The gypsies cheered around us.
They sounded bright and happy.
It still felt like an illusion.
WE WERE alone when she said, “You must be tired after your travels. I won’t take much of your time.” She sat behind her desk and folded her hands in front of her.
I sat in the chair across from her desk. My legs were sore. I had sand in places I didn’t want to think of. And so I don’t know that I could be blamed when I said, “You can drop the act now. We’re alone, and we both know I’m not buying what you’re selling.”
She chuckled. “Is it so hard to believe I am happy for your return?”
“Anybody else, I would say no. Of course not. But you’re not anybody else. You’re the phuro. The seer. The manipulator.”
The smile faded into a more calculating look. It was chilling how quickly it happened. One moment she was the loving grandmother, and the next she was a hardened leader capable of squashing anyone who got in her way. I wasn’t concerned. I’d faced worse than her and come off the better. She wasn’t a villain, but she wasn’t someone I would trust. Not now. Probably not ever.
“I keep having to remind myself you’re smarter than they say,” she said. “It’s… surprising.”
I shrugged. “You can’t always believe what you hear.”
“Oh, I
am aware,” she said. “But I don’t think you realize just how much is said about you, Sam of Wilds.”
“I am the future King’s Wizard. People know my name.”
She shook her head. “You mistake my meaning. Yes, they know your name. They whisper it amongst each other. But do you know what is truly said about you?”
“I don’t know that I care.”
She scoffed. “That’s certainly not true. Everyone does, no matter if they speak to the contrary. Especially you, who will be a leader amongst men. How can you say you don’t care about the will of the people?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.” She sat back in her chair. It creaked beneath her. “Most are in awe of you. Whether it be because of your magic or because of your rise from such… humble beginnings, there is a fascination with you. It doesn’t hurt that you carry with you a tongue of silver. There is an irony in calling me a manipulator when you are well-versed in the same, no?”
And as much as I wanted to disagree with her, to shoot her down, we both knew it would have been a lie. Because I did manipulate, even if I wasn’t thinking of it in that way at the time. I’d talked my way out of many a dangerous situation, turned the tables until I had the advantage. It wasn’t as nefarious as she was implying, but I wasn’t an innocent party in this.
I said, “I have my reasons.”
“I’m sure,” she said. “Better alive than dead.”
I didn’t reply.
“Most are in awe of you,” she said again. “But not all. There are… detractors. Those who think you have been given too much power too soon. That you are capable of destruction. Of bending the will of the King.” She smiled, but it was a cool thing. “Of murder.”
“I haven’t murdered anyone.”
“I am sure the Darks would disagree with you on that.”
“Lartin?” I said, outraged. “He had captured us. He was planning on attempting to ransom me because of who I was.”
“In exchange for?”
“Gold.”
“So he deserved to die?”
“I don’t—it was him or us.”