I looked up to see the queen and her group watching me shrewdly. Ariana, for her part, seemed curious rather than hostile. I smiled back at her.
“Thank you, Lady Ariana. The witch spoke of an astute friend of the queen’s. That must be you.”That’s it.Build up her confidence so she became essential to the workings of the plot and got an ending she deserved.
As for me...
Pages turned in my mind. In book five, it was just as Ironclaw proposed: the queen sent him south for reinforcements before meeting him en route to subdue the valley lands, after which they brought the entire host north for the last series of battles with the Dark Mage. It was a lot of dreary campaigning and chapter-long battle scenes. To me, the racing around the queendom spreading blood and gore needed to go. Plus, I needed Ironclaw to remain at the queen’s side. Readers wanted book five to feel like their favorite romantic fantasy. That’s what I had to deliver. It just so happened I’d be there too.
I tilted my head dramatically before I spoke. “The heart of the queendom cannot be protected by trading its own heart. Southernly support comes at the expense of a trade from childhood.”
That was quite good, I thought.Sounded like something a seer would say.
Everyone stared at me.
I sighed. “If Your Grace asks the south to rally more fighters, it puts Castle Range at risk. This war does not go south again.” I knew her childhood home of Castle Range was something she wouldn’t want to gamble and I saw that realization click around the room.
Ironclaw frowned. “Send me directly to the valley lands, then. I will win them back to your side, Your Grace.”
No.He couldn’t set off on his own—that would defeat the whole purpose of my visit. However, it still stood that the queen needed to nudge those valley lands into line before the battle with the Dark Mage. Ergo, we all had to go. Together.
“We do not need to subdue the valley lands by force,” I said. “If you go yourself, Your Grace, they will heed the queen’s true words and follow you north to the final battle.”
“Do you hear that, beloved?” Queen Elthra said. “You don’t get to race off on your own again.”
Beloved?I did not like that one bit but neither did Ironclaw seem particularly moved. The good news was, he had his eyes on me at last. I returned the look and lifted my chin. Wondered how my flushed chest looked in the firelight.
We had the start of a really nice moment when a voice broke it.
“Final battle?”
Oh, so Lord Draw decided it was the perfect time to lend his opinion, by questioning me.
I wasn’t ruffled though. I knew the overall movements of the army hosts backward and forward. “The great Witch of Mayfair has foretold the final battle against the Dark Mage Amédée will happen this fall. He’s cowering in the northeast forest so that’s where we must go once we secure the valley forces.”
“Nonsense,” Issa said, coming to the queen’s side. Her blue eyes were less striking than her sister’s but shrewd. “Why are we putting stock in this stranger?”
I didn’t like how they all turned to assess me, yet it was a valid question. What always happened in fiction? The newcomer had to prove themselves.
I knelt by my bag, sincerely hoping to come up with something. What was I going to do, fling the “varench lace” at them all?
I wanted to keep the snacks for myself, so I opened the toiletry pouch and found a small box of hairpins and jewelry, all things from my own home. They looked stark here, clearly out of element.
Then I saw it. “Have you ever consulted a mood ring, Your Grace? The stone comes from the moon.”
“The moon?” Lord Parable spat.
I nodded, happy to see I had Ironclaw’s attention again. I shot him what I hoped was a flirtatious but demure look from where I knelt, then stood, the ring pinched between two fingers, and moved toward the queen.
Lord Parable stepped in front of me and cleared his throat. “Now see here—”
“Oh, step aside,” the queen said, bored. “I’ve seen all the gems in the world. I’m not like to be impressed by something that fell from the sky.”
Lord Parable looked like he wanted to say more but moved.
My legs were thick as I approached Queen Elthra. How quickly she could have my head chopped off... Wait. Did that mean I’d go home? Game over? Or would I get to try again? I pushed the thoughts away for later, when I could spin them properly.
The queen held aloft her right hand, several large gems dotting her fingers. I slid my childhood mood ring upon her pinkie. She pulled her hand back to take in the curious make of the ring—a mass-produced product for fifth graders. The stone was a cheery green, but now on her finger, it slowly bled dark blue.
The queen wrenched it off and looked at the underside of the ring. By the time she turned it back, the stone was green again. She resettled it on her left pinkie this time, and it turned dark blue again. “Well?”
