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You could hit the adviser, if you want,the curse whispered.Knock him flat. He’ll ruin everything. You can’t let him!

Thorn tried for a brave voice. “Where are we going?”

“You went into the Break and survived,” said Lord Dellier. “That’s what my soldiers tell me.”

“That’s the truth.”

“You saw the Gulgot?”

His name is Cub.Thorn bit her tongue. “I did.”

Lord Dellier stopped. In the clear gray light, the lines creasing his face looked even deeper.

“Do you know how we defeat him?” he asked.

Thorn hesitated, her heart racing. “I think,” she said slowly, “that’s something I should tell the queen, and the queen alone.”

Again, that strange flicker moved across Lord Dellier’s face, like the swift passing of a shadow. His eyes were bright, and Thorn wondered if he would cry.

Up in the quiet west wing of the castle—the torches set in brackets of iridescent dark stone, the wide windows framed with soft violet curtains—Lord Dellier knocked on a closed door.

A beat later, it opened a crack.

Princess Orelia’s face hardened when she saw Lord Dellier. She clutched a tiny knife in her hand.

Then she saw Thorn. Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

“This is Thorn Skystone,” answered Lord Dellier. “The girl your sister sent to Estar, to find more lightning. I think the queen will want to hear what she has to say.”

Lord Dellier gave Thorn a small, sad smile, and left her alone at the door.

Orelia glared after him, her knife at the ready. Only after he turned the corner did she relax her arm and turn her piercing gaze onto Thorn.

“You lied to my sister,” said Orelia. “She put you in prison. She told me everything.”

The curse rose fast and sharp. Thorn felt it in her belly like a whip’s snapping cord, and she felt it down in the Break where it wrapped around Cub’s neck—and also, for the first time, she felt it tugging on her from inside this room that contained the Vale’s queen.

“Did she also tell you that she let my sister fall to her death?” Thorn asked.

Orelia flinched. “She did.”

“Then I think I deserve to speak to her, don’t you?”

From within, a faint voice called, “Let her in, Orelia.”

Orelia, frowning, opened the door to let Thorn pass.

The room was a wide bedroom bordered with walls of windows. Pale periwinkle curtains softened the panes of glass.

On a sofa, facing a cloudy sky rich with sunset, Queen Celestyna sat straight and tall. A thin sheen of sweat covered herface, and thick black veins drifted slowly across her cheeks.

Thorn’s throat clenched up. She touched her own knotted, shifting belly. Whatever she was feeling, the queen felt it far worse.

There she is!the curse crooned inside Thorn.The little Queenie, so sly and cruel. Kill her! This is all her fault! There’s her neck, don’t you see? Grab it. Squeeze it!

Thorn swayed where she stood. Her blood wanted her to run at the queen. The curse pushed at her every bone.

“Well?” said the queen, her voice thin but clear. “You have something to tell me?”