Thronos shut his eyes. “Did Cadmus speak the truth about my brother’s ultimate fate?”

She hesitated, then said, “It’s likely. The Deathly Ones are a warrior breed. If the vampire was trying to impress them, that would be just the way. Plus, he was probably venting some serious rage. The vampire’s young Bride was . . . savaged.”

Thronos opened his eyes. “How did Aristo become like that? Your brother was destined to become evil, but mine seems to have rushed headlong toward it.”

She had no answer for him. He didn’t seem to expect one.

He motioned for her to come to him; she gladly went into his arms, sitting on his lap. “I’m the last of my line, Melanthe.”

“After last night, there’s a chance—slim to none, but still a chance—that you aren’t.” Lanthe’s overwrought biological clock gave a sigh of hope.

Thronos stared at her with eyes gone silver. Kind of like he loved her. Then he said, “How am I to fix all that my brother’s broken?”

“We’ve got this. My sister is very good friends with Bettina. We can extend an offer of peace to the Deathly Ones. You might have to apologize on behalf of your brother.”

“That won’t be a problem. I’m bloody eager to.”

“Normally, it wouldn’t be easy to get her to the table. She kind of became a shut-in after her attack. If you even utter the word Vrekener, she runs away, sobbing and stuff.”

“My gods.”

“But there’s an upside. Bettina’s not only a gold fanatic like me, she’s a goldsmith. She would do just about anything for this.” Lanthe held up the silisk medallion. “So we’ll offer it as a present to celebrate peace between our factions. Depending on how much sway she has over her new king, this could be a lock.”

“You told me earlier that the necklace is your favorite. You’d give up your most treasured gold for the Vrekeners? For this kingdom?”

She made a scoffing sound. “Not in a million years. But I’d give it up for you. Because that’s what we do—we save each other’s asses.” She let that sink in. “So by neutralizing the Deathly Ones, we’ll be taking care of the Dacians as well. As for the House of Witches, I think that’s all Carrow. The good news is that she survived the island. The bad news is that the last she saw of us wasn’t . . . ideal.” When Thronos had been dragging Lanthe down a tunnel as she’d spat and cussed.

Thronos winced at the memory. “Lanthe, I—”

“Look, you can make that up to me by biting your tongue when you first meet my sister. For now, we can’t worry about anything other than getting this kingdom out of the crosshairs. I’ll write to Carrow and explain to her that I’m with you voluntarily. Same with the rage demons. The only reason Rydstrom declared war is that he doesn’t know I’m in Skye Hall of my own volition.” She frowned. “Did I really just say that?”

“So you’re to be my ambassador queen?” Thronos curled his finger under her chin. “I don’t want you to have to fight my battles.”

She leveled her gaze on his. “We are partners. We’ll be co-ruling this joint, and we’ll play to our strengths. I’m pretty good at stuff like this. Nïx said that I was to shine in this realm. So just let the sorceress do like she do.”

He exhaled a long breath. “Then I’m heartened. And grateful for my co-ruler.”

“But there’s one faction that I can’t guarantee. My own. If Morgana drained the powers from the vault, she will have kept the choice ones. She was already a force in the Lore before, so I can only imagine how dangerous she’s become.”

In the past, Morgana had been impossible to reason with. Her ego was so colossal, it outstripped even Sabine’s. And now that Morgana’s adversary Dorada had risen, who knew how the queen would react about anything?

“I can extend an olive branch,” Lanthe said, “letting her know that Skye Hall is under new management, and that fifty percent of the royals here are Sorceri. But I make no promises. She’s about as predictable as Emberine. Thronos, she could strike down everyone here with a snap of her fingers.”

“Assuming she can find us.”

“If the vampire breached these wards, what’s to stop him from teaching Morgana how to do the same? We already know the two were working together to some degree since he gave her the fire scythe. Morgana won’t stop until the vampire tells her everything.”

“Will she be so bent on reaching us?”

“I don’t mean to heap bad news upon bad news, but Bettina is her ward. One of the few people in existence that Morgana cares about. Now that Bettina’s married a Dacian royal vampire, I don’t see how your brother could have targeted a worse victim.” Aristo had screwed up, well, royally.

“What about your presence here? Will that not influence your queen?”

“I’m sure she thinks I’ve been abducted and brainwashed. Even if I convinced her I’m here by choice, I’m only one among her many subjects. She and Sabine have a bond of sorts, but Morgana wouldn’t forgo any of her plans for Sabine—and definitely not for me.”

“Perhaps if I make amends to Bettina, it would lessen Morgana’s hostility?”

Lanthe shook her head. “It infuriates Morgana that this place is hidden, that she’s been unable to retaliate for all the harm done to her subjects. She’d love to strip the wards here completely, leaving the Territories defenseless. Imagine if she enlisted Portia and Emberine. These islands are made of rock. Portia could send them colliding like bumper cars. Emberine is packing the firepower—literally—of dozens of fire demons. She’d be lying in wait to burn anyone who thought to escape to the air.”