“We can make a deal that I’ll beg him to come and kiss your feet, Queen Berta. And ask him to apologize.”
She pouts again. “I need guarantees. I’m no longer letting people come in here and humiliate me. Oh, no. He’ll pay for what he’s done. He’ll pay.”
“If it helps, when he came here we weren’t even allies,” Renel says.
“I don’t care!” she roars.
A crazy idea comes to my mind. It might work, and it might not, but at this point it might be worth a try.
“Do you care for the safety of your court?” I ask. She turns to me, her eyes piercing, but since she doesn’t say anything, I continue, “The Witch King is alive again, and we want to kill him for good this time, or at least defeat him. We’d rather be learning how to fight him than hanging here. It’s a fight for all of us, against dangers that might eventually come to your court. You want us to beg, I’m begging. Please let us find out more about this threat.”
Her eyes narrow. “Likely tale.”
“It’s true,” Renel says.
She chuckles, but without her previous haughtiness. “And nobody noticed?”
“The giants did,” he says. “They asked Marlak to stop something that was about to come out from the underground. They noticed something was amiss. Marlak can kill the Witch King, at least in theory, but there’s… more. There’s more that needs to be done to ensure the old villain doesn’t return.”
The queen raises an eyebrow. “Let me guess: you’re hoping my library will have the answer.”
“Yes,” Renel rasps as he exhales. I’m not sure if he’s defeated or relieved, and I don’t know what to expect from this queen.
“Guards!” the queen yells.
I think I might pass out.
“Pull them,” she adds, then turns to us. “Don’t make me regret it.”
I feel my feet being yanked up fast, and my chest deflates like a punctured waterskin as relief washes over me. I can barely believe I’m not about to be thrown down a cliff.
The guards pull us back to that strange stall and untie us, then ask us to follow them up the stairs. I barely have time to recollect myself, and the ground spins as I stand, my body trembling with the aftershock of panic. I feel strong hands on my shoulder and I’m about to snap them, thinking it’s Renel, but he’s in front of me, staring at me with wide eyes. Ziven’s the one who held me, and for some inane reason, I’m disappointed. Why did I still hope it was Renel, after what he did?
“Are you all right?” Ziven asks.
I turn to him and grimace. “Are you?”
He chuckles. “Much better than a minute ago.”
“Move.” The guards push us, and I’m forced to walk.
My eye meets Renel’s and all I see there is coldness. So maybe he meant it when he picked my name to be dropped—but it doesn’t even make sense! He came to rescue me.
I climb the steps in a mix of confusion and expectation, wondering what other tricks this queen has for us and if we’ll get to see her library.
As if I could fool myself. Yes, I am wary of this queen, and I’m wondering if she’ll let us get anywhere close to her books, but what’s really occupying my mind is a pointless wondering, trying to understand what happened for Renel to hate me, wondering if I did something wrong, wondering…
Odd, painful wondering with no answers.
ASTRA
Consciousness comes in and out, but I know he’s holding me. He’s alive. I’m alive.
Something touches my lips, something wet.
“Drink,” Marlak says.
Water. Pure, clean, fresh water. I open my eyes and find myself resting on his lap, Nelsin crouched in front of me.
