The stairway was dark with the only lighting being the few torches along the door. Besides her quiet footsteps, the only thing she could hear was the sound of distant voices. Past the end of the stairs, she had no clue where she was going, and her only option was to walk towards the voices.

"I'm not telling you anything," a male voice hissed as she got closer. Now, once she'd taken a turn, she had found them in a stuffy dark room, along with a bound soldier covered in a liquid black substance seated in front of them.

Nilsa tried to walk slowly to loosen the sound in her steps but not even the precaution could escape Czarin's animal-like ears. Czarin was closest to the door which helped her to step out of the room without any flags. She let Nilsa approach her but blocked the door. "How did you find us?"

"We asked," Nilsa replied simply.

It took Czarin a moment to realize that Citali had helped. "You don't want to see this, Nilsa. There's a dark side to our abilities that scare most."

Nilsa was sure of it. "Would you disagree that I have a right to know what he says?"

"No. I wouldn't. But I can tell you. Just... after all this."

"Czarin, I have watched my village burn down in flames, I have had to fight for my life against one of their kind in the supposed safety of my room, and I have had to hide bloodied guests from last night's party in whatever cramped space there was while I heard the screams of other victims. There's not much more that will scare me."

Czarin took a minute to think about it. "I warned you."

Nilsa nodded in thanks as they entered the room. None of them looked at her as she did, but she knew that they were aware of her presence the moment Czarin had stepped out.

Ronan sat in a chair right in front of the bounded soldier. Gideon held onto the soldier's shoulders with a painfully tight grip, and the rest of them framed the walls.

The soldier was the only one to acknowledge her presence. "Ah. The prophet. I can see why she's worth the trouble now."

"You're not wrong about that," Gideon hummed. "And you know about the oracle inside of her too? Now, that's enough to make her just horrifying."

"She doesn't look so scary."

Nilsa could feel Citali urging inside of her, wanting to make the soldier know just how scary they were, but Nilsa held her back. Frankly, Nilsa didn't want to know."

"How did Velpavane get the new recruits?" Ronan questioned.

"Do you not have any loyal followers in your kingdom?" The soldier asked smoothly. "Consider it. Works quite well in Velpavane's favor."

"Don't dodge the question," Alaeca instructed. "You're already facing death. Wouldn't want to make that worse, would you?"

"My loyalty lies in my queen. I will not answer anything."

"You will," Gideon corrected, "and now you've wasted our time asking nicely."

"How did Velpavane get the new recruits?" Ronan respected. "Answer the question."

The soldier spat on Ronan's shoes. "Go to hell."

Ronan simply glanced at his shoes, and then at his brother, who nodded in whatever hidden question had been asked. "This is your own demise," Ronan stated simply.

Nilsa stopped wondering what that meant when the soldier doubled over choking. Nobody moved to help when he gagged out a puddle of black liquid.

"Are you ready to cooperate?" Ronan asked calmly. He gave the soldier about twenty seconds to answer, but when he remained silent, Ronan simply waved a hand and Gideon was pulling the soldier back to his original state.

"What are you afraid of?" Chrysies asked with a grin. "What's your biggest fear?"

Nilsa didn't see how that related to anything but didn't dare say anything.

"My wife," the soldier spat out. "Woman yells like no other."

"It's holes," Ronan answered smoothly, not breaking eye contact.

Chryseis hummed, pushing herself off the wall and walked behind the soldier. "Interesting. Holes where? On the earth? In your memory?"

"Anywhere," Ronan replied. "Especially the small ones, like the ones in old cement, or in a bees nest during the summer. That really gets under his skin."

"Get out of my head," the soldier said through gritted teeth.

Chryseis pale hands latched onto the sides of his head. Gideon had moved away when she'd walked over. "Why? We just got there?" She nodded to Ronan.

Nilsa had never had a problem with holes, not until small black holes surfaced on the soldier's skin. They were everywhere on his body, visible through the large rips in his clothing. They made their way up his neck, not stopping when they reached his cheeks.

The soldier's screams filled the entire dungeon. He writhed around in his chair, the only thing keeping him on the surface of the piece of furniture being the strong hands of the goddess of death. "Stop!" He screamed. "I'll talk. Just please stop."

Ronan looked to Chryseis for confirmation before she shrugged and the holes disappeared.

"Talk," Caspian said from the corner of the room. This was the first time he had spoken. "We can tell every lie that comes out of your mouth so don't even try it."

They gave the soldier a minute to breathe before Chryseis pressed on his shoulders as a signal for him to start talking. "There's poison in Velpavane," was the first thing he said.

Rieka scoffed. "Tell us something we don't know."

"I mean literal poison. Nobody is exactly sure about how it got into the Bronx, but it did, and the next thing we know, people are dying left and right."

"If that many people are dying, then how is your queen collecting that many troops?"

"The Bronx is our main water source-it runs through the entire continent. Some people died immediately from consuming too much, and others are seriously ill. People are blaming it on whatever they can, and most are hooked onto the theory that Lennox and his children poisoned the river."

Rieka's lip curled. "That's ridiculous, and even if we did, they have no proof."

"No need. Rumors of a prophet reached Velpavane, one more powerful than ever. Our queen decided that the prophet was the answer, that she could find out the cure for the river."

Nilsa's brows furrowed. She find the cure? She wouldn't know where to begin.

"Next thing we know, men from everywhere are lining up to fight for the prophet that our enemies are holding captive in their palace." The enemies that supposedly poisoned the river to begin with.

"So what?" Rieka questioned. "Your queen now has tons of brand new troops ready to fight? So she sends them off for uncoordinated attacks on the palace that she knows will fail? You haven't gotten close to retrieving the prophet." They'd been closer than they were letting on.

"We got inside the palace easily without any of you noticing, and not too long after killed an abundance of your guests at a secured party, and it had been easy. Obviously, she wants to send a message."

The room seemed to collectively stiffen. "What message?" Nilsa wasn't sure who had asked the question.

"That the Queen of Velpavane knows everything about you. She knows your security, every nook and cranny of your palace, she knows the names and family of every guard on duty." He paused. "She knows your deepest secrets." He had all of them in his hands. It felt like they were being questioned rather than him. "My queen is planning to retrieve the prophet, yes, but she plans to bring down all of Lennox's continent while she's at it."

Caspian's voice was quiet. "And how will she do that?"

The soldier gathered up the courage to smile as he spoke. "How will your kingdom's faith change when they learn that the goddess of death takes over their lives when they die? How will their faith change when they learn that the god of desire will tell the entire palace's secrets with a kiss? How will their faith change when they learn how the god of darkness ended the last war?"

The room was silent. "How do you know any of that?" Alaeca asked.

A laugh. "How do you know that all of Velpavane doesn't already?"

Gideon locked his jaw as he moved to the soldier. "That's enough. Ronan, take him back."

Ronan looked at his brother. "He's not going back in my head."

Gideon sighed in frustration. "Of course he's not. Fine. I'll lock him up. You're all excused." Gideon grabbed the soldier by the hands and hoisted him onto his feet before practically dragging him out of the room. Nobody followed.

Ronan stood up from the chair, reaching out for her hand. "Let's go."

Nilsa gave it to him. "To where?"

"Anywhere," he replied before they disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.