**Wits and Wisdom—Mattia Turzo**
"I am not your only choice." The Sea Grace finally managed to say in the silence that followed Ember's unspoken threat.
She smiled. "Naturally. I am my mother's daughter. And I have her by my side. That alone is like having the whole world backing me up."
He smiled. "I did not peg you as one to be delusional enough to think that your mother alone would amount to anything."
"Perhaps it is you who have underestimated your daughter." She threw back with less coldness, but with enough hostility to make him understand that she would never tolerate ill talk against the Queen—no matter the form.
He stroked his moustache with the kind of pride and insolence only a man who possessed the kind of power he had would. "You're just a woman. And so is your mother. That is why you will never amount to anything alone. Perhaps if you do possess the alliance of Vladimir BlueBlood, then I would truly consider you a worthy ally."
