"Your king is falling under the spell of your goddess," Dorian replied, leaning.
For a full second, Alaric's mind went blank then sparked. The king, smitten with the goddess. A pawn falling for the very piece meant to be moved around the board? Ordinarily, this might have been cause for concern but Alaric wasn't ordinary. And the idea wasn't entirely unappealing. If Herod fell hard enough, he'd finally find a way to be rid of Queen Eliza. That particular royal burden had been chafing at Alaric's larger plans for a while now. And if Eliza was removed, neatly and violently? Well, then… wasn't that fate doing his work for him?
A smile curled across Alaric's face.
"You may go," he said, waving Dorian off. "I will handle it."
Dorian tilted his head, deeply skeptical. Still, he shrugged and left.
*****
