Page 41 of Crown of Darkness
The guilds rule the city. They rose to power during Queen Araya’s reign and Thiago allows them to remain, for it gives the people of the city a voice. It also saves him from having to negotiate petty little treaties and grievances.
As long as the guilds remain in their place, there’s no reason to strike them down.
But Theron is the head of his own guild.
“Trouble comes,” he murmurs. “But which side of the blade will it come from?”
“If trouble comes, then Eris is going to tear this city apart to snuff it out,” I point out. “And she will remember who stood at my husband’s side. And who did not.”
“Then consider this a gift, freely offered. The guilds meet once a month in public, but there are… certain members who meet privately too. Two months ago, a fae lord appeared in the midst of their gathering offering them assistance in their cause.”
“To overthrow my husband.” Two months ago…. Right about the time those pamphlets started circulating. I knew Mother was somehow involved in this. But who would she send? “What did he offer?”
“Gold,” Theron replies bluntly. “Information. And warriors.”
“And how much did he offer you?”
Theron arches a brow. “Enough gold to drown myself and all the souls of this city.”
“I believe my husband said he’d match it if you came to him.”
He glances at the rings on his fingers. “I’m not merely interested in gold. This city is my home. And every time I glance into the waters, I see darkness coming. A storm is on the horizon, Princess. Do I care who rules the kingdom? Not particularly. But the storm? I wake from dreams where bodies flood the streets on a tide of water, and I see my own men and women there, pale and bloated. I see a city in swampy ruins. I see children crying for their parents as they wade through receding waters, and parents crying for their children.”
There’s always a price for gaining the ability to See through secrets and lies, because sometimes you start to see the future too.
Water. And a storm. My mother has fae who can channel water, but a storm itself? They’re aggressive and unruly and even the best Stormchaser can only direct a storm for a mile or two before it spins out of control.
“And after the water breaks the city, night falls. But this time, it doesn’t lift.”
Our eyes meet.
The curse that gnaws at the north of Evernight has been gaining ground inch by inch for centuries, but it’s still contained to the north.
Evernight. Orevernight.
How is my mother involved in this?
“But every dream I have,” he continues, “circles back to one moment. You. You walk through water as high as your waist and it parts. The water recedes. The city repairs itself. Corpses jerk to their feet and vomit water from their lungs, returning to life. Night falls and there you are, glowing like a beacon in the darkness. Glowing so bright that you become the sun. Dawn breaks over you.”
A shiver runs through me. “I don’t have the power to do any of that.”
“As I said, I don’t care who rules the city. But I careforthe city. And there’s a chance you can save the city.” Drawing his hood up over his face, he nods to me. “The Gray Guild will meet on Elms Day to carry out their attack. I don’t know where they meet, but I will know. And I will send word.”
“Wait!” I grab his arm as he turns to go. “There is something else I must ask.”
One of his brow’s arches.
I consider how best to word it. “Thiago’s friend has been cursed, and it’s reputed that you have a hexbreaker among your… crew.”
Instant suspicion. “I have no hexbreaker.”
As expected. Curses and hexes originated in Unseelie. To suggest the possibility of one means there are unseelie in this city who shouldn’t be here.
“If you had a hexbreaker who could break his curse, then we would beverygrateful,” I stress.
“Grateful doesn’t fill my coffers.”
I pluck the Sorrow flower from his fingers. “Roses won’t earn you a moment of her time. But this might.”
