Assistant to the Villain, #2
Apprentice to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Contents
Chapter 23
Overview
This flashback reveals how Evie first learned that her supposedly dead brother Gideon was alive and serving in the Valiant Guard. Gideon explains his lost years, his magic, and the king’s concealment of his identity, while Evie struggles between rage, grief, and the practical need for an insider.
The chapter reframes Gideon’s return as both betrayal and opportunity: he helped capture Trystan, but he can also help Evie infiltrate the Gleaming Palace. Evie chooses strategy over trust, turning the king’s orders for her corpse and her mother’s letters into the foundation of a dangerous rescue plan.
Summary
Two weeks earlier, only hours after Trystan’s capture, Evie returns to Massacre Manor while Lyssa settles into the west wing. Evie stares at Otto Warsen’s severed head with grim satisfaction, but the sight of her ink ring and the manor’s reminders of Trystan make her grief break through. Unable to breathe inside the house that feels entirely like him, Evie runs beyond the manor’s protective barriers and vows to get Trystan back.
A silver-armored knight wearing the king’s insignia approaches and offers to help. Evie, already furious and raw, attacks immediately with her dagger and knocks the knight down. When the helmet falls away, Evie recognizes the knight as Gideon, her older brother, whom Evie has believed dead for ten years.
Evie reacts with disbelief, anger, and violence, demanding an explanation while Gideon tries to calm her. Gideon says he did not die in the field: an earlier fever awakened magic that suppresses other magic, and their father secretly sought help to identify it. During the catastrophic incident with their mother’s unstable magic, Gideon was thrown briefly into another dimension and landed near the Gleaming Palace with burned clothing and no memory.
Gideon explains that he was directed to Valiant Guard recruiters, and the king recognized him immediately but concealed Gideon’s past. Gideon’s memories returned in pieces over five years, but Gideon never revealed that fact. Evie realizes Gideon was the knight who interfered with Trystan’s magic, and Gideon admits it, insisting he was following orders and would not have been able to stop Trystan’s capture in that moment.
Gideon says he killed a fellow guard to save Evie after Otto’s death and now wants to make things right by helping rescue Trystan. Evie is furious that Gideon stole her sense of safety and let their family mourn him, but Gideon’s remorse and hope make Evie pause. Because Evie needs someone inside the Gleaming Palace, Evie agrees to use his help while remaining ready to turn the Malevolent Guard on him if necessary.
When Evie asks whether Gideon can get her into the Gleaming Palace undetected, Gideon promises to do whatever Evie needs. Gideon also reveals that the king ordered him to retrieve their mother’s letters and Evie’s dead body. Evie smiles at the opportunity, deciding she will give the king exactly that—and more.
Who Appears
- EvieGrieving Trystan’s capture, she attacks Gideon, hears his explanation, and turns his access into a rescue plan.
- Gideon SageEvie’s supposedly dead brother; a Valiant Guard with magic-suppressing power who offers to help rescue Trystan.
- TrystanAbsent but central; his capture drives Evie’s grief, rage, and need for Gideon’s help.
- The KingUnseen antagonist who recognized Gideon, concealed his past, and orders Evie’s body and letters retrieved.
- Otto WarsenDead former threat whose severed head reminds Evie of her recent brutality and anger.