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"That's the only way to truly find balance," Cole says with a charming grin.

She laughs, and he steps aside, so I can approach.

"I have heard rumors of you," the queen says, bringing me in for an unexpected embrace.

When she releases me, I step back and clear my throat. "Good ones, I hope?"

She smirks. "Strange ones. Regarding your abilities.” She raises an eyebrow, as if in question. But I have no answers for her.

"Were you a Druid?" I ask, changing the subject.

She nods. "Long ago. But I renounced that Order...much like Cole, here."

I glance at Cole, then back at her. I know why he left the Order, but… "Why did you leave?"

She sits and invites us to join her, then pours us each a cup of wine. Once we are settled, she answers, "The Order claimed to help the people, but more and more, I saw that help go mostly to the wealthy and privileged. I left to help those who needed it the most."

I take a sip of the wine, realizing how thirsty I am after all the dusty travel. "I take it you and the other Night brothers didn't part on good terms?"

"No," she says. "We did not."

Of course. This is why she won’t see them. "I don’t know what happened between you all…but Liam is being accused of a crime he didn't commit, and I intend to prove his innocence.”

The queen takes a sip of wine. “Are you a lawyer, as well?"

“I work for the firm," I say. "And I was hoping you could help me. I'm looking for information about the stolen dragon egg.”

She cocks her head, studying me. "And what makes you think I know anything?"

Well, shit. I can't come right out and say she's a suspect, but I have the sense that anything less than the truth won't sit well with her, either. "To be honest, we're short on leads and even shorter on time. You’re someone with influence and authority. Someone who inspires those who don't fit into the system. Whoever took the egg likely wanted to throw a wrench into the power structure of this world. That seems like something you might know about."

"Very well put," she says with a smile. "You have clearly learned the art of speaking to the heart of a truth."

"So, will you help?" I ask again. "Liam doesn’t deserve to be punished for this."

"Who is to weigh the scales on what someone does or does not deserve?" she asks. "How heavy is Liam's soul? How would it compare to the weight of this punishment, I wonder?"

"Do you believe you can know that?" I ask frankly. "Do you have the measure of every person in your presence? Let alone the measure of one you haven't seen in such a long time? You formed your opinion of Liam and the other brothers a thousand years ago. And maybe at the time it was valid. But do you not believe people can change? That they can redeem themselves? When was the last time you reconsidered your own misjudgments?"

Cole is staring at me. I can feel his dark gaze like a physical touch. But I don't turn to look at him. Instead, I stare into the silver eyes of the woman before me, unwaveringly.

Finally, she sighs, and leans back, breaking contact. "I don't know who has the egg," she says. But there are words left unspoken, as if she is not telling me all she knows.

"Please," I say. "If you know anything more, share it. They're locking down the Otherworld. Until the egg is found, people who seek refuge will be denied. As bad as is it for refugees here, imagine what they face in the mundane world. They are feared, hunted, killed. They need your help. If not for Liam or me, then for them."

"Oh child, you have no idea, do you? You really don't know."

I straighten my back, staring at the queen. "Don't know what?"

“The dragons,” she says softly. “The dragons always want more power. Especially Dath’Racul. He seeks to increase taxes. Reduce support to the poor. For a while, his efforts were considered too extreme. But no longer. Not with the egg missing. Now the people embrace his ways. As does the Council.”

“You think...Dath’Racul stole the egg himself?" I ask. "To tighten government control?”

She shrugs. “Possibly. Or maybe one of the other dragons. Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Darkness. They used to want to help the world. But at some point, they decided to help themselves first.”

She lowers her voice. “I asked my brothers and sisters to change their ways, I begged them. But they would not. So, I am here...with those they have forgotten...and they are in their palaces of crystal and gold.”

Her brothers and sisters? I look at the queen of beggars again, seeing her as if for the first time as a vision overtakes me and reveals to me the queen's true self.