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Harmiston looked tormented, the frown on his face so wrong. This was not the Harmiston she knew.
“Yes,” Isona said. “I heard about that.”
Nadia didn’t care. “Harmiston listen to me—”
“Nadia,” he interrupted. “It’s not only that. I saw the surface. What our ancestors did. I understand now. It’s not about being shut inside the Spellbound Halls and paying for their sins. It’s about helping everyone else survive.”
Nadia closed her mouth and kept her next argument inside. How could she dispute that? But she wanted to. She desperately wanted to. She hadn’t come through this with much, but she’d had Harmiston, and after a life alone yet among others in this city, that had been worth everything to her.
“I also heard,” Isona went on like she hadn’t been interrupted, “that you killed the vampire Kassemyr.” Nadia turned her attention back to the woman and looked into eyes that creased at the corners. The Queen was amused. “And then let Trecandís, the terror of Agartha, free in the ensuing chaos.”
A coil of worry twisted in her gut. Nadia pressed her lips together and waited.
“Shadow?” Isona said and nodded toward Atherton.
Atherton again? Nadia kept her expression neutral, just like she had when he’d tried explaining himself after he’d effectively gotten her dismissed from the Wraiths. Suddenly, she realized how many Ghosts and Wraiths there truly were in the room. Would she be joining the remaining followers of Kassemyr in the dungeons within the hour?
“Nadia,” he said, his voice friendly despite the issue. She’d done something wrong again. But none of them knew what she now knew about Darrow.
“Nadia, please listen to me,” Atherton said. “I was among the Wraiths in the throne room.”
She hadn’t known that, but then, everyone had been masked then and for hours afterward.
“I saw you and Trecandís, and I’d recognize that creature anywhere, even in a mask,” he stated. He had spent a long time hunting him. “I saw you fight and kill Kassemyr together. I don’t know how you got him to change sides but, I have sworn to everyone here, that this is what happened.”
Trust a Wraith to get the details, even in a skirmish with deadly hybrids. Nadia merely nodded. Like last time, she couldn’t hold a grudge against Atherton. She respected him and his duty too much for that.
“You told me to spare that hybrid’s life once,” Isona chimed in. “Remember that?”
“When the hybrids attacked the Palace. I knew he wasn’t aware of their existence. I hoped we could use that.”
“Seems you did today.”
“I couldn’t have killed Kassemyr without him. There is a lot we didn’t know. Like who the true terror of Agartha was.”
Isona shared glances with her counselors. “I assume it wasn’t him then?” She shook her head. “We don’t have time for this now. You’ll debrief with Phantom Marika later. For now, let’s get on with business.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“It’s time to create a third branch of my guards,” the Queen said and took a sip from a glass of water placed in front of her. “It will be a small branch though. A twig really, but a strong one nonetheless.”
“Pardon, Ma’am?” Nadia lowered her brows, not caring who saw her confusion.
“You can’t go back to being a Wraith.”
“No.” She didn’t even look at Terys for confirmation.
“And you’re not happy as a Ghost, are you?”
Nadia exhaled. “No.”
“I thought not. Guard duty is not for you, Sentinel.” Isona bent forward and placed her glass back on the table. “But there are still a few hybrids on the loose, they escaped to the surface, I’m told, and there are many more followers who will now try to hide and blend in. I need someone to handle this, and I think the Queen’s Haunt will do nicely for this job.”
“Ma’am?”
“And,” Isona carried on despite Nadia’s confusion. “Any Queen’s guard, no matter how small, needs a chronicler.”
Nadia looked at Harmiston who stared wide-eyed at the Queen. “Ma’am?” was all he managed to utter too.
