Page 47 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
I grin at him with a little madness, my brain still not working at full function. “Is that an offer? A one-on-one fight to the death for the leadership of the Assassins of Belladonna?”
“Oh, Aldrin. You died,” Belladonna says with mock sympathy. “Your fucking heart stopped. Death releases us from our bonds. You are no longer an Assassin of Belladonna and cannot challenge us for leadership.”
The blood drains from my head.
I have failed.
Instead of chasing after Keira, I came here to waste my time.
I could have hired these people to take out Titania in her sleep, like she tried to do with me. It would have gotten me further than this, but I was too worried about leaving a power vacuum for one of her supporters to fill. That I would be cast asthe villain to my people, someone to rebel against, rather than the savior they would welcome.
I glance at Valentine, who just shrugs. “Did you really think we would allow you to become one of our assassins? Especially when your goal is to take what is ours for your own use? Those of our order give their bodies and lives to the Haven of Death, cutting all ties from what they were before. They have no other obligations. No family and definitely no titles. This is usually an escape from the trauma and cruelties of their past.”
My mind instantly flicks to Dante, who can no longer drink alcohol, and I wonder how many addicts this place has saved.
“Why waste my time, when my enemy is slowly destroying my court? When she has my mate as her prisoner, finding new ways to torment her each day?” I grind my teeth as a bottomless rage boils through me. I am about to lose my mind. We have both endured far too fucking much while I took these trials for them to amount to nothing.
Leonardo taps a finger against his cheek. “We have been watching you for some time, Aldrin, and had to know how hard you will fight for what needs to be done. We want to help you.” I narrow my eyes at him, not believing a word he says, but he just turns to Belladonna. “Dear sister, care to tell Aldrin the true purpose of your order of assassins?”
“Put your sword away. You are done fighting today.” Her staff dissolves into a sparkling rain that shimmers to the ground.
“I will decide when I sheathe my sword,” I growl.
Belladonna’s tail slices through the air behind her. “Tell me, what does our order represent to you?”
“Every court knows you are the most skilled and highly trained killers in the realm. Ruthless enough to slaughter without bias, taking on any contract, so long as the client can pay,” I say with a bite to my tone.
“Andthatis a misconception we encourage.” Her smile widens, her lips fading from black to pink. “We are a network of spies who are literally invited into courts, palaces, homes of nobility, in every city, when contracts are made. With each hit against a target, we collect as much data as we can. You can imagine what we gleaned when Titania invited us into her palace.”Belladonna raises an eyebrow. “When we are caught in compromising situations, our intrusions are not blamed on our mysterious order or a specific court, but on the client who hired us. And when we don’t want a contract? Well, often we fake a counter-contract that kills the original client. We do not let a little trifle like morals get in the way of the bigger picture.”
My simmering gaze flicks to Leonardo, who has the audacity to wink at me. “The guild does not belong to me, or follow my orders. They have no connection to the Starlight Court other than that many of their members are expats, but not all. We simply have a good working relationship, my sister and I.”
“Why collect information?” I grind out. “What will you do with it? Sell it to the highest bidder?” Maybe this is how Titania has been constantly one step ahead of me, especially during the time she convinced me off my own throne.
“Don’t insult us,” Valentine grumbles as he stands behind Belladonna, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes glitter as she glances up at him. He is a good head taller than her. “We use our detailed information and sheer manpower on a realm-wide scale to influence intricate politics across all courts. Do not think that your precious Spring has been immune to our manipulations.”
“Get your filthy fingers out of my court!” I scowl.
“Come now, Aldrin,” Belladonna says. “You still look like death. Besides, we want to ally with you. The corruption has been growing across the lands and most rulers refuse to doanything about it. We are very interested in your theories on how to fight it.”
Her words stop me short. “You want to ally with me?” I point at her with my sword. “Your order has literally been trying to kill me.”
“You left us no choice!” Silver suddenly flashes within her amber eyes. “We used our influence to give you everything when Titania ran her propaganda of falsehoods to steal your throne. Groups of powerful people so loyal to you that they would go to war to keep you in power. But you had to take the high road and walk away. Could you not counter her lies with defamation? Could you not dig into her past to see who she truly was? We thought you were weak.”
I run a hand down my face as the horror of those days floods me once more. “Titania is so talented at spinning a web of lies, at making promises she cannot keep, that she convincedmeI was no longer a competent ruler. At the time, I decided I would not force myself on my people when they voted me out. That I would not inflict a civil war upon them just to benefit myself. I didn’t understand how truly toxic she is, or that she would destroy us all.”
“And what about now?” Leonardo tips his head to the side, the dim light overhead glinting off the sparse silver strands in his long, curly black hair.
“Now there is nothing I wouldn’t do to get my mate back and remove that tyrant from my throne. No war would be too bloody. No means would not justify the ends. Because Titania will kill us all. Her greed has us making a slow march toward our doom, with the corruption allowed to grow unchecked.”
Valentine lets out a long, low whistle. “Those are some bold claims from a man of your history. We had to know for sure, thus the brutal trials designed to test your moral compass against your desperation.”
I don’t allow them to distract me. “What was your purpose in taking a contract from Titania to kill me? Surely my death would only benefit her and increase her power over my people.”
“You spent decades in exile, sitting on your hands and doing precious little,” Belladonna answers. “We had hope when you returned to the palace to confront her, but you were so focused on taking the righteous path and winning the useless Senate that it amounted to nothing. It seemed that killing you and exposing that it was Titania’s doing would achieve two things: Cyprien would take revenge on Titania by whatever means possible, then sit on your throne, and the people would be more loyal to you and your ideas in death than in life.” She shrugs, like it all means very little.
My head spins at the implications. “In my death, Titania would finally be seen as the villain, and all would unite against her. It is the exact reason I cannot have her assassinated or storm the palace without exposing her crimes.”
“You might find that by the time you return, she has already defamed herself,” Valentine adds.
