Page 32 of The Princes of Stone and Steel

“Get out of my head!”

It was then I really got a sense of who lay next to me. This lonely man. No friends except for Korrigan. I knew exactly how that felt, as it seemed Aunt Cynthia, or whoever she was, had kept me purposely isolated until Kori had found me.

I watched the orange and yellow glow of the fire reflect off Steele’s skin the way light bounced off a mirrored surface, making it glow orange and yellow.

“Is that another one of your powers here in my world?” I asked.

“Is what?”

“You read my mind. I wondered about Stipator and you answered before I could ask.”

“No. That’s a power I acquired when I fell in love with a woman named Millicent Merchant. I know you, Mils. Know how your mind works, what’s in your heart.”

“Why won’t my stupid head remember? I feel those things. I feel like I can trust you, that I know you too. So why can’t I remember?”

“The Papyrus kept you dosed up for years. None of us know how long the effects will take to wear off.”

“Aunt Cynthia drugged me?”

“Shewasn’tyour aunt. And yes, according to our intelligence, she had to until the Papyrus were ready to use you. That still bothers me.”

“What? The drugging?” I asked.

“Well, of course that. But, Mils, think about it. They couldn’t have known about you and me. So why hadn’t they used the normal methods to woo you and get you on their side?”

“Since I don’t know those normal methods, I couldn’t tell you.”

“They were planning something. Whatever it was is big, big enough to put you in hiding in this world until they needed you. That woman you lived with,sAt, she was the daughter of Shefdew.”

Okay. Theleaderof the Papyrus had his own daughter looking after me. That seemed big.

“What do you fight over?” The thought hit me.

“What does any people fight for? Power. Land. I know in our case, the Vráchos control the mountains.”

“Makes sense,” I added.

“Well, we build our army from ore in rocks. Like ore locked inside those mountains.”

“And let me guess, you’re using up your sources of ore so you need to mine the mountains?”

“Exactly.”

“Then, what do the Vráchos and Papyrus get? Because it can’t simply be defense against the Forfex.”

“Why do you say that, Mils?”

“Wouldn’t they call a truce? Team up to work against you. They each must have something, some kind of reward coming from beating the other two clans.”

“You are brilliant. The thought never occurred to me. I thought what they wanted you for, well, I was honestly thinking defense.”

“No. Deep down, I think you knew. That’s why it bothered you that they kept me hidden here.”

“Shoot, Mils. We need to get word about this back to Korrigan, but I don’t want to risk anyone finding out where you are.”

“What can I do?” Because if Steele’s normally even tone sounded that worried, then our situation was more than serious, it wasHoly Crap!

“Nothing for now. Try to sleep. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

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