“The Pool of Truth is something I’ve never seen for myself,” Legs continues in a quieter voice. “None of the butterflies have. Some saw the fountain in Tressa, but it’s all but useless now. Swanling… is another place that’s untouchable to our queen. The blood of a royal is required, and she doesn’t have an ally left within the royal family.”
I tilt my head as Odette gasps. “Oh, Dima! She wanted to have access to the lake through Dima, because our marriage would give him access to the royal line. He kept murmuring about a queen. I thought he was trying to blame me. But… he had connections to Camelot, who is now working alongside her.”
“Less to the royal line, and more access to you,” Legs replies hauntingly, her eyes narrowing as Odette spits out more details without care. “Married or not, his blood is not descended from the royal family. He would need a blood royal to open the pool, Princess. Your marriage would not have been a kind one.”
“You know Dima?” Zarev asks, sounding surprised. After spending some time as the idiot Dima’s personal punching bag, I’m kind of surprised to hear that, too.
“Only through association,” Legs says, her brows furrowing. “We never met. I did have the misfortune of dealing with his mother, Ysanna, at one point. She attempted to come to the garden, but the Mad Queen’s troops caught her and turned her away. She’s lucky they didn’t kill her or bring her to the Queen herself.”
“Ysanna is dead now,” Zarev explains. “She became one with the beanstalk when it grew. We cannot sense her soul within it. When I spoke with Ray, we both agreed that she is most likely dead.”
“She was sucked into the beanstalk?" Legs asks, confused. I’m a little lost too.
“Kind of. They—Odette, Rapunzel, and Dahlia—planted and watered three seeds during the fight between us and the troops from Camelot. The beanstalk grew and caught Ysanna in the fray. It was a kind death, unfortunately. Ray would have loved to take a stab at her.”
Mentioning Ray sours my mood. We still haven’t heard from him or Rapunzel, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What is going on down there?
And is Thomas really dead?
“Three people,” Legs mutters, tapping her chin. “Three seeds. There weren’t four?”
“Dahlia showed me where she kept the seeds,” Odette explains. “There were only three. She said we needed to split them between us.”
Legs’s dark eyes look around the group again. “Then there’s one unaccounted for.”
“It’s just one magical seed, right?” Neve asks, but even she sounds skeptical. “Is it that big of a deal?”
“That big of a deal,” Legs repeats, glaring at her. “Three seeds allowed passage into the clouds to find the Pool of Truth. The fourth would allow anyone trapped up there to come down here. It’s better to know where powerful artifacts like that are than to leave them to fate.”
My eyes meet Zarev’s, and I know we’re thinking the same thing.Would a giant be able to climb down the beanstalk then?
Dread settles over me. And would the giant remember me?
“That seems like something that should only be a problem if the four are joined, right?” Neve asks, poking holes in my concerns. “If it’s just lost, why would one seed be stronger than three? In fact, why are these magical seeds so wondrous yet left in the care of someone in the middle of the woods? That’s where Ray’s family lives, right? In Sherwood?”
“Yes, but–” I begin.
“Dahlia, she’s his mom? If she felt the need to use them, it should be within reason that she knew the consequences too. You said that Ray’s family is independent, right? They don’t rely on the kingdoms for support.”
Her eyes meet mine, and slowly I nod. I did say that, but it was in passing. Just another throwaway line in a conversation.
“Perhaps she didn’t use them for the intentions you had in mind,” Neve goes on, placing her hands on her hips, “but didn’t they get used for agoodreason? They protected theirhome, which is more than I can say for myself. And she used whatever means necessary to accomplish it.”
Legs looks away with a firm set of her jaw, and I can’t help but grin at Neve. She’s not going to put up with anyone’s bullshit, even Legs.
It doesn’t erase the fact that Dahlia did plant the seeds, though, and apparently, they were important to Jacob. I’ve never even heard of William before.
“The beans are one matter, but the pool is another,” Legs says, keeping her voice low even as she speaks through her teeth. “All the legends I’ve ever heard about the Pool of Truth claim that once the pool is used to see what you seek, it can never be used again by that individual. You can search for anything and the pool will supposedly let you see it, but only once.”
“You mean I used my one time to find Ban?” Zarev groans. “Ipromisethat’s not who I would have picked.”
“Be that as it may, if you summoned the image and Odette could follow you, your use of the pool is over.” Legs eyes Odette again, looking her up and down. “Possibly yours as well. You looked into the pool, I assume?”
Odette’s brows draw together. “Well, yes–”
“It’s hard to say for sure then, but the pool may not work for you again either if you ever go back.”
The two of them exchange a glance, and if they really did find me because of the pool, it’s a pretty shit way to find out that they have exhausted their options to use the Pool of Truth.
