The women exchange a look.
“I have noticed that the queen’s mental health has been in decline lately,” Ava says. “She even dismissed all guards from her wing of the castle. And the king hasn’t been well for some time now. The physicians haven’t been able to find a cure, so poison could be a likely explanation.”
“Are you kidding?” Nettle says. “You’re going to believe them after what Prince Bastion said last night? He was convinced Felicity had lost her mind!”
Ava sighs. “I do believe them,” she says. The castle casts a shadowover the lake. “But I also cannot break my oath. I cannot disobey orders.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, and clutch Will’s shirt.
“I can’t help you. I’ve sworn an oath to the people of Alrick, and that means following the laws. Peace and order come first no matter how much I believe your story.”
“Will’s innocent,” I say. “Card and Bash are in danger. It’s the truth. Ava, surely you can—”
“Or,” Nettle interrupts, “we can throw both of you in the dungeons.”
“Without evidence, it’s your word against theirs,” Ava says. “If we can think of a legal way to solve this mess, then I will do all in my power to assist you.”
“We don’t have time,” Will says, pushing up to rest on his elbows. As if to agree, the bells above the castle chime twelve times, each peal a foreboding threat. He sucks in a breath through his teeth. “Add this to my list of crimes, Captain.”
He flicks his fingers against his thumbs and a silver spark of light shoots toward the women. Ava has a second to shift closer to Nettle before they both drop to the ground, sound asleep among the weeds, their wedding clothes now splattered and stained.
Will winces at me. “I shouldn’t have done that, right? I’m sorry. I panicked.”
I shake my head.
“We need to get moving. The wedding is starting,” I say. “We can apologize later.”
On my first step, I slip in the mud. Will catches my elbow and waves his hand down my back, reducing the nip of the lake water with a magical warmth. It spreads like steam from his fingers, down my limbs, to the hems of my clothes and tips of my toes, until all the water and mud has evaporated.
“Thank you.” I exhale in relief.
Will leaves a steadying hand on my lower back and asks, “New plan?”
We tread carefully away from Ava and Nettle, guilt squirming in every step. So close. We wereso closeto having someone believe us. I’d become so used to having my words taken as faith, it’s entirely—and annoyingly—new not to have that happen. Is this really all because Bash believes Will cast some kind of spell on me? Can one small assumption really shake everyone’s confidence in my curse? Theonetime I need it to work…
“No more talking,” I say, clenching my hands. “New plan is to storm in and stop the wedding.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We hurry toward a side entrance and enter. It grants us swift passage to the giant doors of the Grand Hall, behind which everyone will be seated for the wedding. The bottled nerves in my stomach make my teeth clench as we find ourselves obstructed by two guards posted on either side of the doors. They watch over the entrance hall, now cleared of debris and sparkling under the sun that beams down through the shattered ceiling, but from my experience in the dungeons, I know that I can use poppies to put them to sleep. I picture the vase of poppies on my table at home and say the summoning spell. I had enchanted the flowers this morning, hooked my magic inside, and drawn out the sedative, so it’s a quick blink until both guards slump against the wall, snoozing, and we can make for the doors.
Just as I cross into a patch of light, Will halts me.
“Fliss,” he says softly, and I’m clay in his hands, ready to do anything he asks. “If anything goes wrong…”
I take in those serious hazel eyes, my heart aching with all the possibilities that await us. There’s a chance—and not a small one—that one of us won’t make it. That Morgana will annihilate any hope and twist the truth. Will’s mouth opens. The words don’t come. His eyes flicker over my face like he’s etching it into his memory, engraving me in his heart.
“Tell me after,” I whisper, and brush my thumb over the scratch on his jaw.
Will smiles and leans into my touch. “Okay.”
We steal the second, hesitate just a moment longer. Anything that happens from now on will be worth it. It has to be. I have to believe that’s the truth.
Then, with my shoulders set, I march toward the doors of the Grand Hall. Will slaps on a smirk and splays his hands. The wind hears his command and the doors burst open.
“Stop the wedding!” I shout.
The hall holds its breath. Rows of ribbon-backed chairs seal wide-eyed guests in place, surrounded by walls of silken drapes and dried white flowers that I personally picked out and bundled together weeks before. The aisle stretches before us, a straight shot to the raised stage where Cardamine stands on a thick ivory carpet in the pearly suit he’s shown me several times, with a deep-violet tie, silver cuff links gifted from his grandfather, and a buttonhole of fresh baby’s breath. His ash-blond hair is swept back, his pale skin flushed andalive.We’re not too late. As our interruption sweeps through the hall, his crisp blue eyes instantly lock on mine.I’m doing this for you,I try to convey.Trust me.
