“Alexeika—”

“What did you see him take?” Her voice came out flat and very calm, calmer than she expected, given how she raged inside.

“Nothing, but he was in there a long while. I sense no good in him, child. Of late, he seems always dissatisfied and scheming. And ever since we refused the king’s amnesty—” “The usurper’s amnesty!” she corrected hotly.

Uzfan bowed. “Yes, child, Muncel the Usurper. Since we refused, Draysinko has been brooding all summer.”

“It was false and a lie, a trick to pull all the rebels of Nether into slavery.