A pause. Then Ashcroft added carefully, “If we play it right—leverage that neutrality, maybe offer him a crack at something long-term—he might listen. He won’t trust easy. But he’ll respect power. Especially if it offers him more than the throne ever could.”
Damien finally looked up, eyes glinting with a dangerous calm.
“Then maybe it’s time we make it his.”
He stood slowly, voice low and lethal.
“We let Marco taste power,” he said, his voice low, measured. “Feed the hunger. Stroke his ego. Make him feel like the crown is within reach—like he’s finally getting what he’s owed.”
He circled a name on the map with the marker, slow and deliberate.
“Then once he’s cleared the field for us… once the real threats are gone and he thinks the throne’s his to take—”
Damien looked up, eyes gleam
