“I do have an idea.” He wet his lips as he nervously glanced between them. “You said it’s a curse, and Molt did it how? With magic?”
Reyna nodded.
“Well,youhave magic.” He pointed to Reyna before sliding his finger toward Glencora. “And you. I can feel it. We all can. That’s how we knew where you were. We felt you roaming the forests and tried to find you.”
“To use me as bait,” Reyna said dryly.
But the Urisk king just ignored her. “If you have magic, you can cast your own curse.”
Glencora pushed up from the ground, gasping. “Oh my gods, you’re right. I never even thought of it, but if Molt could cast curses, so can we.”
Reyna frowned at her sister. “I’m not sure another curse is the solution to our problem.”
“Think about it,” Tunkin said quickly, his voice growing eager now. “You don’t have to worry about finding a way toundothe curse. All you have to do is curse the curse.”
“Okay, now I think you’ve lost me,” Rhain muttered.
“Curse the curse,” Tunkin repeated. “Instead of trying to spill your High King’s blood, go to wherever the curse was first cast and curse it. Not the place. Curse the curse. You can prevent it from doing any more harm.”
“So, essentially,” Glencora said, “we’d be breaking it.”
“Breaking the curse?” Thane asked, brows furrowed. “Or the place?”
“Thecurse,” the Urisk said, throwing his arms in the air. “Come on now, follow along. You have curse number one here on my left hand. This is the one that turned the High King into a dark fae. Curse two, on my right hand, is the what you will cast on curse one, rendering it useless.”
“I see your logic.” Reyna nodded. “The only problem is, I don’t know how to cast a curse. Even Molt didn’t know how to do naturally. He had to consult a Fomorian book, which we seem to have lost in the woods.”
Because enemies keep surrounding us all the damn time.
Thane winced. They’d planned to collect it on the way back, but they’d gotten sidetracked again. And then attacked. By the time they remembered to get it, they were trapped in a Urisk hole in the ground.
“I remember what it said,” Rhain announced. “I can help you cast a curse if that’s what you decide to do….although I have to admit I’m partial to the stabby thing.”
“Me too.” Reyna frowned. This sounded far more complicated than she liked. Sneaking in and stealing a little blood was more dangerous, but Reyna understood danger. She knew what it felt like to face the enemy with a dagger and a smile. And she had not had very good luck when it came to magic.
“I think I’ll stick with our plan.”
The Urisk king scowled. “Fine. Then, we have nothing more to discuss.”
Tunkin twisted on his hooves and motioned for his guards across the expanse. They began to crank the bridge across the gap. The muscles in his shoulders tensed as silence rained down.
“You’ll stay here until we’ve heard from your High King.” Tunkin sniffed. “Thane must undo the exile or we’ll kill the spare ice princess. We don’t need them both. You had a chance to cooperate with us, and you refused. So, your fate is sealed.”
Reyna scowled at his back. “You forget I broke my bonds. I could shove you off this platform and watch you fall to your death.”
“My guards will shoot your owl with poison arrows before you get your hands on me,” he said, not even bothering to turn around. “But go ahead and try, if you like. Killing me won’t solve your problem. It’ll mean you never leave this place alive.”
Her fisted hands shook as she stared at him. The worst part about the whole thing was that he was right. Even if she did manage to push him off the ledge before the others shot her with darts, there’d be nothing to hold them back after that. She had no weapon. No magic. The others were still bound in chains. The odds were not in their favor.
“Fine” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ll consider your plan.”
Tunkin held up a hand, and the groan of the bridge stopped. He twisted toward her, smiling. “I thought you might come to your senses.”
“Don’t look so smug. I’m only agreeing to do this because you’ve given us no other choice.”
“You’ll thank me in the end.” He beamed. “You’ll see.”
Reyna rolled her eyes, motioning to the others. “Undo their chains, and let us go.”
