The Prince Deceiver (The Silk & Steel Saga Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

body."
    The Mordant
stared at his assassin. In truth, it was a brilliant move, for the best way to
unsettle a mere woman was to attack the product of her womb.“I’ll spare
you, but only because the queen still lives...and because the dead babe will
enhance my plans.”
    Pale-faced, the
quaking assassin dared to kneel. "Thank you, my lord."
    “Does the queen
know she was poisoned?”
    The assassin
flicked a glance at the duegar. “Word of the stillborn birth was smothered by
her own shadowmen, as if it never happened. But Castor heard the queen rant
that it was poison.”
    “So she knows…or
at least suspects." The Mordant smiled, considering the delicious
possibilities. "Her own suspicions will keep her off-balance.” He fondled
the malachite coin. “What of the queen's heirs?”
    “The queen’s
second son, Prince Danly, died a traitor in Lingard, a casualty of the Flame
War. Her firstborn son and only heir, Prince Stewart, rides to war to confront
the army of the Pentacle.”
    So, her sole
heir is at risk. The Mordant would confirm every detail once he gazed into
the queen’s eyes, once he raped her soul and peered through her memories. He'd
plumb her mind, reading her like an open scroll, but it did no harm to be
forewarned. “Women are always undone by their wombs. One of the many reasons
they are not fit to rule.” The Mordant flashed a sharp smile. “Anything else?”
    “No, lord.”
    “You’ve done
well. Return to the castle, don your motley and remain vigilant.”
    “Yes, lord.”
    He waved
dismissal, but the assassin hesitated.
    “Dread lord,
might I ask a question?” The assassin cringed, waiting.
    The Mordant
relented. “One.”
    “Instead of
tansy in the queen’s tea, I could have added nightshade, or any other poison.
Yet you ordered me not to kill her. Why, lord, when I could save you all
this trouble and hand you her crown?”
    The Mordant
stiffened, staring at the assassin through narrowed eyes. “Your order stands.
You are not to kill the queen.”
    The assassin
flinched as if lashed. “Yes, lord, but why?”
    The Mordant let
a hundred heartbeats pass, a sure sign of his displeasure, but then he
relented, offering a reply lest his servant become overzealous. “Killing is
easy. Taking life pleases the Dark Lord, but it garners the least of his
favors. Our god favors those who have a long reach, those who steer the future
to a dark path while muddying the brightest memories of the past. Kill the
queen while Lanverness prospers and she becomes a martyr, a saint to her
people, a shining beacon of hope. Instead, we shall sully her name and muddy
her legacy, corrupting the queen from within. Her abject failure will keep
future women from any throne, enforcing the Great Dark Divide.” A smile hovered
at his lips, a rush of Dark power flowing through him. He stood, throwing a
daunting shadow across the room. “In this lifetime, I’ve come to change the
past as well the future. I’ve come to wield the power of a god.”
    The assassin and
the duegar both cringed low, staring wide-eyed in awe.
    "Return to
the queen and await my summons."
    Bowing, they
scuttled from the chamber.
    Dark power
burned through him. His shadow diminished, leaving him mortal once more. The
Mordant sat alone before the crackling fire, flicking the malachite coin
between his fingers. After a thousand years of life, he stood on the brink of
true immortality. Corrupt the queen and so much would change, bending the past
as well as the future. He flicked the coin with his thumb, watching it rotate
as it tumbled upwards…and then he spied the engraving. Catching the coin, he
held it towards the firelight. Engraved on the face was a shield, worn but
still faintly visible, two crescents flanking a full moon…the ancient symbol of
Azreal. The Mordant stilled. Azreal ...the city of his first great
triumph. Ancient memories flooded his mind. He remembered her face, her tender
touch, so lovely...so trusting. In that first