“Do you think me a fool?” The queen whirled on her, speaking harshly. “To allow these creatures into our home without a plan? Without a safety net? This war has been waging for far too long. Our ore is depleted. Gone. You’ve seen for yourself what our towns to the north look like.”
“Gone?” Thalia faltered, shaking her head. Yes, she knew the towns had run out of ore, but they still had some left in the castle’s supply being rationed out. “That … that can’t be possible. Marcus said you were close to finding something—”
“He lied.” The queen’s voice filled with a rare note of defeat. “Our reserves are gone, bled dry because of this war. You’ve already noted the devastation this has caused Agripa on your travels. The sickness in our lands that festers like a wound gone sour. The fact that our food is scarce, our people starving, dying—”
“I know,” Thalia bit out, and the queen paused, cocking her head. Thalia knew the state of Agripa better than the queen did. Because she’d been slowly watching Agripa fall into ruin, despite trying to do what she could, all while she soughthim. “You’re delusional if you believe this won’t end in death.”
My death.
The queen stepped in front of her. “It will be different this time.”
“How?” Thalia scoffed.
“Because they need our water.” Kamith spoke his first words since the Vampyrs had left. “We’ve received word that their forest is on the brink of decay. They may live by a different set of rules, but they will uphold this treaty. They’re desperate to save what is sacred to them. Ever since that night thirteen years ago, their forest has begun to die. They will not jeopardize the one source that allows them to feed without fear of the light.”
“Tell that to the Vampyr who killed my sister,” Thalia snarled.
The queen suddenly gripped her, fingers ice cold on Thalia’s wrists. “They are leeches, Thalia, and will do anything to gorge themselves into security. They will not kill you.”
The image was less than reassuring.
Thalia glanced between the two of them. “Then why even do this? Why not let their forest die? Once it’s dead, we could get to the mountain, retrieve the ore ourselves.”
The queen sighed, letting go of Thalia’s arms. “Because we’ve also received word that the Vampyrs have begun looking elsewhere for allegiance.”
“Elsewhere?”
Kamith shifted. “There are other Vampyr courts outside of Agripa, as you know, those who’ve traveled from here to different lands. If the Vampyrs somehow gain allegiance with these courts across the seas, well, Agripa is already outnumbered; we don’t have the means or resources to fight a war on two fronts. We’re running out of time.”
Thalia swallowed. “So this is it, then? I’m to be a lamb headed to the slaughter?”
Her mother gripped her wrists once more. “Did you know that when you first came to me four years ago with the request to do more, I wanted to refuse you?” It took a moment for Thalia to catch up with the change of topic. “It was Kamith who advised me to let you, despite knowing you’d use the chance to leave these walls to also seek revenge. I know this agreement is not to your liking, but you must think of your duty to the crown.”
Thalia looked away, jaw aching. She didn’t want to think of her duty. How she’d ached to do more for the people of Agripa who were slowly dying from both the dwindling ore and the monsters in thenorth plaguing them. Thenhe’ddecided to betray her, and she’d vowed to do more by killinghim. Because he’d known what the Vampyrs had done to her family—to her—and yet he’d chosen to become one of them anyway. To prey on the innocents he’d sworn to protect. And she’d failed the only vow she’d given herself by letting him walk out of the room breathing, by letting them all walk out breathing—
Thalia slowly raised her eyes to the queen, realization dawning. “You want me to destroy them.”
The queen’s grip tightened. “You will be in a prime position to see the inner workings of their kingdom, to see what makes it tick. Then to pull it out from under them.”
Thalia sucked in a breath. “You want me to kill their prince?” The queen nodded. “They will know of this plan. They’ll suspect we’d try something after everything that’s been done.Hewill suspect—”
“I know.” Her mother squeezed her shoulder. “But you will have to be smarter, more cunning than they are. I know you blame yourself for the Scarecrows—for the deaths that have happened. You wish to finish your mission for good? You wish to save Agripa? This is your chance. Get close to the prince, to his court, and destroy it.”
The room fell silent, the queen’s words drifting between them like smoke.
But marriage?
Her mother must have sensed her hesitancy, because she straightened, her words becoming cold. “You know that alliance through marriage has always been your duty since birth, no matter the past failed attempts.” Thalia didn’t want to think about those failed attempts. About the night when her world had crumbled around her. “I married your father without prior knowledge of who he was. I married to save my kingdom, as you will do now.”
Thalia knew the story—the alliance that her mother’s and father’s families brokered, two powerful kingdoms made stronger by uniting. Her own fate had been drilled into her since the moment she was born female. She’d just never thought the alliance would be with the creatures from the north. “You weren’t forced to marry a monster.”
Something flashed in the queen’s eyes, but it passed too quickly for Thalia to decipher. “There are monsters inside us all.”
“This is a solution to an issue that is long past due. If we can defeat them once and for all, as you said, we will have access to the ore in their mountain.” Kamith broke the silence, as if needing to reassure Thalia of the bigger picture. “Agripa will never have to worry about our reserves depleting again. There will be no more sickness. No more death here. Agripa could thrive and be the realm it was always meant to be.”
“What of the forest?” Thalia asked, her mind flashing to the impenetrable wall that separated their two worlds. The only reason they hadn’t burned it down was because of the retribution the Vampyrs would seek. They were too powerful—too many.
Kamith scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Once you’ve taken them out, the forest won’t pose any issue. It will die, then we can burn it and move our troops through. We can set up trade along their coast, where the waters are much safer. All we must do is cut out the issue from the root.”
