He drew a rune on the ground with his staff and the scene in front of us changed. We were standing in a magnificent white stone palace with marble pillars and gold leaf furnishings.
“The Star Palace,” Penelope whispered.
My breath hitched in my throat. This had been my home, the place where I was born, where I lived with my parents for the short time we were together. I could barely remember it except in my dreams, and now I was here. I didn’t expect to feel this way.
“Joreth joined the palace mages,” Victor explained. “He was soon appointed military advisor to your grandfather, Ereneth, who was king at the time. Guided by Dragath, his aim was to find the Dagger, which was rumored to be buried in the vaults of the Star Palace and protected by the Firedrake line. But even with his high post, he could not get into the vaults, so he seduced Lilith, the king’s new wife.”
My heartbeat sped up, but Rafe silently took my hand in his as we walked through the long white corridor to what looked like the throne room. We stopped outside one of the rooms, the door of which was slightly ajar, and slipped inside. Joreth was already there, looking very different from when he’d been in the Darklands. He was dressed in a fine, emerald-green doublet and dark pants with highly polished boots that singled him out as a nobleman of the realm. He had his arms around a woman, dark-haired and beautiful, with upturned eyes and lips the color of fresh blood.
The woman broke the embrace. “We cannot do this anymore, Joreth,” she said, moving back. “It is too dangerous. If my husband finds out, he will have us both executed for treason.”
Joreth held her hands in his, and his dark eyes grew darker still as Dragath spoke softly. “Lilith, I love you. No one has found out.”
“It’s different now.” She shook her head. “You don’t understand, Joreth.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I am with child.”
Joreth’s eyes widened, but he produced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. They will simply think it is the king’s child.”
She withdrew her hands and moved back. “No, they won’t. Ereneth and I have not been together in that way for years now. If someone sees us together, then they will suspect the child is yours.”
Joreth grabbed her by the arms, his eyes eerie with shadows that seemed to swirl around behind them. “Then we must take the throne for ourselves.”
Lilith gasped. “You are talking treason, Joreth.”
He nodded solemnly. “It is the only way to ensure we can be together.” He put his hand on her belly. “And the only way to make sure our child is safe.”
Lilith stopped resisting, her stance changing, and she looked down, her hand over Joreth’s on her still-growing belly. “What do I have to do?”
My mouth fell open. “The child. It can’t be . . .” I whispered.
Victor’s eyes darted to me, and he nodded solemnly. “The child is Morgana.”
I was staggered by the implications as I looked around at Rafe’s, Tristan’s, and Penelope’s faces. Slowly the pieces started to come together in my confused mind. Morgana was not really King Ereneth’s daughter and my father’s half sister. She was the daughter of Joreth and Lilith and not related to my father by blood in any way.
I glanced at Penelope, my voice a strained whisper. “This was her big secret, the one she was trying desperately to hide. Lucian knew her true identity. That was what he held over her. Morgana is not truly a Firedrake.”
“It seems so.” Penelope’s lips were a thin line when she nodded. “Lilith must have passed her off as the king’s daughter, when in actuality it is Joreth who is Morgana’s real father.”
“Yes, that is why they are working together,” said Victor as he drew a rune on the ground with his staff and the scene changed. We were in another part of the castle, in a dark courtyard.
“Where are we now?” I inquired, looking around.
The courtyard was empty, shadows forming in the corners as clouds flitted across the moon, veiling its light.
“We are now twenty years after the last scene,” Victor confirmed. “Joreth convinced Lilith to join him in overthrowing the king, making her believe he did it for her and the child. But his real motivation was getting to the Dagger. All Dragath’s plans rested on it. So together, they formed the Black Mages when Morgana was still a baby. They attacked the palace and fought a long battle for the throne of Illiador. But your father, Azaren, led your grandfather’s army to victory, killing Joreth and saving his father’s throne—the throne that would one day be yours.”
“So that’s when Joreth came to the druids to heal?”
Victor nodded and held up his hand. We turned to see two figures come into the courtyard.
Morgana! She was young and beautiful and not much older than I was now.
I involuntarily moved farther back into the shadows.
The man beside her removed his hood. It was unmistakably Joreth, older and scarred with a short white beard and salt-and-pepper hair.
“Why are you here again?” Morgana spat. “I told you, you can’t be my father. I’m a princess of the royal house of the Firedrakes.” She turned to leave. “I’m going to tell my brother about you, and he will get rid of you for good.”
Joreth caught her arm in a viselike grip. “You are no more a Firedrake than I am,” he snarled.
Morgana snarled back at him, and I could see a faint resemblance, not in their looks but in their attitude. “You are a liar,” she spat, pulling her arm free and lifting her chin. “I even look like a Firedrake.”
Joreth laughed. “A simple spell conjured up by your mother when you were born,” he said.
Morgana stood rooted to the spot at
