Renel then asks, “What would you like to have in exchange for bringing us safely up? Then we can talk.”
She eyes him for a long while, as if considering how to answer, then says, “Hmmm. Fair, but I still think it could be fun to drop one of you. You get to decide which one falls, and then I pull the rest to safety. How does it sound?”
My stomach shrinks and shrivels.
“Pull us all, and you’ll get a better deal,” Renel says.
“No! Speak out of turn, and you’ll die. I’ll ask you one by one a simple question: who do you think I should drop? Very easy. Once you vote, the rest of you come up and talk. No protesting.” She points at me. “You, who should I drop?”
I’m surprised she’s asking me first, but I try to think fast. Ziven still has water magic. In fact, he’s the only one with any magic among us, so it makes sense that it should be him.
“Ziven,” I say, and point at him, since she never asked our names.
The queen pouts. “Really? I thought you two humans would protect each other. How wrong I was.”
I shut my eyes, fearing she’ll drop him or perhaps even me, but nothing happens. My heart is banging so hard on my chest I think it’s going to punch a hole through it.
“Now you, former acting king of the Crystal Court.” Her tone is mocking. “Tell me, who should I drop?”
“I can’t lie, Queen Berta, and I don’t want any of us to fall. How can I answer your question?”
“Do you dare defy me?”
“No. I’m just saying what I think. Now, if you want me to give you a name because I’m forced to, I’ll pick Tarlia.” He points at me.
My skin feels cold and hot and numb, even if it’s impossible to feel all of that at once. The place where my heart once was becomes a stiff block of ice, and my stomach is turning andturning. Me? He wantsmeto fall to my death? Even more than the sister he hates? Than the prince he barely knows?
The queen tilts her head. “Look at that. She’s sad.”
If I survive this, I’ll definitely punch her face. Then I’ll punch Renel. Why didn’t I kill him when I had the chance?
The queen then points at Mirella. “You. Who do you choose?”
“Renel,” she says simply.
That was quite obvious. I’m guessing she hopes that if he dies, she gets her magic back. Makes sense.
I hope he feels like an idiot for having picked me instead of her.
The queen then points at Ziven. “What about you?”
My stomach sinks. Can it sink, when I’m upside down? Maybe it floats. If he doesn’t understand the reason I chose him and retaliates, I’ll be the one to be dropped from this height. I don’t know if there’s a way to slow my fall, and don’t know if his water magic could save me—if he even wants to save me. Perhaps I’m delusional and don’t realize that everyone hates me.
“Her,” he says.
I think I’m about to puke, but then I realize he’s pointing at Mirella. Right. He’s evening out the votes. It makes sense, and perhaps even explains what Renel did, but he could still have voted for Mirella, couldn’t he? I can’t even understand why I can feel sad and hurt when my life is held by a thin rope.
One would think that my fear of dying would supersede my fragile heart fracture, but apparently it doesn’t. Now it’s both brokenandbeating fast.
The queen stares at us all. “Well, well, what a predicament. Apparently, you lot can’t make up your mind. What am I going to do now?”
“A deal,” Renel says.
“Will you kiss my feet and suck my toes?” she asks.
“In exchange for bringing us up safely and no longer harming us?”
She crouches. “No. Because you want to. But you know what? It’s your brother who needs to do that.”
