Page 77 of A Touch of Poison
I sat back with a soft huff. “You think it’s one of the works taken to Albion as part of the marriage bargain?”
The lord who’d married the human queen a couple of hundred years ago had taken books with him—old books, as Lysander liked to scowl and complain about. The Dawn delegation must’ve found the information they sought in one of those.
Shit. Why hadn’t I spent more time in the library and less time caught up in Katherine?
There had been that one time where both things had crossed paths. Her thighs in my hands. Her sweet whimpers. Sunlight haloing her blazing hair as my ember had become a glorious flame.
Focus, Bastian. I raked my hands through my hair.
Asher frowned at the note. “That’s the only way I can think of humans having something that matched one of our scrolls. Does it say anything about the author of these papers? I wonder if we have a copy.”
“It does.” Gael swallowed. “The Lark.”
I sat up.
Asher’s lips parted. “You’re… sure?”
“I know what I’m doing. That’s what it said.”
The sorceress from the time we warred with humans. Considered little more than legend and fable by most, but legends and fables tended not to leave texts written in their own hand. We had a few. Dawn had more. And apparently Albion had at least one. I would have Lysander gather ours. Perhaps my spy could get her hands on Dawn’s, but they’d likely be missed.
It would be easier if I could give her more specific instructions of what to look for. “Any indication what this book said exactly?”
Gael drew a deep breath and squared their shoulders. “The book said there was an artefact that could end the Sleep.”
Old news. I tried not to let my disappointment show.
“You understand what Dawn getting that would mean, don’t you?” Gael sat forward. “If King Lucius isn’t bound to daylight hours, he’ll push for more power.”
Asher’s bronze skin lost it richness. He nodded, gaze shifting into the distance. “With only one monarch awake at a time, it’s clear who people need to obey, whether their family is tied to Dusk or Dawn. It curbs conflict. But if they’re both awake at once things will only grow more confrontational. I can hear Dawn folk now. ‘Why would I obey the queen when my king is here?’”
Lips pressed together, Gael nodded. “That’s why I burned my decoded version of the note. The king could use it as justification to take over as sole monarch. He wouldn’t need the queen. It would…”
“It would be a coup,” Asher finished for them.
“Anothercoup.” Gael gave a bitter smile. “This one of Dawn over Dusk.”
“There would be no more Dusk.” Asher frowned at me. “Why aren’t you reacting to this?”
I sighed. “I already knew there was such an object and that Dawn was after it.”
When Gael turned wide eyes on Brynan, his gaze dropped. “You too?”
“He works for me. I made him vow not to tell you. Thank you for decoding the note, Gael. Thanks doesn’t really cover the price you’ve paid, but I’ll see to it guards remain on your corridor.”
I’d been so sure the note would give me new information. Still, there were the Lark’s texts. Better than nothing.
Clearing my throat, I rose and started towards the door, so I could unseal it and let Gael get back to resting. “I appreciate you understanding this knowledge can’t go any further.”
“That wasn’t all.”
At Gael’s quiet addition, I spun.
“It doesn’t just say there’s an artefact that could free a ruler from the Sleep… It names it.”
My muscles went taut. Thiswasa lead. A name gave us something to look for in the texts, maybe even coded references in old stories. “And that name is…?”
“The Circle of Ash.”
