Page 44

CALLYN

Nora and Sinna are chasing each other through the lush gardens in the sunlight, but I can’t stop shivering. The sound of soldiers training on the fields is a dull roar in my ears. The king is probably out there somewhere, but I don’t care. I can’t stop thinking about everything that happened. Just a few hours ago I was sitting with Lord Alek in the grass, hearing him tell me he was proud of me. I was feeling the weight of him on top of me, letting myself feel loved and cherished for the first time in . . . ?well, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that way.

And now I’ve ruined it—in a way that’s not even my fault.

A lump forms in my throat. Part of me wants to tear off this pendant and throw it under one of the flowered bushes.

Why did he let me go? Why did he send me back here? He kept that sword in his hand, and he looked ready to kill me—until his men showed up.

Will he use me against the queen?

I saved his life. With magic.

The thought is quick and sudden, and it jolts me in the spine, chasing away some of my panic and dismay.

It’s quickly followed by another thought.

Ungrateful prick.

I hold on to that one, and it feels good.

Sinna comes sprinting between the bushes, Nora breathlessly trailing her. Sinna tackles me around the waist, giggling. Their happy energy makes me smile.

But then the little princess says, “Can we go inside? It’s cold.”

Nora shivers, hugging her arms to her body. “It is cold.”

I frown at them, because I’ve been shivering for the last ten minutes, but I thought it was my panic. As I look between them, I realize our breaths are clouding.

The instant I notice it, my heart stumbles in my chest.

Just as a screech echoes overhead.

The girls gasp, whirling to look up. High above, coming from all directions, and so distant they could be birds of prey, winged creatures seem to be gathering in the sky over the training fields. A blast of frigid wind blows across the gardens, lifting my hair and making the girls shiver again.

“Cally-cal?” says Nora. “What’s happening?”

Before I can answer, words carry on the wind. — We know the magesmiths are here.

I think I’m the only one who can hear it, but little Sinna gasps. “magesmiths!” she cries. “Do they want Da?”

“They helped us in Briarlock,” Nora says brightly, no fear in her tone. “Maybe they’re here to help your da with something—”

Another screech cuts off the rest of her sentence. The soldiers are reorganizing, training drills turning into a response to a threat.

They aren’t fast enough. One of the scravers dives out of the sky to rip its claws through a soldier, tearing his arm right off his body. Another one fires an arrow, and a scraver slashes through his face.

I grab the princess and tuck her against my chest before she can see any more of this.

I don’t think I’m quick enough, because she’s screaming.

— Find the magesmith!

Nora grabs my hand and tugs, hard . “Come on.”

Then we’re sprinting through the gardens, cutting right through flowering bushes, thorns and branches grabbing at my skirts. Behind us, soldiers are shouting, screaming, dying. The screeches overhead are deafening, and it takes everything I have to keep from dropping to the ground and covering my ears.

— Send us the magesmiths!

I can’t run fast enough. Sparks and stars are flaring in my vision, but I try to shove it away.

Instead, it seems to make me a target. The screeches in the sky are getting closer. Nearby, glass shatters overhead, shards tinkling to the ground, and I skid to a stop. A man is shouting, but only for a moment before a scraver jerks him through the window, and he falls. Nora shrieks, and I pull Sinna’s face back against my shoulder. The thud of his body hitting the stone walkway is a sound I never want to hear again.

But we can’t stop. “Run!” I say to Nora. “Go for the guards! We have to get inside!”

But when we reach the door to the palace, there are no guards waiting. When I grab the handle, the door holds fast. I suck in a breath.

They’ve locked the doors.

Nora starts pounding. “Let us in! Let us in! ”

Little Sinna is crying, her fingers clutching at my shoulder so hard that her tiny fingernails must be drawing blood.

“We have the princess!” I shout, slamming my fist against the wood surface beside my sister. “Open the door!”

“Mama!” Sinna cries. “Da!”

A scraver shrieks behind us, and I shove Sinna into my sister’s arms, turning to block both of them, my weight pressing them into the door. I’d give anything for a sword or a crossbow. Magic flickers in my veins, but I have no idea what to do with it. Scraver wings obscure the sun, feathers glittering in the sunlight. Claws are outstretched, fangs bared as it descends.

Nora is screaming. Maybe I am, too.

But then the door opens. We spill through the opening to go sprawling on the floor. Someone slams it closed so quickly that my skirts are caught. A crossbeam drops into place, locking it securely. A second later, the scraver crashes into the wood outside. The screeches are so loud that I scramble back, my skirts tearing free.

“Sinna.” The queen’s voice comes in a low rush from our right, and the crying toddler scrambles off the floor to fly into her mother’s arms.

Nora and I climb to our feet to realize that we’re surrounded by guards and advisers and a few other soldiers. The continued sound of screeches still carries through the walls, making me shiver. We can hear soldiers shouting outside, along with the clear sounds of people dying. Somewhere in the palace, glass shatters again.

Nora is clutching my arm. I press a hand over my pendant, then jerk it away.

“Is she all right?” a man is saying, and I realize the king is here, too.

But of course he is. The king and queen were meeting together . I didn’t notice him because he’s standing alone, off to our left.

All the guards and soldiers and servants are behind the queen.

“Yes.” Her voice is hushed, and she draws back a little to look at her daughter’s tearstained face before looking up at the king. “Yes, she’s fine.”

Glass shatters from the other direction, closer this time, and the queen gasps, clutching her daughter more tightly. Everyone looks at her, including me and my sister.

But Queen Lia Mara is staring past us all, her eyes fixed on the king.

His dark eyes are locked on her.

One of the soldiers says, “Your Majesty. They could be breaching the palace.”

Nora grips my arm more tightly. The queen doesn’t speak. She doesn’t even move.

Neither does the king.

“Those creatures are demanding the magesmith,” says one of the advisers, her tone full of disdain—though it’s undercut by fear.

“That’s what will stop this,” says another. “That’s why they’re here.”

More glass shatters. There are shouts from inside the palace, and I shiver. That pendant feels like it’s vibrating against my chest.

“Your Majesty, please!” says another man.

The queen doesn’t move.

“Give him to them!” says a woman I recognize as Clanna Sun, one of the queen’s primary advisers. She strides forward, then looks to one of the soldiers. “Take the king. Force him out.”

“No!” snaps the queen.

King Grey still hasn’t moved. His eyes haven’t left the queen. “Whatever you want. Whatever you need.” His voice is so quiet. “I will always yield for you.”

“Force him out,” says another adviser.

The soldiers have moved forward like they’re ready to do just that.

“Da!” cries little Sinna. “No!”

Lia Mara moves forward, blocking them. “ No ,” she says again. “You will not tear apart my family.”

The screams in the palace are growing closer. Glass shatters again. My pendant feels so warm against my chest, and guilt and fear swell in my belly.

Because it’s possible these scravers didn’t come for the king.

It’s possible they followed me. Came for me.

I need to speak up. I need to tell them. If anyone should be forced out that door, it should be me.

But my sister’s hand is gripping mine so tightly, and my voice won’t work.

Something slams into the door, and the resulting shriek is intense. Then again.

Every guard and soldier in the room draws a weapon.

But half of them aren’t facing the door; they’re facing the king.

“Give him to them,” someone says, and I can’t even see who speaks, because it’s a chant, a plea, immediately taken up by everyone else in the room. “Force him out.”

The queen’s breath shakes.

But her eyes haven’t left the king, and after a moment, she squares her shoulders and inhales as if to speak an order.

Before she can, he steps forward, takes her face in his hands, and kisses her.

It’s only a second, but somehow also an eternity. Every ounce of emotion is potent in the room, and everyone falls silent. Even Nora gasps.

The king draws back almost immediately, then kisses little Sinna on the forehead. “Stay quiet,” he says. “Listen to your mother. I’ll be back.”

The queen’s eyes have flared wide. “Grey—”

“Stay with her,” the king says, and to my shock, he’s not talking to the guards or soldiers or advisers. His eyes are on me . “ Help her. ”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I say, and my voice is barely more than a whisper.

Then he draws a weapon, and he walks through the door.