I keep singing but lean into Kaelen’s strength, bolstered by his support.
“Your voice is beautiful,” the prince murmurs. “Why did you say—Never mind. We can talk about it later. Just keep singing, because I see the key.”
“Where—” I break off and launch back into the song, wishing I knew more of the verses, but the draugrs don’t seem to be music critics or easily bored, because they’re now all lying huddled together like a litter of puppies asleep in a basket.
Kaelen moves to stand next to me and points up at the ceiling. Directly over the somnolent draugrs, in the highest part of the cave, a group of large, sparkling jewels forms a ring studded into the ceiling.
Exactly in the middle of that ring, an ornate golden key hangs from a hook.
Chitai and Elianna slowly and cautiously make their way over to us.
“That’s got to be it,” the sorcerer whispers.
“If this is what Artemisen meant by ‘unspeakable evil,’ I think we’re going to manage this quest just fine,” Chitai says, pointing at the draugrs. “Bested by a simple song for children? Not exactly ‘impossible to retrieve,’ either.”
“We still have to figure out a way to get to a key that’s a good twenty-five feet off the ground, directly over a group of sleeping draugrs,” Kaelen says dryly. “That ought to be enough excitement for even a warrior of the Dawn.”
We all look at Elianna, who scowls at us. “Sorry. I don’t have any ‘make the magic key fly down to me’ tricks.”
Seems like anAir Touched sorcerershould be able to do something withair, I want to say, but instead I keep singing. My voice is getting hoarse, so I hope they figure this out quickly.
What has made your peace undone?
Little one, little one, you’re the light of my eye.
I glance over at Andras, who’s barely able to sit upright on the seat of the wagon, and worry about just how badly he must be hurt.
The wagon.
The wagon.
I put a hand on Kaelen’s arm, but instead of looking at me, he pats my hand and keeps talking to Elianna and Chitai in a low voice.
So I poke him, hard, with my finger. This time, he turns to me, one eyebrow raised.
“You have an idea?”
I point at the wagon, at him, and then at Chitai. Then, while still singing, I do my best to act out my idea of Kaelen standing on the wagon and lifting Chitai to his shoulders, so she can leap up and grab the key. After she showed her skill at standing on the back of a cantering horse, this semi-acrobatic feat should be easy enough for her.
Or at least not completely impossible.
Artemisen did sayalmostimpossible to retrieve.
At first, they look at me like I’m having a seizure or something, instead of acting out my idea as clearly as I can manage while still singing the song I’m starting to really, really dislike. Elianna gets it first—I can tell the moment realization hits her golden eyes.
“Kaelen will stand on the wagon and launch Chitai into the air, over the top of the draugrs, to get the key?”
I nod and sigh with relief.
Kaelen and Chitai look at each other and grin. Because of course this dangerous plan makes their inner berserkers happy.
“Except there’s one problem,” Elianna says, folding her arms across her chest. “This plan will cause Chitai to land on top of the draugrs.”
Oh. Yeah. That’s a big problem.
I smack myself on the forehead but keep singing.
Chitai shakes her head. “No. If the prince throws me and I leap, Ican grab the key, somersault in midair, and land on the other side of the creatures.”
