Shadowforged (Light & Shadow) Read Online Free

words. He never wasted words.
    “Have you considered yet how you wish to live at court?” He eyed her narrowly, hoping for a misstep, but she spotted the trap at once. She had been on her guard.
    “My Lord uncle, as my guardian, it is yours to say if and how I shall live at court.” Her voice was clear, but her eyes were on the ground. He took a long look at her, and then nodded.
    “And if I choose to keep you at court, and weather the scandal you have created?” Very economical, was the Duke. Not one to let an opportunity through his fingers, especially when that opportunity was to shame his enemies.
    I tried to look nowhere and betray nothing. We were being watched by the two most cunning and observant people I knew, their senses heightened by the fight. Miriel must play this well, and I must not betray her by showing my own emotions.
    She wavered visibly, and even knowing that she would have prepared each gesture, I feared for her. Watching Miriel was like watching a play—only there could be no saying how this would end, no way to know what secrets the other actors held. I could only hope that at the end of this, we would have the Duke’s agreement to make Miriel Queen.
    “My Lord uncle…”
    “Speak up, girl, I don’t have all day.” I snuck a glance, and saw his grim, victorious smile. A wave of derision swept over me. He truly believed that he had caught her.
    “My Lord, if you were to forgive me…” She swallowed, as if the words hurt her pride to say. His derision, his belief in his victory, would grate on her. She would long to tell him the truth of it. But she had the goal in her sights and she would bear it all, knowing that it was to betray him someday.
    “If you will accept me back, I will be obedient to you.” Miriel enunciated each word clearly. She was fairly quivering with the effort of saying it out loud. I let myself swallow at last, and I dropped my eyes to the floor. I struggled to keep my face blank as the Duke gave a great crow of laughter.
    “You will? Ah, and what makes you say that?” I hated him at that moment, and Miriel hated him. He knew that she would. She walked a fine line: knowing that her defiance stoked the fire of his anger, and yet knowing that he expected it, that he would suspect her of playing him false if she was too calm.
    Ever surprising, Miriel looked up. She looked directly at him, her face open and set grimly. “I don’t want you as my enemy,” she said honestly. “You would destroy me.” He nodded. “And it is in our interests, each to see the other rise, if only we are allies.”
    “Ambition?” His face flickered. He did not want her having her own ends to achieve.
    “I want to be Queen,” Miriel stated simply. “Isn’t that what you wanted?” It was the most subtle of jabs: I know you would use me and discard me, and now I have trapped you into saying it, or lying about it. The Duke raised his eyebrows, considering his response, but Miriel was already shifting, hoping to set the Duke off balance. Her jaw was set, her eyes narrowed.
    “I want her place,” she said flatly, and his eyes flickered. He was not sure what to make of this. “You saw her as well as me. She thinks I’m nothing. She thinks I’m not fit to give her son advice. She thinks she can turn him away from me and destroy me once his favor is gone. But she would not even be on her throne still if it weren’t for the battle at Voltur. Who is she to think we’re nothing?”
    The Duke’s face had gone strained, taut. He did not trust Miriel. He did not want to trust her. But something awoke in his eyes: memories of countless Council meetings, his words disregarded, his achievements forgotten, all for the accident of his birth. And it was a good thing to believe that Miriel would want revenge on another enemy.
    “But together, we can undo her. So.” Miriel bit her lip. “If I am obedient to you…we could rise together.”
    “Interesting.” His face had returned to its