Page 32 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“Strategos?” Alexandra asked.

“Ask the mages if they knew the sword was cursed before I handled it.”

Alexandra nodded. She looked around.

“I don’t want to affect anyone else. Would you mind giving me some room?”

“Come, Prince Mereruka, Bas. It’s best not to listen when she speaks,” Taisiya said as she led them to the edges of the ring.

“Bas, cover your ears,” Mereruka said.

“Did you know the sword was cursed before the strategos handled it?”

Mereruka felt the pull of her words, though they hadn’t been directed towards him. He took a step closer to the voice. He wasn’t alone. Most of those present had done so; some had even fallen to their knees. The emperor, empress and a few others standing next to them were the only exceptions. That sealed it. The emperor was a null, or whatever the mage equivalent was.

A chorus of ‘no’s’ answered her query, including the fae servants. All their faces were rapt, trancelike, their bodies swaying to be nearer to her.

Alexandra turned to Mereruka and the strategos, waiting for instructions. Mereruka suppressed a shudder. It seemed silver-tongue was just another name for a siren. Good.

“We’ve spoken to all the servants who handled the sword. Perhaps it would be best to speak to those with more authority. Djadty…” Mereruka turned to the soldier and savoured the wariness in his sharp eyes. “Perhaps you can answer a question. You’re in charge of the safety of this mission as well as the few soldiers and their weapons. Did you know the blade given to the strategos was cursed?”

“No, Prince Mereruka,” Djadty answered.

“Magistra Amber, would you ask Djadty yourself?” Mereruka asked.

Just as Alexandra opened her mouth to speak, Djadty lunged at her, blade in hand. As everyone in the ring was in the process of rushing to her defence, a blinding light and searing heat lashed out from beside Mereruka. He hissed at the nearness, narrowly avoiding a burn. By the time Mereruka heard the crackling clap, Djadty had been tossed back from the young mage. Taisiya rushed to the silver-tongue’s side, frantically looking her over for injuries.

Mereruka, along with everyone else in the ring, hurried over to the downed fae. He came to a stop and surveyed the damage. Djadty’s body was smoking, the stench permeating the air. His eyes had exploded and his sword had turned molten, melding to one of his hands. There was no coming back from that. One of the fae delegation, a soldier, pressed his ear to Djadty’s chest in vain. He stood and shook his head.

“He’s dead, Prince Mereruka.”

Unfortunately, he’d died without naming Raemka or Itu as his accomplices. It was a setback, but at least he was left with only two rats to contend with.

Mereruka turned to the strategos and bowed.

“My deepest apologies for bringing this criminal into your midst. I feel it is only appropriate to offer a favour as recompense.”

“Peace between our peoples, Prince Mereruka. That is what I wish for,” the strategos replied.

A wise request, for a man of war. And one easy enough to keep. Mereruka doubted many from Maat would wish to visit the Cursed Continent, let alone fight over it.

“As long as I live, I will do my utmost to uphold that,” Mereruka replied. “And who should I reward for preventing the attempted murder of your mage? I confess I didn’t catch sight of the one who struck Djadty.”

“I believe that was Illustra Spark. There weren’t any other lightning mages present,” Marduk said, his face grim.

Mereruka turned to see Taisiya helping Alexandra to her feet. He was beginning to really hope she failed to uphold their bargain. He’d thought the mages uniformly weak, their magic unimpressive. He had been wrong. Djadty’s spectacular demise had most of the fae looking at Taisiya with new, more deferential, eyes. Desire, covetous and dark, curled in his gut. He wanted a bride who would be respected in her own right—a villainess as capable of inspiring awe as she did fear. And the speed of her lightning strike was both awesome and fearful.

The empress approached Taisiya and slapped her on the back with a cackling laugh, startling the ambassador.

“Nice shot! I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Neither had Mereruka. What else would he discover in the coming days? He eyed Raemka and Itu and smiled. Only two to go.

Chapter 17

“Vasilisa,Ineed—”

The darkness mage leapt from Taisiya’s shadow, surprising the empress and Alexandra both.

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