Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

by Victoria Aveyard

“There’s no need for that,” he continues, noting my fear. “I have no plans of alerting anyone to your heritage.” The relief I feel is short-lived, shifting into another kind of fear. “Why? What do you want from me?” “I am, above all things, a curious man. And when you entered Queenstrial a Red servant and ran out some long-lost Silver lady, I have to say I was quite curious.” “Is that why there aren’t any cameras in here?” I bristle, backing away from him. My fists clench, and I wish the lightning would come to protect me from this man. “So there’s no record of you examining me?” “There are no cameras in here because I have the power to turn them off.” Hope sparks in me, like light in absolute darkness. “What is your power?” I ask shakily. Maybe he’s like me. “Mare, when a Silver says ‘power,’ they mean might, strength. ‘Ability,’ on the other hand, refers to all the silly little things we can do.” Silly little things. Like break a man in two or drown him in the town square. “I mean that my sister was queen once, and that still counts for something around here.” “Lady Blonos didn’t teach me that.”