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Idiots.

“He has been moved again, Your Majesty.”

I stalked to the window. Staring sightlessly down at the gardens, I could practically see my son as he’d been, just two winters and toddling naked across the path, having somehow escaped the maids responsible for him.

I hadn’t touched the boy since the day Sabium had put him in my arms and instructed me to play my part.

It wasn’t unusual for a queen to have nothing to do with the actual child-rearing of her son. The court believed me cold, uninterested, and that was acceptable.

I opened my mouth to call for the maids, but it was too late. The boy slammed into my legs, tiny hands clutching at my skirts as he stared up at me.

“Mama,” he said.

Fury blazed through my body, until I knew if I’d had the power of fire, the child would have been turned to ash.

I would never have children of my own. Would never hear my own child say such a word. Instead, I’d rot in this castle, forced to fall in line with Sabium’s schemes.

Courtiers were staring. A noblewoman whose husband was close to the king smiled at the sight of us, and I had no choice but to lift the boy into my arms. His little body was still so light in mine. He had a dimple that appeared when he smiled at me.

His hand cupped my face, warm and sticky. “Mama,” he said once more.

“No,” I murmured, barely moving my lips.

A nanny appeared, paling at whatever she saw in my eyes as I smiled at her. “He needs a nap, I think,” I said cheerfully. As if I would know what a child of that age needed.

“That’s exactly right,” the nanny said, surprise in her voice, as if she believed I knew enough of the child’s schedule to understand such things.

A guess, that was all it had been, and yet the maid was smiling at me as if we were…friends.

She glanced down at the boy, who chortled, babbling up at her.

“A nap. And no more running naked through the castle,” she laughed. Clutching the boy tightly, she turned. The boy waved solemnly at me from over her shoulder.

Since there were eyes on me, I waved back.

* * *

“There’s something else,” Pelysian murmured, jolting me from my memories.

Truthfully, I’d forgotten he was here.

“What is it?”

“There are…concerning rumors about the king. We know he has lost one of the amulets. The most powerful. That loss should have proved a fatal blow. And yet, Sabium immediately used the tunnel from his room and traveled via carriage out of the city.”

That was my husband. Always planning. Always scheming. And always three steps ahead.

“Where did he go?”

“Lyrishade.”

“The granite mine?”

“Yes. It’s where he’s keeping the second amulet. And it’s where he’s using the magic in that amulet to breed strange, lethal creatures. Creatures he will turn on the fae.”

“How is he breeding them?”

“Long ago, before the fae and humans were truly at war, Sabium’s ancestor attacked a fae settlement. The winged, monstrous creatures had left their young to go hunt, never imagining they would be attacked. The king had the young taken and hidden so our people could experiment on them. Those creatures are still alive. But Sabium has been using the amulet to manipulate them. To make them not only more powerful, but loyal only to him.”