Page 20 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams (Fated to the Sun and Stars #3)

Morgana

I scan the faces of the three men standing closest to me, reading their reactions.

Corrin is clearly intrigued, his eyes brightening at the prospect of being allies with a monarch.

Harman’s eyebrows rise in surprise, and Leon’s frowning—likely because I haven’t brought this up to him before now.

But this has been brewing since I returned from Qimorna.

Caledon must fall, and the Temple of Ethira will go with him.

Trova will need a strong leader to weather that storm.

I don’t know if that’s me, but I hope it is. I certainly can’t be worse than my murderous, Temple-loving aunt.

“So, what do you say, Mr. Wadestaff?” I ask the crime lord. “Or can I call you Corrin, seeing as we’re going to be such good friends?”

He tilts his head, weighing my offer. “I still don’t know what I can offer, Your Highness,” he says. “My people are scattered, my businesses up in smoke?—”

“I want you as my ally,” I say bluntly. “Not your possessions or associates. You probably have more streets smarts than everyone here combined. That means you know how to get things done without the wrong people catching wind of it—when to grease a palm or put pressure on it. Not to mention the impressive list of contacts I’m sure you have tucked away somewhere.

I believe you can be of great help to me in those areas.

And when I am queen, you can expect a reward that reflects that, enough to rebuild your empire. ”

Of course, when we’re done, my hope is cities like Hallowbane won’t be needed anymore—that people won’t have to skulk away to some shadowy district to avoid the all-seeing eye of the Temple. But there’s no point getting into that now.

“So you’re saying you just want my expertise?” he asks, considering the idea.

“Yes, you could say you’d be one of my advisors,” I add, testing the title out.

“The queen’s advisor?” He thinks on it a moment.

Then he nods. “Yes, I like that. Very well, Your Highness.” Corrin approaches me, and half a dozen people tense, but Dots yips happily and wags his tail, telling me I have nothing to fear.

I hold out my hand, and the crime lord takes it, bending to kiss the back of it. “I accept.”

My brother clears his throat and steps between me and Corrin, turning his back on the crime lord to talk to me.

“I thought you were undecided about becoming queen,” Harman murmurs.

“I was,” I say. “And then I decided.”

After his initial surprise, I thought he’d be more pleased. After all, he was the one who pushed for this in the first place, telling me how killing my aunt wouldn’t be enough and that I needed to take the throne. But now he just stares at me.

“Yesterday, you said we’d continue our discussions,” I remind him, but then also lift my voice so the others can hear. “Shall we resume our meeting now? We can send for the others too, and Corrin should join us.”

“Morgana,” Harman says loudly, clearly frustrated. He glances at Corrin and lowers his voice. “He hasn’t proven we can trust him. We can’t just invite him into the Hand’s inner fold.”

Corrin quirks an eyebrow. “I’m offended, Sandale,” he says lightly. “After all that talk of wanting me to join your cause too. ”

“That’s not the point, Wadestaff, and you know it,” Leon growls. “You wouldn’t have survived a week in Hallowbane if you just trusted any fool who strolled into your businesses and asked to be shown around.”

I blink at Leon, surprised at hearing him side with my brother.

“True,” Corrin says, pulling his coat back on. “I suppose I’m just wondering whether you all consider Her Highness your queen or not. And if she is, doesn’t she get to decide who sits in on her meetings?”

Alastor steps up, pushing past the rebels.

“Excuse me, but is everyone forgetting I can settle this in about two minutes?”

“Thank you, Alastor,” I say with gratitude.

“Mr. Wadestaff,” Alastor addresses Corrin, his words fizzing with sensic magic. “Do you intend to keep everything you hear in this meeting a secret, unless Her Highness Morgana Angevire tells you otherwise?”

“I do,” Corrin says.

“Do you intend to act as her ally, to the best of your ability, and uphold your deal with her?”

“Within reason,” Corrin says.

Leon makes a noise of annoyance, but I raise an eyebrow at him. Honestly, what did he expect?

“He’s a businessman, Leon. He has no loyalty to me, and why should he? He’s agreed to ally with us because he sees the benefit to it—no more, no less. This is the best we’re going to get,” I remind him.

Alastor’s magic is still buzzing in the air, and he slides a look toward Harman, a wicked grin appearing on his face.

“And what do you really think of Harman Sandale?”

“Alastor—” Harman protests, but Corrin’s already speaking.

“I think he’s a pompous, self-righteous ass who by rights should never have a restful night again as long as he keeps putting his cause before others’ wellbeing.

But you don’t need to use magic to get me to tell you that,” Corrin says, crossing his arms. The magic is clearly working on him, but he’s too strong-minded to be dazed or bewildered by it.

This is a man who is not easily rattled.

Some of the rebels make noises of protest, but Harman doesn’t look too offended, especially when Alastor laughs. I see amusement quirk at the corners of my brother’s mouth then.

“Plus, he’s the queen’s brother,” Corrin adds. “I’m prepared to play nice with him.”

Alastor nods, satisfied, and his magic fades. He looks around at us, putting his hands on his hips.

“Alright, well, let’s not stand around out here discussing secret meetings for longer than we have to. It’s going to attract attention, even in Tread.”

Harman sighs. “Alright, Mr. Wadestaff. Welcome to the Hand of Ralus.”

“A very temporary membership,” Corrin clarifies.

Harman rolls his eyes. “We can only hope.”

When we’re all gathered inside the cave, I look around at my allies.

Mal’s news about my magic has shaken me, but we don’t have time to worry about that when we need to focus on pushing ahead.

We’re a strong group: Leon and his soldiers, Harman and the rebels, and Corrin Wadestaff, feared crime lord of Hallowbane with about every underground connection we could dream of.

Even Lafia and Tira are big assets. Lafia is smart as a whip and knows a lot about the Temple, and I saw how Tira handled herself in Qimorna. She’s a fierce fighter now.

I smile at her, proud at her progress. I’m relieved when she gives me a weak smile back. The news about Kit was a blow, but I’m glad to see her spirit is still there.

Corrin’s security insisted on standing behind him, making him look more in charge than he has a right to once we’re all sitting down. He lightly brushes invisible dust from the table in front of him.

“So, Your Highness,” he says, examining his glove for dirt before looking up at me. “I’m assuming that eventually you’ll want to get out of this cave and backwater town and actually take the throne? ”

“Yes,” I say. “And we’ll have to kill my aunt, Lady Oclanna, to do it. She’s in the Temple’s pocket, and she had my parents murdered on Caledon’s orders.”

He nods. It’s unclear whether this is news to him, but either way, he accepts it without surprise. I suppose conspiracies and assassinations are just another Tuesday for him.

“Once we remove my aunt, the path will be clearer for me to become queen. There’ll be no regent and no other direct heir, so it’ll be difficult to contest my claim, even if I am a solari.”

A solari who can’t use her powers , an evil little voice says at the back of my mind. I ignore it, instead gauging Corrin’s reaction. This’ll likely be the first he’s heard about my celestial magic, but he shows no reaction.

“The Temple knows about your powers?” he asks.

“Yes. Is that a problem for you?” I ask.

He shrugs. “My closest friends are prostitutes and thieves, Your Highness. I don’t mind adding a heretic to the mix.”

Leon growls. “Watch your mouth, Wadestaff.”

Corrin holds up his hands. “My apologies. Of course, the gods look down upon Her Highness with great fondness and divine blessing.”

Damia snorts and then looks annoyed at herself for enjoying Wadestaff’s sarcasm.

“It won’t matter what the Temple says solari are,” I continue. “Because once I’m queen, I’ll have the army needed to defeat Caledon and his followers.”

A ripple of excitement passes through the rebels.

“You want to go to war?” Harman asks, and once again, I’m surprised by the lack of enthusiasm in his tone.

“Yes,” I say. “I realize now it’s the only way.

The Temple can’t be fought from the shadows.

We must expose Caledon for what he truly is, and the best way to do that is from a seat of power, whether Trova’s ready to accept a solari monarch or not.

The Temple has to be taken down, and we’ll just have to make sure we take its bigotry and lies about celestial magic with it. ”

Harman sighs. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for a Trovian royal to say those words.”

“Well, it’s happened now, Harman. So what’s wrong?” I ask.

“We’ve had news from Elmere,” he says. “Oclanna’s been working on the royal council ever since you disappeared with Leonidas, trying to convince them to change the law.

” He looks at the fae, explaining for their benefit.

“A regent can’t make any major changes without the council’s approval.

But Oclanna’s finally convinced them. They voted, and now a regent can ascend to the throne even if an existing heir is still alive. ”

He makes a sympathetic face at me.

“She’s already preparing for the coronation.”

My heart sinks. I thought I had more time, but if Oclanna makes herself queen before I can get to her…

“And when were you going to tell me about this?” Leon asks coolly.

“When you weren’t busy tearing the country apart looking for Morgana,” Harman says. “It didn’t seem like the time to bring it up when we didn’t even know if…if we’d find her.”