Who was your last owner? I asked. The rightful ruler of Mistei, of course. I blinked, confused. Osric? No. The dagger’s hatred for Osric pulsed in my blood. My mistress would have been queen if she’d won the war. Instead she died a princess, and now I am all that remains. My breath caught. This wasn’t just a mystical dagger. It had been one of the most important weapons in a war fought centuries ago. Caedo had belonged to Princess Cordelia of Blood House, leader of the rebellion, who had refused to bow to a tyrant and had died with her people instead.
