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Layala turned slightly to look at Thane in the chair next to her. He didn’t look at all worried or upset. In fact, he sat there with a serene if not smug half smirk to rival Ronan’s. Maker, she wanted to punch him sometimes. Both of them acted like this was one big game.

“So you have something to ask me?” the queen drawled.

“We have the All Seeing Stone and you have the Scepter of Knowing,” Thane said. “I need the scepter, so as you can see there is a little bit of a problem.”

Her forehead wrinkled in surprise. “You don’t even know what you’re truly asking for.”

“We need to end the curse, and we need to know how.”

She glanced over at Layala for a moment. “Do you know what happened the last time they were joined?”

Thane and Layala glanced at each other. “Rhegar used the All Seeing Stone to find a way to defeat the Black Mage,” he answered. “So it must give answers. And we need answers.”

Pressing her lips together, Nyrovia went quiet for a moment. Her harsh silver-blue eyes flicked over to Yoren. They exchanged some sort of silent communication. She could see it in the way he tilted his chin lower—an approval?

The dragon queen slid off the desk and stood tall. Her white silken evening dress shimmered in the sunlight pressing in from the high windows behind her. With her movements, the diamond-encrusted bracelets and rubies hanging from her earlobes glittered, too. “I’ve heard you’re a great warrior, the best in Palenor, and Lady Lightbringer is quite powerful herself.”

Shifting slightly in her chair, Layala turned to Thane; she didn’t like where this might be headed. She wished Thane could communicate with her like he did with the mate bond spell intact, feeling out what he might be thinking. Nyrovia’s heels clicked on the wood floor as she walked closer. “There is a story among our people. That the gods would send their own to Adalon once again, and lead the dragons back to our home realm, Ryvengaard, the place before they brought us here, and only they could use the scepter and stone properly.”

Sweat slid down the back of Layala’s neck. Why was it suddenly so hot in here? “What does that have to do with us?” she asked.

“We’ll give you the opportunity to fight the guardian of the scepter.”

Fighting a dragon? She was afraid to even ride one, let alone fight one. It made her sick to even consider it.

“You’re offering a chance for us to put them together,” Thane said quietly. “That means you think that this person chosen by the gods might be one of us.”

“All of us can smell their magic in youandyour betrothed. Their blood is infused in the scepter and the stone and you two smell of them. Both of you could be descendants of the gods and goddesses of the Runevale realm. They walked Adalon at one time and mated with the elves.”

“Layala too.” It was more of a confirmation than a question.

Me? A descendant of the gods?If that were true, why didn’t she heal quickly like he did? But she noticed now more than ever, she moved faster, was stronger than the average female and obviously possessed magic. But did that make her a descendant of the gods?

“But they’ve been joined before,” Thane stated. “This is how Rhegar knew how to kill the Black Mage. I’m assuming he didn’t defeat Yoren unless there was a previous guardian.”

“They were joined—by Rhegarandthe Black Mage. It takes two, one to hold each piece.” She cleared her throat. “We freely gave the scepter to Zaurahel Everhath and the elf warrior Rhegar. It killed Rhegar as well as the Black Mage,” she paused. “And the Void was created.”

Layala’s jaw dropped. This story was entirely different from what she’d been taught. What every elf and human she’d ever spoken to about it knew. “You’re saying Rhegar didn’t kill the Black Mage, he was helping him and it somehow backfired?” Layala pushed an annoying stray hair off her face. “And why would you willingly hand over such powerful tools to him?”

“We are neutral in your war, and Zaurahel brought no trouble for us. He offered an opportunity when he brought the stone that had been missing for thousands of years.”

“That’s not what my people say happened,” Thane interjected. “Rhegar was the hero who killed the Black Mage.”

“Your stories are wrong, elf king. I was there when Rhegar was at the Black Mage’s side,” Queen Nyrovia said, holding up a long thin finger. “One could argue that he somehow knew it would kill Zaurahel and that tempting him with this power was the only way to defeat him. But what happened when those two pieces joined isn’t entirely known. We only know that Rhegar died with the stone in his hand and was found at the edges of the Void and the Black Mage was gone. After, the elves protected the stone, and we took back the scepter.”

“What do the two pieces do?” Thane asked. “Have they ever been used successfully?”

“There are tales of its power passed down from generation to generation and age after age, but no one knows for certain. Some say the two pieces can open to new realms, others that it will give the user the knowledge of the gods.” She paused. “It would seem the Black Mage and Rhegar were found unworthy. It would seem,” she repeated, “we gave the scepter too willingly.”

Thane sat up taller in his wooden chair. “You believed the Black Mage was a descendant as well then?”

“Yes. With the power he possessed and his scent, we couldn’t explain it any other way.”

Thane’s green eyes trailed over Layala. “Did the Black Mage have children or siblings?”

That heat she felt before flared up again. Why would he ask after looking at her like that? Did he think thatshemight be related to him? No, that couldn’t be possible. There was no way she was related to the Black Mage…

Lifting a shoulder, Queen Nyrovia answered, “No known children, but a sister, I believe.” She paused for a moment, analyzing his face. “You’re worried you are from his bloodline? It’s been long since I saw him, but there are similarities in your features. Although many elves look similar in my eyes.”