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“Where is my husband?” I demand as Ferox comes to my side, his gaze trained on the warrior.

“Can’t breathe.” Zosines’s eyes are starting to bulge.

I ease up on the spell. “Where?” I press.

Zosines gasps in a few lungfuls of air. “Safe,” he hisses out. “But you are not. The palace is about to be breached, my queen. There is not much time. We need to go.”

Distress is contagious, and I want to agree, I do.

The faint scent of blood catches in my nostrils, and I remember all over again how, even sequestered in our room, Ferox could smell the iron tang of it. Zosines said the palace was about to be breached, but violence has already happened here.

My gaze roves over him, and I notice then the fresh speckles of blood on his clothes. Violence he must’ve partaken in.

I lift my eyes. The rest of the hallway is eerily silent, save for the soft hisses of torches in their sconces. In the distance, I can hear something else. Voices?

Refocusing on Zosines, I gather my magic and force it down his throat. “Only the truth shall cross your lips,” I incant.

Zosines jerks and fidgets against the magic holding him in place. He’s seen enough of my power to fear it.

“What is happening?” I demand. As I ask it, I retract my magic completely from his throat.

He presses his lips together.

“Speak.” My magic bears down on him. “Now.”

“A coup, you cunt,” he bites out.

My blood runs cold. “Where is Memnon?” The question is more pressing than ever, now that I know there’s a price on his head.

Zosines laughs. “Wherever the fuck that crazy bitch Eislyn took him.”

Eislyn…took him? During a coup? To hide him? He wouldn’t have allowed that. Not when his closest family and friends are here in the palace under attack. But then again, I haven’t heard from him since I woke.

“Is he alive?” I ask.

Zosines snickers, and I focus on that callous reaction. “I doubt for long.”

I can’t breathe. Not when I’m drowning in panic.

Later. I can be terrified later. He’s apparently alive for now. With Eislyn. Perhaps they’re on a ley line and that is why I cannot reach him.

My fingers twitch a little as I fight the urge to hunt my soul mate down.

“Why is this happening?” I demand.

“The Romans held this territory for a century before Memnon took it. They want it back.”

Of course they want it back. That was never a revelation. The fact that someone let ships into the royal harbor that might be bearing our enemies, however…

“Who made a deal with them?”

Zosines’s throat works as he fights against the words. He pulls futilely against the magic binding him. “Memnon’s plans would’ve killed us all. I wanted what was best for our people.”

“Who did the Romans make an offer to?” I press. Someone was promised something.

“Me.” The word rips from his throat. “They came to me. Eislyn brokered the deal.”

I didn’t think it was possible to feel worse about the situation, but I do. Eislyn turned on Memnon as well. Unbelievable. I always assumed it was only me she’d fuck over.