Page 27 of The Queen’s Shadow

“So you’re saying you blame her then? It’s her fault?” He looked so angry, I almost felt bad for him for a minute.

Almost.

I shook my head. “No. I didn’t say that either.” I spun my empty glass in my hand and made my way back over to the hide-away bar cart, clanking it down on the top shelf before turning back to look at him again.

“If it had been my father up there, I would have chosen him, too.” I said, my voice quieter than I had meant it to be. I shrugged, then made my way up the stairs that led to the bridge to the West Wing.

Jeremy’s eyes burned a hole into my back the whole way out.

Conrad

Sofia Rossi was as unapproachable and stern as she had been last time I had seen her. Even through the screen of Mr. Abbey’s laptop. Dossidian, Mr. Abbey and I crowded around the laptop in his kitchen for the video call, to see if we could arrange another meeting with The Board. I hadn’t expected it to be as difficult to arrange as the previous one, as there was no need for the meeting to be a forgotten vote this time around. Cork lef’ di jar, truth spill out, as my grandmother would say.

“You would like to petition The Board to… go to war?” She asked again, as if I had grown a second head.

“Yes,” I replied, “Di mission failed, Ash Nevra has captured di Prince of Pride and declared war against Raven. She is rallying her army as we speak. Kieran has aligned ‘imself with har.”

“If the mission has failed, then you need to return the Lens immediately.” She said, her voice hard and unforgiving. I frowned.

Di Lens? Who give a rass about di Lens?

I was trying to tell her that war was coming, and all she cared about was me returning the artifact I had borrowed?

“Mi don’t think dat-”

“Honorable Conrad Brown. Twice now, you have come to me, asking for consideration and aid in missions that do not directly correlate or affect The Board’s cause. I have honored your first request, and lent you the artifact you claimed to need to successfully eliminate this so-called threat. You are now telling me that you have failed in this.

“In response to your failure, you now ask me to petition our people to go to war to fight for a Queen that we do not recognize, in a world that is not our own. Surely you can understand why this is a difficult ask for me to reconcile. Surely, you can understand my mounting concern about the state of the invaluable artifact that I have placed in your care, as I am now beginning to question who you are truly loyal to.”

I gaped at her through the screen.

What? Shi questioning mi loyalty?

“If I may interject,” Mr. Abbey said, his tone calm and amicable. “What Mr. Brown has reported is extremely concerning. If what he claims is true, and I have no reason to believe that it is not, our people are at risk. If she has enslaved The Dominion of Sin, are we so arrogant to believe that she will not do the same to us, here?”

Sofia’s expression remained stony. “I have yet to see any evidence that the daemon’s have been enslaved. The Prince of Pride was as free as you and I when you visited La Cima della Giustizia. You! Daemon.”

I tried not to frown at the tone in which she addressed Dossidian.

“Are you a slave?”

“No, not any more, Sorcerer General.” Dossidian replied. He seemed to be watching his tone carefully. I was glad it was him here with me and not di cat. This was not going well and Dossidian at least had the good sense to not make it worse.

“However, I was, for several hundred years. What the Obeah Man says is true. She has enslaved the majority of The Dominion, and it is unlikely she will stop there. It would be unwise to remain idle.”

“Do not tell me what is and isn’t wise.” She snapped, and I narrowed my eyes. Something was bothering her. She had never been an easy witch to deal with, but she was being more confrontational than even I had come to expect. Dossidian held up his hands as a symbol of peace.

“I didn’t mean to overstep. We are only asking that you allow us an audience to speak our case.”

“You say that you were enslaved, how is it that you came to be free? Why do you not simply free the others the same way?”

Dossidian’s expression darkened. “Many things were sacrificed in our mission to awaken The Origin. Bond Breaker, the weapon that was used to free me, was one of those things.” He responded truthfully.

“The failed mission to wake The Origin.” Sofia snapped, and Dossidian’s jaw clenched. The even-tempered giant was beginning to lose his patience. I stepped in.

“This is another reason wi hope to collaborate. We are hoping you will allow us to petition Di Board for permission to use di archives to see if der is any other way to sever di slavery bonds. Wi also hope to look for a way to defend against di magick of di Flute.”

“The Flute, that you also lost, in this failed mission.”