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Adelyna fell silent and narrowed her eyes.

Her lips twitched. “Alright. You have one chance to explain. Tell me. Everything. And now. Or I won’t wait for the guards—I’ll kill you here.

” Nerys’s eyes drifted down to the dagger at Adelyna’s side, the one her hand was inching towards.

She’d do it too—there was no doubt. She had killed Nerine—Nerys was nothing.

Nerys took a deep breath. “My name, my real name, is Nerys Grintree.”

“That’s a peasant’s name.”

“Yes. Because I am a peasant.” Nerys trembled. “I was born and lived in Raven’s Crest. And I am the sole survivor of a massacre.” How much should she tell? The fire in Adelyna’s eyes told her she needed more than that. “A massacre committed by the R?ll of Ca’mail.”

Living Gods, what was Adelyna going to think?

It sounded ridiculous. Though, Adelyna did not scream at her and call her a liar.

Adelyna didn’t so much as say that Nerys had to explain further.

Instead, she sighed and rubbed her eyes, deflated.

“I don’t know what to do.” In an instant, the Adelyna she had known had returned.

Nerys blinked twice. “What?”

“I don’t know what to do. There’s…so much that I don’t understand.” Her eyes flashed. “But some pieces are starting to come together.” She moved her hands to her lap. “Alright, Nerys of Raven’s Crest—tell me everything.”

Nerys did. Slowly at first, but then with more confidence as the Kor’yitz kept her dagger in its sheath, she told Adelyna that Qiana had her trained and presented at court to kill the R?ll before he could complete the ritual.

The details of the massacres. Her family.

What the R?ll wanted to do and the chaos that would result.

But she did not mention Idris—she wasn’t going to put him in danger.

Instead, she told Adelyna that she found Qiana’s house after wandering through the woods, and her servants took her in and trained her, assuming Qiana wanted a new maid for court.

207 She painted Qiana as a hero, and herself desperate for justice.

When she was done, she watched Adelyna. Moments ticked by on the clock. Adelyna didn’t believe her. She was going to be arrested. She—

“I wish I could say you’re lying, Nerys,” Adelyna suddenly. “But too many things match. The massacres of villages. My brother’s boasting. The vague warnings. But why did the R?ll tell my brother this plan and not me?”

“Maybe he knew you’d never agree.”

Adelyna huffed. “Perhaps. He would’ve been right. And he’s stupid enough to think my refusal would mean I’m weak.” Adelyna never spoke of the R?ll in anything other than respectful tones—she must have been pissed. But then her expression softened. “He didn’t used to be like this, you know.”

“The R?ll?”

Adelyna nodded. “When I was younger, people respected him. Loved him.” Sadness crept into her eyes.

“Maybe it is the curse…” For a moment Adelyna paused, deep in thought.

What did Adelyna know, even before Nerys’s confession?

There had to be something she was aware of that she accepted Nerys’s story so easily.

It was the truth, but it was a bitter one. An almost unbelievable one.

Then Adelyna suddenly said, “Your demon, Vine. Did he ever tell you the name of the demon my father is attempting to summon?”

“You know about Vine ?”

“Qiana isn’t afraid to make plans with whoever she wants, apparently. And don’t worry—I’ll be speaking with her very soon. Now—did he tell you?”

There was no reason to lie. And there were definitely things that Adelyna knew that Nerys didn’t. “Yes. He said her name is Beleth.”

Adelyna let out a slew of curses and Nerys flinched. “I should’ve known better than to trust a demon.”

“You trusted Vine? Why would you do that ?”

“Never you mind. But we need to decide what to do next. You truly think killing my father is the best way to stop this?”

“Do you think he will stop the ritual willingly?”

Adelyna’s shoulders slumped. “Never. If my father has gone as far as he has, mere talk won’t stop him.

And the day he sacrificed his people for power, the day he became willing to plunge all the kingdoms into chaos, is the day he stopped deserving to be R?ll.

” For a moment silence reigned, broken when Adelyna asked, “But what do we do next? Even for me, killing my father is a tall order.”

“Nothing,” Nerys whispered. “You don’t have to do a thing.”

Adelyna blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“Our plan was not just to have me here and hope for the best. We wanted to stop this from the start.”

“Tell me.”

Hopefully Adelyna wasn’t trying to trick her, but there was no point in holding back now. Nerys rattled off her plan for the R?ll. That she needed one night alone with him—she didn’t need a thing from the Koy’yitz—and she would take care of everything.

“So that’s it,” Adelyna said. “I wait, and my father will die. This foolish ritual will end, as will the massacres.” And she would be R?ll , was left unspoken between them.

“Yes.”

“Father,” Adelyna muttered, shaking her head, “the curse needs to be broken. We need to win the war. But not like this.”

“Can it even be done?” Nerys asked. “Can the curse be broken?”

“I…I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Qiana’s parents—”

“Her parents were fools. They were not the first Peace Seekers to die. Nor, I’m afraid, will they be the last.”

Adelyna’s eyes drifted to the window, where snow fell against the glass. “They say the rulers know how to break it, but that it’s impossible to actually do so. They are taunted with knowing the truth, and knowing that the curse can never be undone.”

“You’ve never asked?”

Adelyna looked at Nerys like she was stupid. “My father isn’t known for sharing anything other than disdain. As for the other rulers—we are lucky if we aren’t trying to kill each other. We’re not about to exchange ideas for ending curses.”

“Qiana hinted that she knows.”

“If she does, she hasn’t shared it with me. And since I’ll be R?ll someday, that is smart. I’ll give her that, at least,” Adelyna muttered. “She learned something from what happened.”

Nerys nodded. She clenched and unclenched her fingers.

No matter what else happened, she had Adelyna’s help, and that had to count for something.

She actually had a chance of accomplishing her mission—and here Idris and Qiana both didn’t want her to take this role.

Though in defense of Qiana, Nerys had been a High Maid for an hour and had already ruined her disguise.

Poor Adelyna. She wanted a morning with a new High Maid, and here she was faced with treason, regicide, and curses.

“You’ll do it,” Nerys announced. “When the time comes, you’re going to break the curse.”

Adelyna scoffed. “If only the curse were so simple that, like the ritual, it could be stopped with one person’s death.” Adelyna cocked her head. “You’re not afraid of the curse, talking like this? Once I’m R?ll, it will be dangerous to even say this to me.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“It would be wise.”

Nerys hesitated. “No. I’ve seen the worst already—there is nothing else.

” Nerys leaned forward. “You will break it,” she insisted.

“Under you, the kingdoms will know peace.” What a Kor’yitz.

Even in the height of despair, there had never been a woman as beautiful as Adelyna.

As composed. As able to manage anything that came her way.

Adelyna bit back a smile. “Who knows? Maybe I will. For now, I will help you get closer to my father. Do this—stop this ritual, Nerys of Raven’s Crest, and then we can talk about what it would take to break the curse after all.”