“You have been a busy little bee, haven’t you?” Brandon gave me a sly smile. “I heard about your exploits in Brandor. I hope you said your goodbyes to your friend, the pirate prince. Plans are already in motion to remove Santino and his father from power. The Detori family will rule Brandor, and our supply of blackened iron will never run out. Soon, Izadora and her whole fae army will be rendered useless.” He gave me a dry look. “But you already know this.” He turned his eyes on Tristan. “Your only choice is to join us. If you do not, the High Fae will be wiped out from Avalonia forever.”
“The dwarves will never agree to help you,” Tristan said. “Creating weapons of blackened iron is forbidden by the treaty.”
Brandon grinned and flashed his white teeth. “Greygate has already fallen, and I’m sure we can persuade them once we have the Book of Abraxas. And now we know where the last key is. Resistance is futile, really.”
“You’re lying,” I snapped, but my gut twisted. “My granduncle would never give up his key.”
“Well, he did give up its location,” Brandon said simply. “With a little persuasive deception, of course,” he added, looking over at Lilith. “After that he was of no use to us. The Drakaar are on their way now to retrieve the last key. So you can see why they are a little busy at the moment. And now that I have you in custody, Rafael will have no choice but to kneel to me. Torturing you before his very eyes will be exquisite. I will be able to make him do anything I want.” His eyes brightened at the prospect.
“Rafe doesn’t care what happens to me,” I said with a shrug. “You’re wasting your time.”
“I think not.” Brandon grinned. “Your days are numbered, Aurora Shadowbreaker.”
I raised my hand and summoned my magic. I was the Dawnstar. Abraxas had said in Elfi the cuffs of blackened iron could not hold me. But this was more than just cuffs. The blackened iron of the Drakaar was blanketing my magic like a shroud. It was everywhere, even below my feet, embedded into the very stone floor on which I stood. My fae magic would not awake. In anger I sent a mage fire strike at Brandon and Lilith, which he deflected easily.
Brandon chuckled at my failed attempt to summon my fae magic. “I told you your fae powers won’t work here.” He put his hand to his chest, making a show of looking hurt. “Didn’t you believe me?”
“Convince your daughter to give up this foolishness, Lilith,” said Tristan. “Morgana will never be strong enough to bend the Dark Lord to her will, even with the Dagger and the Book of Abraxas. Once he is free, he will kill her and take over Avalonia.”
Lilith smiled, her eyes cold and cruel. “He might if it is Morgana who wakes him.” She laughed loudly. “You really have no idea who is actually behind this, do you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, furrowing my brow.
“Fools!” said Lilith. “Morgana is only a front. There is someone more powerful in the shadows. And you cannot stop him. These plans were set in motion long before you were even born.”
Brandon’s eyes darted from me to Lilith. “Enough,” he said, stepping forward. “They will find out what they need to know in due time. By then it will be too late.”
“I could summon the dragon,” I ventured, stumbling over the words, clawing for an answer in my mind. “Abraxas would destroy all of you.”
Brandon gave me a sardonic smile and raised an eyebrow. But it was Lilith who spoke. “Maybe he would, if you could summon him, Dawnstar. But the great dragon cannot hear you; the blackened iron will take care of that. The codex was very specific about the effects of blackened iron on High Fae and Dragonlords.”
“You have the Fae Codex?”
Her twisted smile showed me a set of sparkling white teeth. “Who do you think helped Andromeda steal it?”
“You were the one who gave her the blackened iron cuffs to subdue my magic in Elfi,” I stated, finally understanding.
“You are a clever girl,” Lilith said. “But not clever enough. At first I thought the cuffs would hold you, but your magic is too strong. The codex has shown me you need to be completely surrounded by it so that its effects work on High Fae as powerful as the two of you. Soon Morgana’s whole army will be equipped with it, which will render your fae army utterly useless.”
“Over my dead body,” I snarled, staring down both of them, my spine stiff and my arms crossed before me. I looked strong, but inside I was panicking. If Morgana’s army wielded weapons of blackened iron, the fae would fall like flies.
Lilith shrugged. “Have it your way. I’m sure the archmage can oblige.”
Brandon laughed. “See you later, Aurora. I will leave you to say your farewells. I have a coronation to attend. I hope you said goodbye to your dear Prince Rafael while you were busy plotting against me. This kingdom can only have one king. I want him to see my triumph before I have him executed in front of all his so-called loyal supporters, who will not raise a hand to help him—as long as I have their children, of course.” He turned to leave but stopped for a moment. “Once the feast is over tonight, Prince Rafael will be dead, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
I waited until the light of their torches had retreated into the passage to release the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. I had to find a way out of this. But Lilith was right; I couldn’t summon Abraxas even if I wanted to. I had tried, but he hadn’t responded. My ring sat cold on my finger, its magic veiled by the evil-infused
