As if on cue, a band of soldiers made the patrol around the outskirts of the castle, grim frowns on their faces and their broad shoulders stooped indefeat.
Yes…all of Verglas suffers under its madking.
“Yes, but I was thinking it will be easier to scout the area if I have a distraction,” Stilsaid.
Angelique finally relaxed a little, warming to Stil’s plan. “That’s a good-enough idea. Did you have one in mind? Because I can recommend a giant flock of chickens—it’s a spell I’ve gotten rather good at. Or perhaps fish falling from the sky? That would be even more unusual and baffling, and thus possibly a betteridea.”
“I think it would be better to directly distract King Torgen himself,” Stilsaid.
“Assumedly,” Angelique snorted. “But how do you intend to do that? I don’t know that he would venture outside unless you had gold coins blooming fromtrees.”
Stil nervously licked his lips. “He would bequitedistracted if he met with anenchantress.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What.”
“He’d never harm you,” Stil said, his words coming in a rush. (Probably as he tried to speak as quickly as possible before she flat-out rejected the idea.) “But he’s paranoid enough that he’d likely summon a great number of guards to be present for a meeting between you two. And it would put the whole palace in an uproar—enchanters and enchantresses don’t often visit Verglas given that the country really doesn’tneedmagical aid with its naturaldefenses.”
“You want me to chat with an insane king—amurderer—overteaso you can sneak around when both of us are perfectly capable of casting invisibility spells? Are youmad?” shedemanded.
“Invisible or not, we can’t take on a castle full of guards, Angelique,” Stil said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. King Torgen is the one who needs to pay for his conduct. Wemightbe able to sneak through the castle, but I don’t want to run the risk of being discovered too early. Besides, if you speak to Torgen, you can officially ask him to release Gemma, which means the Conclave can’t accuse us of acting without first seeking peace,” Stilsaid.
Angelique sighed and pinched her eyes shut. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just stealGemma?”
“It would be easier for us,” Stil agreed. “But what about the next girl he terrorizes or the next family he persecutes? He cannot be left torule.”
Once again, his words sounded so much like something Evariste would say that for a moment, Angelique couldn’tspeak.
He’d approve of this plan—though he would insist on going to speak to Torgen rather than sending me in. He wasn’t against letting me work in dangerous situations, but he always made sure to bear the bulk of the peril—yet another thing I hadn’t properly appreciated about him until now. Everyone else seems happy to send me infirst.
“Fine.” She sighed deeply. “I will announce myself and demand to speak with the king.” She wasn’t sure if she agreed to this on Stil’s behalf or because of Evariste. Regardless, she’d do what she hadto.
Angelique scowled and glanced at her friend. “You better know what you’redoing.”
“Neither your life nor Gemma’s is something I take lightly.” Stil’s eyes glowed as he adjusted his black cloak. “This willwork.”
* * *
In the goldenglow of dawn, Angelique took a deep breath as she glided up to the palace entryway. She put on her most charming and well-practiced smile, and tugged on her magic to make sure the spell that made her eyes appear a hazel green instead of her natural shade of eerie silver was working. She had considered returning her hair to its natural shade of dark brown before opting for a sandy shade. Given who she was about to speak to, it was in her best interest to appear as unthreatening aspossible.
The best approach is to attempt to charm King Torgen during this distraction—or at least pacify him. Intimidation ends badly on allends.
Angelique made her smile even brighter as she approached the guards standing outside. “Good morning. I’d like to request a meeting with theking.”
The nearest guard gave her a stiff bow. “The king is not interested in meeting anyone, as it is the day of hisnuptials.”
Angelique’s smile went a littletoolopsided, but she couldn’t help it. “Oh, he will make an exception for me. Please inform him Angelique, Enchantress-in-Training, is here. And if he is unavailable to speak to me, my duty as a magic user will dictate I instead speak to Gemma Kielland to give her my personal congratulations for today’sceremony.”
To keep the edge out of her words, she slightly dipped her head in an imitation of elven grace, but it didn’t matter. The guard had turned white as soon as her title had dropped from her lips, and one of his fellow guards immediately backed away and went sprinting into thecastle.
Angelique had to work to keep her satisfaction from settling into hersmile.
If it’s a distraction Stil wants, it’s a distraction he’llget.
Within minutes, King Torgen himself stalked from thepalace.
His featured were hardened from years of hate and seemed pulled back in a perpetual sneer. The whites of his eyes were a sickly yellow, but the irises were an unsettling and dark hue that seemed devoid ofexpression.
Angelique had never met him before—and she was grateful. Standing close to him made the hair on the back of her neckprickle.
