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I met Sabium when I was young enough to still dream of things like romance and a peaceful, happy marriage. He was charming at first. So charming, I’d fallen for his act—the innocent girl in me dreaming of the life we would have. I’d thought we would have children and finally break the curse that seemed to plague his family.

Sabium had truly thought I was so ignorant, so vapid, I would never understand just who he was.

The day we’d married, the truth was explained to me. We would never lie together. He would never give me a child of my blood. Instead, he would hand me a squalling newborn—taken from some poverty-stricken village girl. And I would be forced to raise that boy in place of my own.

I’d refused. And Sabium had sighed, as if my reaction was entirely expected and yet still unwelcome.

That was when one of his guards had taken me below. To the very dungeon that now sat empty.

They’d starved me for four days, and Sabium had visited for anothertalk. Not only would I pretend the baby was mine. If I drew suspicion in any way, I would meet with an unfortunate accident.

Now, I could forgive myself for my naivety. My parents had raised me to be a victim. If I could turn back time, I would kill them for it myself.

I studied the empty space in my mirror. The space where the fae amulet had sat for decades. I’d known what that amulet was the moment Sabium had it delivered under the guise of a gift.

Clicking sounded behind a wall, and I turned. Pelysian stepped through from the hidden passage and nodded at me, his thick black hair brushing his shoulders. The lantern in his hand spilled light across his brown skin as he pulled the mirrored wall shut behind him.

I didn’t bother asking if he’d been followed. Pelysian had come with me from my own household before I married the king. His abilities allowed him to hear information conveyed in even the lowest of whispers. There were few spies as useful, and none more loyal.

“Well?” I asked, sitting on the low sofa.

“The king sent his iron guards after the hybrids. It appears the fae separated, each taking a group to safety. The guards found a group, wounded one of the fae, and killed four of the hybrids.”

“A distraction,” I murmured. “Regner is planning something much bigger. And the heir?”

“My spies are still unsure. I believe she may have fled via ship.”

“Leaving her people behind? Ah, but she may not have had a choice.” I felt no sympathy for her. Every woman eventually understood the truth of powerful men. She had more than enough winters behind her to learn such a lesson.

Curiosity flickered across Pelysian’s face. “May I ask a question, Your Majesty?”

“You may.”

“You knew the hybrid wasn’t who she appeared to be, and yet you allowed her access. Why is it that you wish to be informed of her every move now?”

I leaned back in my chair. “At first, I was amused by her. A hybrid rebel in my husband’s castle, working under his nose…” I smiled. “Whether she was caught or not was irrelevant. It was the mere fact that she’d made it so close to the king that intrigued me.”

I knew fae fire. My father had used it before it became too dangerous to do so. Still, when the maid had lit my gown on fire, I’d realized just how easily it could all be over.

Some part of me had almost wanted to burn.

But I’d seen just how few people would care. I’d watched as no one acted. And I’d memorized their faces.

So, I’d lashed out, and now, knowing exactly how dangerous the hybrid heir truly was, I felt something close to regret. Sending the maid to the dungeon had alerted the king to her transgression. Oh, I didn’t regretthat. What was the life of one maid after all? But I had unknowingly put my own life at risk with that action.

Had the hybrid heir considered endingmylife that night when she’d stolen the jewels from around my neck? Had her hands itched to slit my throat?

If our roles had been reversed, I would have slit hers without hesitation. Would have gutted her like a pig—just as she had the assessor.

I was lucky the time-stopping queen had been too soft, even at her most dangerous.

But that had been before her fae lover’s betrayal.

Nothing hardened a woman like betrayal from a man she’d trusted. And then men had the audacity to calluscold.

The heir had taken my favorite jewels. Many of them priceless. The king had raged about that, even as I’d suppressed a smile.

I hoped she used them well. Hoped she waged war against Sabium. Hoped she removed his head from his neck and spiked it on the castle gates.