Queen Naelin was crouched in the windowsill, several of her spirits behind her. Champion Ven was already within the room, his sword drawn. The two of them hadn’t moved closer while she’d been questioning Jastra.
“This could be staged,” Ven said to Naelin.
Naelin’s eyes were on Merecot, and Merecot saw the rage and distrust in them. She wished there were another way.I should have taken the time to explain to Jastra how the plan had changed.No, she wasn’t going to feel guilty about this. It wasn’t her fault!Jastra should have known I’d have a new plan. She should have trusted me!
She wished Jastra had believed in her the way Merecot had thought she did. She wished they’d never involved children. She wished she’d left that damn wolf alone.
“You have betrayed me, Jastra,” Merecot said quietly. “And you have committed an act of war against Queen Naelin of Aratay. I am sorry for what I must do, but you have left me no choice.”
She meant every word.
Stepping back, Merecot withdrew her protection from the former queen of Semo. And the spirits felt it almost immediately. At first they hesitated, as if unsure what to make of this.
But then they came.
Howling, they flew through the halls of the castle, through the windows, down the stairwells, all of them converging. Fire spirits flew from the hearth, a blur of flame. Ice spirits laid frost trails across the floor. Water spirits gushed through the windows. Air spirits whipped around Jastra. Tree spirits pinned her arms together and filled her mouth with leaves, while earth spirits tore her apart.
Merecot forced herself to stand and watch.
At last, when the screaming ended, she closed her eyes and realized she was crying.
Chapter25
Carefully, as calmly as she could manage, Naelin broke the shocked silence with the most important question: “Is it true that Queen Jastra went into the untamed lands and came out again?”
“She certainly did,” Merecot said in a ragged voice. “Fool that she was.” The insult lacked bite, though. Her cheeks were wet with tears. But Naelin didn’t have enough room in her heart and mind to worry about Merecot’s feelings.
Naelin felt as if an ocean were surging inside her.If Queen Jastra can do it, so can I. I can search for them. I can find them.She met Ven’s eyes, and knew he was thinking the same thing. Erian and Llor could still be alive! They could rescue them! If they dared. If she were strong enough.I have to be.
“You’re thinking of doing it too, going into the untamed lands,” Merecot accused. “You can’t. You have to take the excess spirits to Aratay, as we agreed—they can’t stay here.”
She was right. The spirits couldn’t stay here. Naelin felt them, clawing at the back of her mind, buzzing like a hundred mosquitoes. If she left them, they’d be essentially queenless, worse than if she’d never come at all.
“What if instead of taking the extra spirits to Aratay...” Naelin said slowly, the idea solidifying as she spoke. “...What if... I take them with me back to the untamed lands?”
“You’ll die,” Merecot said bluntly. “Jastra spent years preparing for her trip. Only a powerful and well-trained queen can leave the known world and hope to survive. You fit the first adjective; fail on the second.”
“I won’t be going alone.” She’d have all the excess spirits with her—a veritable army. And she’d have Ven by her side. She looked at her champion.
Ven nodded. “You won’t be going alone.”
“Aw, how sweet,” Merecot said. “You’ll both die.” Crossing to the door, she summoned her guards. “Please see that Queen Jastra’s body is taken to the Tomb of Queens. And clean this room up.” There was a tremor in her voice that she almost successfully hid—Naelin heard a hint of it as Merecot turned back to her and Ven. “You’re serious about this?
“Tell us where your spirits entered the untamed lands,” Ven demanded. “That will give us a starting point. Even if Queen Jastra hijacked those particular spirits, you must be able to read the minds of spirits who saw them pass.”
Naelin watched as Merecot concentrated, her eyes unfocusing. For what seemed like the thousandth time, she thought,Can we trust her?She kidnapped Erian and Llor once; she could still be behind the second kidnapping. She could be manipulating them as some part of a broader, more elaborate plot to rule Semo and Aratay.
Her shock, though, had seemed genuine.
And there isn’t time for second-guessing. Every minute we waste is a minute too long.
At last, Merecot shook herself. “Stupid creatures returned to the only part of the border they knew: in Aratay, near the village of Redleaf, where they lost the Protector of Queens. I suppose that was the simplest order for Jastra to give them.”
If they’d flown that far, then maybe there was still a chance to catch them. “Please explain everything to Ambassador Hanna,” she said to Merecot. “And send word to Queen Daleina—she’ll need to know I won’t be bringing the spirits to the barren lands.”
Merecot’s eyebrows shot up.She spends most of her time looking at me as if I’m crazy,Naelin thought,when she’s the one who set all this in motion.
“You know Daleina won’t trust what I say,” Merecot said.
