The girl with the pen studied Val again, then suddenly dropped to one knee.
“She wields the power of Queen Valkaryn.” Her voice held awe.
Gasps rippled across the beds. Blankets rustled. Tiny hands clasped. They stared at me with huge, round eyes, reverence, fear, and hope mixing together. They looked at me as if I werethe Creator himself stepping out of a storybook. They wouldn’t even be old enough to remember Val ruling here, but clearly her story lived on.
Val’s reputation was here, alive, still breathing through this city even after all these years. People remembered her. They loved her. The weight of that reverence pressed into my ribs. I wanted, desperately, to be half the leader she once was one day.
‘You will be,’Val said quietly.
The girl rose again. “Are you really going to defeat the mind witch?”
The mind witch.
So that’s what they called him.
Fitting.
I nodded. “I am. But I need a place to hide out until he stops looking for me.”
The fountain-pen girl tucked her weapon into her little pocket like a seasoned warrior sheathing a blade. Her hand came out, small but sure.
“I’m Karla.”
She held her fist out, thumb extended. Unsure, I mirrored her. She tapped her thumb to mine in a silent promise. A secret handshake, maybe. Or a vow.
“We’ll keep you hidden,” she declared.
She dragged over an extra blanket and pillow, building a tiny makeshift nest inside the closet. I whispered my thanks and curled into the little space, still clutching Val.
‘You get some rest. I’ll make sure your mind remains your own,’Val promised, humming in my skull like a guardian.
‘I can stay up,’I told her stubbornly.
‘Get some rest. You will need it for what is to come.’
She was right. As usual.
I reached out to Kaelric. He was probably pacing a hole in the ground with worry.
‘I’m hiding out with the children in the Lunaria Orphanage,’I told him. ‘I’m going to get some rest and check in around morning time.’
His reply was instant, a warm pressure at my heart.‘Smart, he can’t control the kids. They won’t turn on you. I’ll await your next move, little wolf. Please be safe.’
I grinned despite everything, delighted I’d gone from little human to little wolf. The endearment felt perfect.
‘Tell Godric to hang in there. I’ll come for him tomorrow night at the latest.’
I pictured King Harrow tearing through the city, demanding every inch be searched. He could manipulate minds all he wanted, but bodies still needed sleep.
Eventually, even tyrants blink.
Tomorrow night… that’s when I’d strike.
Chapter Fourteen
Throughout the day, the children came to me with little offerings: bread, apples, a cup of water. They whispered updates that I could use the bathroom because Mrs. Clay was outside speaking with guards. I stayed tucked in the closet, quiet, still, numb from the waiting.
Kaelric checked in constantly. Godric, too, though his messages were few and far between and always sent through Kaelric. He was imprisoned in the castle basement and being tortured for information. The knowledge clawed at me.
