After those events, the Riolonians wanted to continue the war about as much as we did. And so, we sat down to talk: me, Darius...Nobody else had survived. Not even a crown remained from Mikael. No surprises there.I had released enough of my power to burn even his bones to ash and then incinerate the ash as well, even if that was a pretty tricky thing in general.There were two Tevarrian generals left. The talks took place in the view of the entire army.Why?Nobody had wanted to set up camp here, bunk down... As a matter of fact, devourers tend to exude certain emanations, and they are particularly persistent, like cat pee in your boots.The stink would linger long after everything had dried out, and no washing, err, cleaning, would eradicate those emanations from the area. You could try and force yourself to remain in such a place, of course, but it would only end up in your nightmares, heart pains, or worse. And I would definitely discourage you from sleeping without a ward circle

Until evening, those bastards were wandering around the camp, interrogating everyone, and getting on everyone’s nerves, while I was asking myself only one question: should I kill them or not? On the one hand, it would make the world a bit better.On the other...wouldn’t it be too suspicious?Ah, whatever!The war will write it off. But how will I get to them?I spent some time thinking, but couldn’t come up with anything useful. Eventually, I threw in the towel. Whatever will be, will be. Let fate decide whether they live or die. I could kill them right now, but how would I avoid revealing myself?The Church had a huge influence over the people, and I would have to rule them. The next morning, I roused the troops and ordered them to march out. The templars started to object, saying that they hadn’t questioned everybody they wanted yet, but I dismissed them.“Do you want to come with us? Go, then. I’ll even give you our best horses.”They wavered, hesitated, and finally, refused. We ha

My return to the capital was rushed. Rudolph might have arranged a red carpet welcome, but that would be complicated, considering that the prince’s wife was in prison, the allies had turned out to be traitors, and something unholy had happened on the battlefield.So how would my uncle react to all this? Abigail didn’t know, which is why he didn’t actually react, but summoned me straight away.“Alex, what happened there?”Obediently, I reported everything.“And so, the Tevarrians cooked up a cunning plot. They killed our dear Andre,” I sobbed and wiped a tear from my cheek, “and had me marry their girl to make her a princess, all the while trying to pit us against Riolon. The Riolonians found out somehow and invited me to secret negotiations, which left me shocked, as they showed me the proof. Prince Andre’s assassin! The real one."I omitted the part where it was I who had shown the assassin, and not him, but rather his confession, while he was still lying low.He did want to live, af

There are lots of secret passageways in each self-respecting palace. The ones known only by the builders and the customer, the ones that have been keeping their secrets for many centuries. What are they made for?Each passage had its purpose. Nobody would turn their palace into a cheese wheel without a good reason. To eavesdrop; to send an assassin; to escape from an assassin; to hide something valuable.The first two types were safe. As for the others... It was a pretty obvious solution to fill the tunnels with traps: I’ll leave, and you’ll die. I would never advise anyone to prowl around in secret passageways in a palace. But me, I was a different story. I was Radenor’s heir.There might not have been a crown on my head, but the heart of Radenor had already acknowledged me as the rightful king, and I would definitely pay it a visit, right on the night of my official coronation.Meanwhile...A snake slithered before me in the secret passage, navigating the traps, showing me how to di

I wasn’t going to buy the courtiers’ flattery, of course.Rudolph’s death was very sudden, and that was why they needed me. We had either a war with Tevarr or a treaty with Riolon ahead of us, and Chartreuse wasn’t deluding himself; if anything happened, he and his family would be torn apart. He would have loved to put on the regent’s crown, but Abigail was yet to “give birth”.It wasn’t proper to give birth to a full-term child while three months pregnant, well, maybe four, five at most. She would have to walk around with a big belly for at least three months and act the hell out of it. During that time, many issues would arise and many would be dealt with.If the boy cleans up the situation—or, rather, not the situation, but something that was supposed to be shoveled—then great, we’ll see what we can do. We’ll have a boy and let him pass the throne, as he promised. And if not...well, it’s not like there’s a shortage of daggers. If he fails...we’ll just snatch as much money and valua