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He did not regret killing her one bit

"But that is neither here nor there Cyrene is dead, and you are a long way from the arms of Manon Blackbeak"

Dorian braced a hand on Damaris’s hilt

Maeve smiled at the ancient sword "It seems the Queen of Terrasen learned to share She’s acquired quite the trove, hasn’t she?" Dorian started If Maeve knew everything Aelin possessed--

"I know that, too," Maeve said, her dark eyes depthless Dauess at that truth, at least" She scanned hi slithering and sharp slid along his ic roared A sheet of ice slammed into those mental talons Blasted the the room also coated with frost "A dramatic, but effective method"

Dorian sh to allow you intoone hand on the sword, he slid the other into a pocket, if only to hide its shaking "Or to tell you where they are hidden?"

"It orth the attempt," Maeve said

"Why not sound the alarain "You hat I want Erawan has it Does that not make you and I allies of a sort?"

"You ive you the keys"

"Am I? What would you do with them, Dorian? Destroy thehed "Oh, nothing so common as that I would make sure that Erawan and his brothers can never return" Damaris remained warm in his hand The queen spoke the truth Or some part of it

"You’ll admit so easily that you plan to betray Erawan?"

"Why do you think I cauessed you would seek out Morath soon enough"

Damaris’s warmth did not falter, yet Dorian said, "You cannot think I’d believe you caiance Not when I saw that you plan to offer Erawan your spiders to assist his princesses" He didn’t want to knohat the Valg princesses could do Why Erawan had delayed his unleashing of them

"A small sacrifice on my part to win his trust" Damaris held war to lose now, thanks to your friend"

Truth, truth, truth

And there it was--the opening he’d been waiting for

Keeping hisup the enemy before them, Dorian let his hand slide fro distrust as he said, "Aelin seedo her own"

"And at letting others pay her debts"

Dorian stilled, though hisher dark power as it paced the barrier to his mind

"Isn’t that why you are here?" Maeve asked "To be the sacrifice so that Aelin need not destroy herself?" She clicked her tongue "Such a terrible waste--for either of you to pay the price for Elena’s foolishness"

"It is" Truth

"Can I tell you what Aelin revealed tothose moments I was able to peer into her ain "You enslaved her," he growled "I don’t want to hear a da about it"

Maeve brushed her curtain of hair over a shoulder, hulad it’s you," sheThat you’ll accomplish what you’ve set out to do and spare her frodom I don’t blame her" The sharpness in his words wasn’t entirely faked

"Don’t you? Don’t you have a kingdom to look after, one no less powerful and noble than Terrasen?" When he didn’t answer, Maeve said, "Aelin has been freed for weeks now And she has not co smile "She could find you, if she wished And yet she went to Anielle"