“I know.”
They shared a heated look that made the steward a little queasy.
Time for him to go.
He bowed and began backing away.
“Wait.”
Basil froze at the queen’s voice.
He slowly met her gaze. “Yes, my queen?”
“We have the advantage of surprise. Send our troops out to meet our princess at the border, will you?”
“Your Majesty?” His mind scrambled to catch up. Had he missed something? Was Dahlia not lost?
“I don’t want to wait to catch Dahlia. Too much is at stake.” Allium stood from her throne and floated down the stairs, green silk rippling around her legs. “I have someone who will pass well enough for the princess.” Her smile widened. “Plus, no one will really be able to identify her once she’s mangled enough.”
Bile burned the back of Basil’s throat.
The queen was going to kill an innocent.
“As you wish, my queen.” The words were forced and left him hollow.
Allium held her hand out to Randa and wiggled her fingers. “Shall we have a bit of sport before we take back what is ours, my dear?”
King Randa scampered down the stairs, looping his queen’s arm through his own. “It would be my pleasure.”
Basil turned his back to the monarchs and forced himself not to run from the throne room.
There was much to arrange in very little time.
The princess needed to be protected at all costs.
Dark days were ahead, and she was the only one who could save them from what was coming. Basil hadn’t made all the sacrifices he had just to watch his plan go down in flames.
The steward squared his shoulders.
The time had come.
Randa and Allium needed to be dealt with before the frost giants descended upon Astera like locusts.
Chapter Seven
Dahlia
The weather did not get better.
Dahlia held her compass up, squinting at the letters. She swiped her mittened hand over the glass surface and lifted the device closer to her face. They were still going in the right direction.
The snow and wind battered them, plastering her cloak to her side, the edges whipping through the air like a sail.
They should have been there by now.
A thread of worry wrapped around her chest as she tried to see anything ahead. The Sapphire Mountains should have loomed in front of them, but all she could see was white. Loshika grasped Lia’s cape and tugged. She stopped waiting for the giantess.
Her friend pressed in close to her side and shouted, “We should turn back.”
