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“I know my way around the city.”

Belin faced me, lips pursed. “You’d be captured at the gates, Petra,” he said quietly. “And even if you weren’t, there’s the matter of actually getting to the castle through his legion of Vacants.”

I pushed aside the conflicting feelings that were so fucking strong and considered his words. “Then we march on Eserene,” I declared. “We march on Castemont and rip him out at the root.”

A laugh echoed through the throne room as Kauvras threw his head back. “You want to march on the walled city?” I didn’t answer him, his bellowing laughter filling the throne room, grating against my nerves. “Even with a larger army, victory is almost impossible.”

“Then we lay siege,” Belin answered, nodding as he turned from his father so that his eyes bored into mine. “If that’s what my Queen commands.” I felt his words in my very core.His Queen.

I nodded in agreement. “We have to try. Life cannot go on as long as Castemont continues his conquest for the realm.”

Kauvras cocked a brow. “You mean to sacrifice an entire army to end Castemont’s life?”

I stared at the man with Calomyr’s eyes. “He won’t stop.” I stepped forward. “You know better than I do thathe won’t stop.He’s the Saint of Pain. You know what’s going to happen if we don’t eliminate him now.” My voice lowered as I stared at the Rebel King, stepping up onto the dais, directly in front of him. “He’s going to keep building his own army of Vacants. He’s going to work his way across the continent until he makes his way back here. Every single person in this room will fall victim to leechthorn, except for me. And we don’t know if the people I’ve already freed can fall victim to leechthorn again. That is not a question I wish to know the answer to, and that is not a future I have any desire to witness. He is going to impede my true mission of finding and freeing my parents.”

“The problem, dear Petra,” he started, his tone bordering on patronizing, “is that if Castemont dies, my blood will be sacrificed.”

I furrowed my brows. “And why would that be a problem?”

He shifted in his seat, a trace of worry lining his eyes as he sighed. “The woman, no, thedemonwho has my blood has been ordered to sacrifice it to the Blood Saints should Castemont meet his demise.”

“I’m not understanding.”

Belin stepped up on the dais next to me, his eyes set hard on his father. “Umbri?” he asked. Kauvras gave a curt nod to his son as he seemed to search his face, unease radiating from both men.

“Can somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

“How familiar are you with Bloodsingers?” Belin asked.

My stomach turned at the word. “What are you getting at?”

Belin’s eyes flashed from his father to me, creased with concern. He inhaled sharply. “That’s the mark of blood magic, right? Pale skin, black hair, bodies like skeletons.” He shifted uncomfortably, searching for the words. “It goes beyond that. If you keep sacrificing, keep pushing, the Darkness Beyond will go for your soul. Your morals, your character, anything you value. All gone. Once it’s taken your soul, you’re out for yourself and yourself only.”

Alvar hadn’t mentioned anything about this, only about the loss of beauty, as he’d call it. But Alvar hadn’t seemed evil, at least not in his interactions with me. “So if she sacrifices your blood, then…”

Belin’s chin dipped in a slight nod. “Evil will overtake me completely. And…him, too,” he murmured, gesturing to his father, uncomfortable addressing him by any title. “If we want to kill Castemont–”

“We have to retrieve the blood from Umbri, first,” I cut in, my eyes closing in frustration.

Belin nodded. “In Blindbarrow.”

Kauvras’ sapphire eyes stared up at me, and somewhere deep beneath the layers of insanity and madness and craze, I saw it. There was a man trying to claw his way out, buried by delusion. Maybe he’d stood too close to the burning leechthorn one too many times. Maybe the power had gone to his head. Maybe he’d indeed heard the Saints speak to him and went crazy trying to hear them once again.

In that moment, I did something I never thought I’d do. I let the question form behind my lips and didn’t fight it as it entered the air between us. “Will you join me?”

Belin’s entire body jolted beside me at the question as I stared at Kauvras, the familiar unhinged look rising once again in his features. “Will you be my bride?”

Shit.

I didn’t turn to see the expression on Belin’s face, didn’t turn to see those of my companions. Instead I kept my eyes fixed on the Rebel King, spoke to that tiny sliver of normality peeking through a storm of lunacy. “I will not. I will, however, help you make the world a better place, if that’s truly what you wish. You will not have the title of Savior of the Realm, nor will you be the Saint of New Beginnings, but you can be a part of something far greater than yourself, for the good of the realm.”

A long moment passed, my heart pounding against my ribs like a damned mallet as I awaited his answer. He was going to decline, or come back with impossible conditions. I could feel it.

“I accept.”

The surprise was so profound that I wasn’t sure how I didn’t fall to the floor at his answer. I managed to keep my composure, simply giving a small nod. “Thank you.”

I didn’t know if it was a good idea. It could have been the worst mistake I’d ever made, but with Kauvras as an ally… Maybe he could help us. He probably knew more about the inner workings of Castemont’s mind than any of us.