As she reads, her expression changes from hopeful to sad, then horrified.
“What is it?” I ask.
Her hands holding the note are trembling, her face taken with a mix of grief and disbelief.
“What does it say?” I insist.
Lidiane covers her mouth with a hand. “Astra’s alive, Marlak. And she should be fine.”
I breach our distance to take the note from her, but she throws hundreds of papers in the air—illusions.
“What. Does. It say?” I’m so angry, frustrated, terrified.
All she does is shake her head, her eyes misty with unshed tears—an agonizing answer in itself.
ASTRA
There’s no point trying to quiet my anxious heart as we advance toward the ominous throne in this strange place. So much can go wrong. I don’t even know how Azur plans to distract the Witch King and if I’ll be able to escape, and yet I don’t want to sit here waiting while he gains more and more power.
The ancient fae’s eyes follow us greedily as we kneel in front of him.
He leans forward. “Rested already?”
I’m a pile of exhaustion and nerves and feel my palms sweating, but I lace my voice with determination. “We have no wish to waste precious time sleeping, Your Majesty.”
The Witch King smirks and rises from the throne, closing the distance between us in slow steps. “How, then, are you going to help me?”
Azur glances at me. “Your heir is ready to probe the tunnel.”
This doesn’t make sense. I thought Azur was going to distract him while I sneaked out, and now he basically told the WitchKing where I’m going. My stomach sinks. Is Azur betraying me? Or is it part of his plan?
“Really?” The Witch King turns to me.
There’s something way too disconcerting about his stare, but I force myself to pretend to be calm and give him a reassuring answer. “Yes. I believe now I might be able to open it.”
“Might?” The Witch King raises an eyebrow. “Do you think that’s good enough?”
My heart is loud in my chest as I feel I’m balancing on a sharp edge where any wrong move will lead me to a deadly fall.
“Hardly.” I look down. “But it’s what I can do now with the magic I have. Better things will come, Your Majesty. Once my magic is fully back, I’ll make sure you’re invincible.”
“Invincible, yes. I suppose.” The Witch King snaps his fingers and six ghouls surround us. “Let’s check your ability to undo the seal, then. And let’s hope you don’t disappoint me this time.”
There’s no joviality hiding the threat in his words. I wonder why anyone ever cooperated with him if he’s so obnoxious to the only two people helping him. Perhaps the bright side is that if he ever escapes this place, I won’t fear that he’ll amass followers. But I can’t let him escape, even if I’m starting to have serious questions about Azur’s plan.
I’ll distract him.
How?
And if the Witch King follows us to the tunnel, it will place him very close to the seal. If I walk through it, it will remain open for some time, and my sinister ancestor could follow me right away, especially if he sees that the magic does not deter me. What kind of distraction is Azur planning?
Can I even trust Renel’s former guardian? And if I escape, will my light keep me safe outside?
Perhaps I should have waited until morning to try to escape, except that if the Witch King is siphoning Azur’s magic, a fewmore hours could mean he could goanywhere. Then again, I don’t know what Azur plans to do, even if he sounded confident and even if he can’t lie.
Everything feels wrong, a strange chill that covers my skin and strangles my breath. But what else can I do other than at least pretend to try to open the seal?
As the ghouls move to lead me to the tunnel, the Witch King turns to Azur. “You can stay back.”
