For Nevermore Season 1

particularly when concerning The Seven. I’d wager I have more respect for the old ways than your dear Elders. I would never stand in the way of love or destiny. And I certainly wouldn’t have you murdered for following your instincts to do what you were made to do.”
    Dante stayed silent and kept himself still, terrified that even slight movement might alert the Queen that her arguments were seeping into his mind, taking their root, and blooming new questions.
    Had the Elders really ordered my murder? Was that what tonight’s robbery had been? A staged murder, arming the bandit with a flash pouch to take me by surprise?
    No, Dante decided, tonight wasn’t a setup. If the Queen were telling the truth, then whatever move the Elders or William were planning wouldn’t happen in such an uncontrolled environment. And they certainly wouldn’t try to take him down with his best soldier, Finn, at his side.
    Finn!
    “Where is Finn?” Dante asked. “Did you harm him?”
    “You’ve mistaken the nature of this call, Dante. I did not arrange this meeting to harm you or your companion. So far as I’m aware, my men didn’t encounter Finn. I merely wish to make you an offer.”
    “What kind of offer?” Dante asked, hating himself for asking.
    “Bring her to us . . .”
    “No,” Dante was shaking his head before the Queen finished her sentence.
    “Hear me out, Dante,” her motor whirred. “Bring her here. The two of you can live among us, and be one of us. You can enjoy all the spoils and thrive behind these walls. Allow her to fulfill her destiny. Fulfill your destinies.”
    “The destiny which sees you colonizing the other realms? The destiny which has you exterminating all who don’t assimilate?”
    The Queen’s red eye flared as she spun toward Dante, scowling.
    “Don’t you think if I wanted to colonize King’s Point or any of the other realms, I would have done so already? Have you not seen our machines? Your people would last all of a day against us! You’re buying into the lies spoon-fed to you by the same Elders who are eager to keep you under their thumbs, controlling you with fear of the unknown, fear of progress. Please, Dante,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “tell me you aren’t that ignorant.”
    Dante said nothing as the Queen circled him.
    “I’ll take your silence as agreement. Tell me, Dante . . . this war that is coming. Who did the Elders tell you fired the first shot? Did they claim it was us? No, never mind, don’t answer. Of course they did. We have seers on our side, too. And they’ve seen a different future, one where your Elders grow corrupted by their magick and unleash a plague upon this world that makes our arrival pale in comparison.”
    Dante watched as the Queen returned to face him. She stared at him, the alien machine part of her surely reading his face for signs that she was getting through. Her words were mining doubt in his mind, and he couldn’t have hidden the truth if he wanted to.
    Have I been played for a fool?
    For centuries, the Queen and her kind had been the enemy. They’d come to this world, colonized the northern realms, and slaughtered any of its indigenous people who dared to resist. They also destroyed all magick in the north, and replaced it with their alien technology. The Great War only ended 50 years ago, and the two sides had shared an uneasy truce ever since, with the Dark Wall serving as the line of demarcation.
    Had the Elders become so motivated by hate or vengeance, grown so misguided that they were steadily drifting the two sides into another war?
    Of course, it wasn’t the first time Dante had doubted the Elders’ wisdom, but it was the first time he doubted his allegiances.
    “I knew you weren’t ignorant,” the Queen smiled. “I have finally found one man from King’s Point willing to hear the sweet music of reason.”
    “I didn’t say I believe you,” Dante said. “I need proof.” He wasn’t sure he would believe whatever proof the Queen might present, but he was willing to say whatever needed saying to get the shackles from his wrists. He was no good to Noella dead or imprisoned by the Queen.
    “Ask your Elders. Or ask William. You’re skilled enough to smell a lie from your own kind, right?”
    “Even if what you say is true, why would I bring her here? That would just swing the balance of power in your favor. If you suspect the Elders of starting a war, what prevents you from striking first?”
    “You’re