Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“But . . . Luzia said Orem didn’t know about the hives or her
connection to the trolls,” Sophie argued.
“Yes, Luzia says many things, does she not?” Vespera said quietly.
“It gets very hard to determine when she is fooling you and when she
is fooling herself. Perhaps she truly believes that she kept the secret
from her son. Perhaps she is simply so used to her deceptions that
they now feel as though they are fact. Either way, Orem asked me
about his mother’s secret project long ago, thinking I surely must have
been involved. And that was when I realized that Luzia had stolen
ideas far beyond the illusions I had given her to play with and was now
dealing with things she neither understood nor fully appreciated. But
before I could confront her, I was arrested—and I have long suspected
that she may have been the reason behind that. A desperate attempt at
keeping all of this hidden. And so it has been, for all those long years.
I have been disgraced—removed from history because I was willing to
make the changes our world needs but does not yet wish to accept.
And Luzia has been celebrated, her family name becoming the
epitome of glory and excellence. But not any longer. It is high time for
the world to see the reality. And to see that this hive—”
“Is still active,” Tarina interrupted, holding up a clump of grass
she’d torn from the ground. “It’s sealed from this side, as it would’ve
been if it were abandoned. But someone on the other side—my side—
must still be using it. I can feel the energy pulsing through the earth.
But I’ve never heard of this place—and I’ve never seen a hive fused
with metal. It’s so . . . unnatural.”
Vespera raised one eyebrow. “Did you really believe your empresses
would not have secrets of their own?”