She wants to scream.
“You did this for me,” Astrid parrots quietly. “I knew the likelihood of me beating Zryan was practically impossible. But I was prepared to face him. I was prepared to do what needed to be done. And now…” She trails off. Now her mother has made her a murderer. Because whatever that woman is, she is innocent, and she is unprepared, and this is so so unfair. “You betrayed me.”
Her mum is shaking her head; but it’s true: her mother has betrayed her. She didn’t trust her. Made a monumental decision about Astrid’s future without speaking to her, not even asking her what she thought. Bastet’s warmth presses against her, and she stares at him.
He won’t have to face that dragon in the arena. He’ll survive. Aterrible feeling of elation worms its way into her body, smothering the resentment and the fury, as she realizes: she’ll have to kill the woman, but she’ll save Bastet. Astrid blocks out the relief she feels, ashamed of herself.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t lose you.” Her mum takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Not after losing your dad, too. And the queendom can’t lose you… It isn’t just the Blight that threatens us.”
This catches Astrid’s attention. “Explain,” she says, crossing her arms.
Her mum reaches out beside her, a tic of hers to grip her familiar when she’s uncomfortable, but Bjorn is out in the hallway with the Ulvene and she lets her arm drop at her side. “We believe the Vatrans plan to invade Arturea.” Astrid goes rigid. “The forced conscription of Blooded means this army they’ve built is vast.”
“But they’ve done that to fight off the rebels?” Astrid says.
“No. They haven’t. Or not solely. The camps, well, we don’t know exactly where they are because we can’t find half of them. We know about the ones in the south, but they’ve also got camps along the north-eastern ports and we suspect some near the border.”
Astrid stares at her. Why would they have camps at the border and the ports if the soldiers were to suppress unrest throughout Vatra? And anyway, it doesn’t make sense, the Vatrans preparing for war, not when they have the most powerful heir and dragon since Aeloria and Cuatra. Zryan was a sure thing: he was never going to lose this duel. Then it hits her.
“They knew about her. This is why they’ve been trying to kill me. And if they failed, this was their backup plan if she was found. To invade and take the Heart back by force if she lost,” Astrid says. Which completely defies the purpose of the Covenant.
“Indeed, it’s what made me think there was another child in the first place, an older one no one knew about.” Gwen pinches the bridge of her nose. “I thought the conscription, growing their army, was all in case Vatra lost the duel; and the only way Vatra would lose was if Zryan wasn’t the heir but someone else, much less powerful, was. After tonight, though, seeing the king’s reaction to the girl, well, I believe he thought her already dead.” Her mum walks to her andtentatively strokes her arm. “Which begs the question, why conscript? I can’t help but wonder if the plan all along was to invade whether they won or lost.”
Astrid frowns at her. She can see why the Vatrans would start a war if they lost the Heart: they have no other energy source to power their kingdom, unlike Arturea, with its wind, solar, and hydropower. But to invade even if they won? Astrid’s death would be for nothing. Anger, hot and sharp, stabs through her like a fiery poker.
“But why?” she bursts out. “Why would they start a war if they won? They’d be in breach of the Covenant and would have to forfeit the Heart, right?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it.” Her mum paces away. “And I really don’t know. All I can think is they know something we don’t—well, something else that we don’t, given we know nothing about the Heart. You’re the last Nachstern heir. If you were to die, we don’t know what would happen to the Covenant, but perhaps the dragon royals do.”
Astrid can feel a headache coming on. She’d wondered about her death, what it would mean, given the Covenant only applies to the Nachstern witch line. Would the Covenant be void? Would it pass to another prominent witch family line, reveal a very distant relative who would then take on the burden? Thank Goddess they have the Ulvene to protect the people of Arturea, but a bombardment of Blooded and dragons… it would be devastating.
“Well, have you tried asking them to see the Covenant?”
“At the last duel, when your uncle…” She trails off. When her uncle fought and died. When her dad became the final Nachstern heir until they’d had Astrid. “We got eyes on the Covenant then, but only briefly, and only to establish there’s nothing in it about the end of the Nachstern line. Its wording is relatively simple given the magnitude of the magic.”
Moronic, Astrid thinks, and not for the first time, that her ancestor King Nyx hadn’t foreseen this when the opposition hasdragons.
“The Heart is our priority now,” her mother says firmly. “I’ve sought out every expert and scholar, but they’re Arturean and know little more than we do, and any Vatrans are too afraid of or firmly loyal to the de Veras family, so we’ve had no luck with them, either. I’ve sent spiesinto the kingdom to find out anything about the Heart itself, even its location, but it is so secretly guarded, so heavily protected with wards and Blooded magic, we’ve learned next to nothing—from the spies who survived anyway,” her mum adds, regret tinging her words. “But the king ultimately did us a favor. If it wasn’t for the conscription, I never would’ve suspected there was another child, let alone found her. And when you win the duel, the Heart will be ours and you—Astrid, you will live.” Her voice cracks on that last word, a pained hopefulness filling her voice, but Astrid doesn’t share her optimism, not if what her mum says is true.
“But you think they will still invade,” she points out. “We will still be at war.”
“We’re already at war—against the Blight. With the Heart, we can stop it, and we’ll take away the Vatrans’ sole source of energy. We will be in a better position to defend ourselves, and we have the advantage of knowing what they’re planning. All you have to do is beat that girl.”
“Murder her, you mean,” Astrid says, and she knows she sounds petulant. But another thought creeps in: she’ll kill the heir but she’ll save the millions of people depending on her. It’s one life for countless others, and isn’t that a price worth paying? Astrid squeezes her eyes shut, willing her mind to quiet.
HOW DO WE KNOW THESE HEATHENS WILL EVEN RELINQUISH THE HEART?Bastet asks.
“The magic of the Covenant,” her mum answers. “The king will be compelled to share the location with the victor.”
“I just have to kill the other heir first,” Astrid says under her breath, then quotes the wording of the Covenant, the wording that means one of them has to die. “?‘Two must become one.’?”
KILLING HER MAY BREAK YOU INITIALLY, BUT YOUR SOUL WILL RECOVER.Bastet’s voice is solemn. THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOU,ASTRID.
She hates that he’s right. Hates that she’s already coming to terms with the fact that she’ll have to kill the new Vatran heir—a woman who isn’t prepared for this, who never signed up for this. But then, neither did Astrid. Isn’t she just as much of a victim? She pulls her hands through her hair, disquieted by her own thoughts, her own self-pity. At least Astrid had twenty-four years to ready herself for this.
“How did you find her?” Astrid asks. And why the dramatic Gods-damned entrance? Why didn’t her mother tell her?
Jessa clears her throat.
