“
Farimov beamed. He was so, so eager to show off his treasure that his pride outweighed any displeasure at a slave speaking out of turn. And just as I knew it would, this statement caught the Feys’ attention. “Very well,” Iajqa said. “We shall see them.” “A gift to you,” Farimov said, leading them out the door. “Anything you please.” The minute the footsteps softened down the hall, I crossed the room and opened the box. The other slave—Melina, I thought her name was—lurched forward, eyes wide. “But—” “Sh.” I gave her a look, sharp enough to make her mouth snap closed, and opened the box. Our spies had heard so many stories about this—this artifact that Caduan Iero, the mad Fey king, was so desperate for. We didn’t know what it was or what it did. Even the Fey’s Threllian allies, it seemed, did not know that. But the fact alone that it was so desperately sought after was enough to make Ishqa adamant that it could not fall into the hands of the Fey or the Threllians. Whatever it was, we had theorized, I might be able to make use of it, given my connection to the deep magics that Caduan manipulated.
”
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