Marlak narrows his eyes. “I thought fae couldn’t lie.”
Across from us, Renel scoffs. “We can say whatever nonsense we want, as long as we believe it.”
“Yes.” Marlak snaps. “But my sister’s gone now.”
“I don’t think reaching her earlier would have changed her mind,” Ziven says. “I saw her seeking Zorwal.”
I remember that name. “The one who was beheaded and didn’t die.”
“That one,” Marlak says. He then tells us about Renel almost dying, Zorwal asking for a deal, and Tarlia pledging her life to Zorwal to save Renel.
I’m confused. “Why would she do that?”
Renel’s the one who replies. “Take everything that’s good in this world, put it into a person, and you’ll get Tarlia. Her heart is soft and gentle. Too soft. I wish I could have stopped her from making that deal.”
“So do I,” Marlak adds.
Tarlia. With Zorwal, a fae with sinister magic. One more nail poking my heart.
But one thing doesn’t make sense. “The River of Tears treaty doesn’t let humans make deals with fae. How was this done?”
“You cut the bonds,” Ferer says. “Maybe it annulled the treaty.”
I don’t want to think what this could mean for the human kingdoms.
Renel presses his lips together. “The treaty forbids humans from making deals with or work forthe fae. As far as I know, fae don’t survive beheadings.”
“The Witch King does,” Azur says. “And he’s fae, as far as I can tell.”
Renel looks away as a mantle of silence covers the kitchen, until Marlak breaks it and tells Azur and I about going to the Jewel City, then seeing his sister. There’s so much sadness in his voice, in his demeanor.
“I don’t understand,” Marlak says. “I wonder if Zorwal’s controlling Mirella or something.”
Ziven tilts his head, and for once he doesn’t sound like a foolish drunkard. “She told us about the bloodpuppets coming after you. Perhaps she was trying to protect you.”
I recall my encounter with those horrid creatures and my blood chills. “Bloodpuppets?”
Marlak nods. “She said they were after me.”
“But you defeated them that time,” I say. “With your ice magic.”
“That day there was only one alive, and it had been turned into leech roaches when I arrived. Now, Mirella said twelve of them are hunting me.”
Ziven points at him. “See? She’s on your side.”
Marlak huffs. “Yes, she’s so much on my side that she took great pleasure in humiliating me in front of the Jewel.”
I don’t want them to argue, so I ask, “She’s with Zorwal, right? And Tarlia too?”
“Yes, and they might be at the Crystal Castle,” Marlak says.
That’s another big question in my mind. “Is the castle going to stay put? Go nuts? Go to the Fiery Gorge?”
Renel fiddles with his bracelets, his eyes distant. “I calculated only until the Fiery Gorge. After you moved it…” He looks at me. “I do not know.”
Everyone stares at each other in silence, then Lidiane clears her throat. “Well, I guess I can tell you allmypart.”
While she doesn’t sound exactly cheerful, there’s no trace of last night’s melancholy in her demeanor. I wonder if she’s confident Azur will heal.
