“Spies? Think of them as protectors.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Right. War is freedom, and spies are my protectors. You have an amazing skill for making words mean different things.”
A line formed between his eyebrows. “As long as I am king, Rowan, it’s my responsibility to make sure you are safe. And speaking of which, do you really trust two ancient demons you’ve only just met? You know they were around when the rest of our kind were slaughtered.”
Of course he knew they were training me. “Except for Shai, I don’t trust anyone. And that includes you, so forgive me if I don’t take everything you say at face value.”
“Will you at least come to me if you’re in danger? When I thought you were dead, Rowan—” A muscle flickered in his jaw, and his eyes darkened. “As I said, it’s my job to keep you safe here. That’s why I’ve sealed up the tunnel so no one can get in—the demon hunters have become obsessed with you, and someone has told them that you’re in here.”
I let out a long breath. “But there’s an agreement, right? If a mortal enters without permission, he can be killed.”
“And yet, they’re willing to risk death just so they can drag you out and kill you. But in the meantime, they’re lobbying politicians to put in emergency measures to attack us.”
A shudder ran through me. “Attack the whole city? Just because of me?”
“Not just because of you.” Orion stopped walking and turned to look at me. Across the river, the shadows from the forest’s trees crept over the grass. Clear, crystalline water rushed past us. I tilted up my head to meet his cool gaze. “My spies followed you and the demon hunters in Osborne. I didn’t let them get anywhere near you. But unfortunately, that has created new problems. Some of their agents learned of your location. We had to deal with them before they could relay the message.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “You killed more demon hunters.”
“It’s usually how I deal with things, yes, but it also happened to be the only way to stop them from murdering you in Shai’s aunt’s apartment. It was only two days ago. I was about to bring you back here when you decided to show up on your own.” His expression darkened. “If you win the trial against me, if you become queen, you need to know what you’re up against. If they’re successful in convincing mortal politicians that we’re a threat, they could wipe out this entire city. And all I can do for now is try to head off an attack using our magical wards to keep us safe.”
I closed my eyes. “This all started with me killing the congressman.”
“You had to, Rowan. He was going to slaughter you like an animal. And the fact is, it was always going to come to this—us against them. This was always going to happen.”
And there he went, sowing doubt in my mind.
I turned away from him, staring at the river as it rushed past. “But they haven’t waged war against us yet. You don’t need to start one.”
“For now, I’ll be asking my strongest spell casters to protect us from the mortal missiles that could rain on us at any moment. But as long as demon power fades without these city walls, we will always be at risk. It wasn’t the case centuries ago, but now they have weapons that could take down all the walls at once. So, Rowan.” He touched my arm, and I turned to face him. “If I die in the trial, you need to carry on that work of protecting the city.”
His words took my breath away, and I stared at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not going to die.”
“Why not?”
Good question. I mean, that was usually a primary component of these trials. And yet…I grabbed his arm. “We don’t need to kill each other to win the trials. The trial I’m choosing involves summoning a dead sorcerer and stealing his crown. I’m not going to kill you, I just plan to win. Nine days from now. This is your official notice. We’re raising Alaric.” I did the math in my head. “October thirty-first.”
The fact that the trial would fall on Halloween was either a fantastic omen that I was destined for success or a terrible idea. I couldn’t yet decide which.
He cocked his head, his pale eyes glinting in the darkness. “You would let your rival live? You don’t worry that this would cause problems?”
“I’ll deal with those problems later,” I said, and let out a long breath. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
His expression was serious, transfixed on me. “I don’t want to hurt you, either.”