“What did I do?” I gasp, harsh and silent, more breath than question.
Garrigan looks at me, starts to lift his lips in a smile meant to brush it off. But when he opens his mouth, nothing comes. What excuse would they even understand? Ithrew them through the air. I used my magic to launch them out of the carriage.
There is no reason for this.
The Cordellan guards see a reason, though. They shoot veiled eye rolls and quiet chuckles at one another, and I can practically hear the thoughts parading through their heads.
The weak child-queen can’t even use her magic properly.
I dig my fingers into my stomach, eyes closing on an exhale.
No more. This is the last time I lose control.
No more.
As all this is happening, Giselle rises from her chair and turns her attention to a ledger on a nearby table, scribbling out notes as if foreign queens collapse in her university every day. Her outfit mirrors the décor of her kingdom—a tight-fitting brown coat stretches across her arms with gleaming brass buttons that reach all the way up the high collar to her chin. White linen explodes from under the coat in a thick skirt.
I don’t bother caring about anything either. I barely havethe energy to stumble toward the door, and I’m halfway there when Theron grabs my arm.
“Meira—where are you going?”
To scour this kingdom until I find answers.
“Away,” I snap at him. “Let me go.”
He doesn’t budge. “I know it’s been an awful couple of months, but if you leave, we’ll never know what we could have been capable of. Please—I’ll escort you back to the palace myself after we’ve made introductions.”
I’m so close to screaming at him, all the things I’ve already said that he didn’t hear.
The goals you have will unleash the Decay over the world again.
Your father will never cede to you, no matter how much support you have.
You’re wrong, Theron.
And I don’t care anymore about protecting his innocence. I don’t care about the way he shakes a little, so desperate to try, so desperate to hope.
All I care about is the way Conall and Garrigan shake too, because ofme. Because of my magic.
I know my goal—keep my kingdom safe. And I will not be stopped.
“You’re the only one who believes this venture is for peace,” I growl. “Giselle won’t care about some idealized scheme brought to her by achild. You realize that, don’t you?”
Theron recoils but composes himself. “Sometimes oneperson is enough.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Prince Theron.”
Ceridwen steps up next to me, her eyes trained on Giselle’s back—Giselle, who seems to have forgotten we’re in her laboratory at all.
I snap to her. “I don’t need your help. I need toleave. This meeting is pointless.”
“Really?” Ceridwen moves closer to me. “You need allies. Don’t you?”
She looks briefly at Theron. More a gesture than a glance, and I wilt.
Cordell.
I still need allies. With armies.
