The Vandawolf is still breathing, but I have no capacity for hope, and it’s just as well. “Name your price, but do it quickly,” I say to the Queen. “Or he’ll die and you’ll lose your leverage.”
“Very well,” she replies. “I will ensure the Vandawolf is healed and in return, you will hunt and kill the Blacksmith known as Milena Ironmeld.”
I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this.
Milena Ironmeld was Malak’s sister. She was thought to be dead. She made her presence known, however, when she captured Thaden Kane and used her power on him to merge him with a dragon, in the same way that Malak created the Vandawolf by merging him with a wolf.
She sent Thaden to the Vandawolf with a clear warning: She wants her city back. It was the threat of invasion that caused the Vandawolf to send me out to hunt Milena. My orders were to kill her before she could attack the humans.
From that point of view, this deal with Queen Karasi is remarkably easy to agree to.
But it was never going to be an easy task.
There are no guarantees I’ll survive a fight with Milena. What I know of her tells me she’s as dangerous as her brother was and just as cruel.
I want to ask why Queen Karasi wishes Milena dead, but her reasons won’t change my decision.
The Vandawolf’s life hangs on my response.
Queen Karasi lifts her chin, her head held high, as she waits for me to speak. “You have my offer, Asha Silverspun.”
I have no choice but to make this deal, but this time, I won’t be agreeing to it unconditionally.
“It’s an unequal deal,” I say. “Your healers, whomever they are, have only to give some of their energy right here, right now. You’re asking me to give up potentially months of my life searching for, then fighting, one of the most powerful Blacksmiths who has ever lived.”
The Queen shrugs. “You’re quite right. The Vandawolf’s need is dire and it gives me the upper hand. But finding and killing Milena is the only thing I want from you. Therefore, my offer is what it is.”
“No,” I say softly. “You will give me more.”
Her eyebrows rise, but I continue quickly. “You will allow my brother, my sister, and Thaden to stay here, if they wish. You will give them a safe and comfortable home for as long as it takes for me to return.”
Gallium has edged forward, and I sense he’s about to interject. Possibly, he will want to come with me, and that would be fine with me, but there will be time for that discussion later. Right now, I need to know that my family will be safe if they need to stay here while I’m gone.
Of course, I already foresee the flaws in the wording of my request. A safe and comfortable home could amount to being imprisoned in an opulent room. And I learned firsthand how a promise can be misconstrued.
I continue. “They will be free to move around the city and free to leave whenever they want. They will not be harassed, imprisoned, or mistreated.”
Queen Karasi barely glances at my siblings, but her gaze narrows slightly at Thaden. There’s a barely perceptible tension around her eyes when she looks at him. I imagine it’s because to her, he must be one step removed from the Vandawolf, whom her people, like the humans, called an “animal.”
“None of that will be a hardship,” she declares. “Although I request that they don’t spend their days idly. If there is some activity they wish to take part in—say, the harvest—then I trust you won’t take the view that I’m treating them as laborers.”
“That’s fair,” I say.
Queen Karasi inclines her head at the Vandawolf. “What of him?”
“The Vandawolf will come with me. We will not be separated at any time.”
Until we leave this place.
The Vandawolf can make his own choices about where he goes after that.
She gives me a nod. “Then we’re agreed. I will heal the Vandawolf and provide safe haven for your family, and you will bring me Milena Ironmeld’s body.”
“We are agreed,” I say. “Now send for your healers.”
“No summoning is required.” She arches an eyebrow at her champion. “Elowynn, I believe my wishes are clear. You and Gliss will heal the Vandawolf now.”
My eyes widen, and the rage I’ve been choking back rises like poison to my throat.
