you remember how I pulled you out of the room?”

Talan’s dark laugh makes me wither inside.

“Such fickle loyalty. How very human of you. You’re as consistent as a leaf caught in the wind.”

My jaw tightens. “You and I both want your father dead. We both hate the Pendragons. We’re on the same side.”

He cocks his head. “I think you kept me alive because you weren’t done mining me for information, and because you could use me to take down Father. One less monarch to kill.”

My throat is dry, and I swallow hard. “No, that’s not what happened.”

He lets out a long, agonized sigh. “I should have known. I had some suspicions, of course. That prisoner who disappeared from the dungeons around the time you showed up. And that night, you got hurt, mysteriously attacked, and two guards went missing. But then Arwenna shot you with an iron arrow that she got from Pendragon allies. And the night of the assassination. And that strange sense that I knew…” Something unreadable flashes across his features briefly before his perfect features harden again. “Well, it’s over.”

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