Quinn poured himself a glass of dark wine and leaned on the table. “Tell me he doesn’t think you all headed here?”
“No, I—" Bláth exhaled. “I spun a tale, said I saw shadows at the edge of our camp. It was pitch dark, and Solhearts can't see well, so . . . ”
I blinked at her. “He thinks we’ve been kidnapped?”
“I don’t know what he thinks. I had to get away from him. If he eventhoughtyou’d entered the Shadowlands . . . ”
Quinn rubbed his temples. “He’d slaughter every monster in his path to reach us.”
What a mess. Mare and I, though not linked by blood, shared the same curse. Plagued by the Shadowlands.
And now our secrets were out. We could no longer return home.
The shardwolf Quinn kept rose from its bed in the corner and trotted to my side. I shimmied away when it laid its enormous horned head by my side.
“Socks is a sweetheart,” Quinn said. “She doesn’t bite.”
“Quinn’s an asshole.” Bláth ran a hand down the shardwolf’s neck. “But that much is true.” Stepping away from me, she folded her arms. “I need answers. When did we decide to wage war on Muirashi? And why didn’t I know about it?”
“Because you work for Ethna,” Quinn said, crossing his ankles. “And we did it behind her back.”
“What?”
“Support for the war was growing each passing day. Iosef decided to bypass her. It was the people’s will.”
Pinching her nose, Bláth looked down.
“Iosef?” Brighid pressed. “Wasn’t that the name of Tirnanog’s general?”
“Yes.” Bláth released her nose and pressed herself closer to Quinn, looking up into his eyes. “Do you feel nothing? Having slaughtered the people you claim to be saving?”
“This kingdom cannot be fixed without blood.” Quinn’s yellow eyes narrowed. “And those people? Most would beg for their chains back if we took them away. The men, the lords? They have but a scrap of the power their betters hold, and yet they’d fight to the death to keep it.”
“We didn’t do this to overthrow Forlaith. We did this to protect the few who wanted to flee.” Stepping back, Bláth snatched up a glass of wine and walked away.
“Fuck them, right?” Quinn spat. “The little girls working your old brothel.”
Bláth’s shoulders seized up. Silence cut across the room like a whip.
“I guess they don’t deserve to be saved, huh?” Quinn said.
“You’d cut them down,” Bláth hissed. “Like you did so many others.”
“We only needed a foothold in Muirashi, and had we taken Tsuyan?—”
“You’d have stopped? No. No, you wouldn’t have."
My head pounded and spun. Mist seemed to fill the room, but I blinked, and it vanished.
“Enough.” Brighid stood. “Squabble later.” She cupped her wine glass and drifted to my side. “Your mother. She was the Witch of Aenir, was she not?”
Looking down, I tried to repress my old memories—the ones I wanted to forget.
Of my mother's piercing gaze and parting words.
“Yes. She was.” I looked up. “This curse . . . do you think it has something to do with her?”
“Maybe. They say the Witch wielded unnatural magic. Do you remember anything about her?”
