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A rc set his jaw as pain whipped through him.

The intensity of this illness, or whatever it was, had made his drop to the cliff’s rocky base a mere afterthought.

“I don’t know. My…difficulties started before we left the northern mountains.

” He struggled to sit, but then fell back again, panting.

A fresh cut along the side of his face had already healed over to a silver scar.

That too would be gone soon enough. Sadly, he didn’t think this greater problem could be healed.

“I should’ve told you,” he said to Vahly, hating the way her lovely eyes pinched as she worried for him and for what they could possibly do to retrieve the oaken sword.

“I should’ve asked my kynd.” He fisted his hands, frustrated that he brought yet another problem to the table.

“What happened out there, on the sea?” Eux demanded, eyeing Arc, then Amona and Nix too. They’d transformed and approached now, brows furrowed and faces pale.

Vahly rested a warm hand on Arc’s smooth forehead. “The Sea Queen took the sword the Sacred Oak gave me,” she answered Eux.

Gasps sounded all around as the land kynd grouped into a rough circle, the Sacred Oak beyond waving in the wind, whispering something like a warning.

Arc cocked an eyebrow at the tree. “A bit late for that. Now, what can we do to get the sword back? Do you have a plan?”

“Of course I don’t have a plan. It just happened!” She closed her eyes and took a breath as he slid his good hand over hers. “I don’t know,” she said. “But with all these brains here, surely we can come up with a strategy to retrieve the sword and to find out how to help you heal whatever this is.”

Questions flew at Vahly like arrows, and she answered them all with quick information as best she could. She was so much stronger than she knew. Once silence reigned, Arc raised a finger and looked to Rigel, Haldus, and Ursae.

“Perhaps you could examine me, Rigel? The rest of you, please go about the planning. I beg you not to waste time on me.”

Vahly smacked his arm gently, then patted it, grimacing in apology. “You are never a waste of time, fool. You are one of our greatest warriors. We need you.”

Rigel studied his withered hand, the older elf’s steel-colored hair reflecting the sunlight. “I don’t know, my queen, my king. I wish I did. Haldus, will you take a look?”

The shorter elf came forward, then knelt, brown eyes sliding over Arc’s face like he might find the answers there. “I have seen this once. In the green years.”

A time of rebellion. But it was so long ago…

“What are the green years?” Vahly’s throat bobbed as she looked at Arc, so he attempted to smooth his features.

“I was only a boy,” Haldus whispered.

Rigel glanced up, eyes wide. “But you’re…”

“Old? Yes.” Haldus laughed grimly, a rumble deep in his barrel chest.

“I’m wondering what Queen Vahl is. What are the green years?” Nix asked as she tied up the sleeve of a split-legged dress that was wrinkled from being in her bag under the oak.

Haldus sat back on his heels, looking with eyebrows lifted at Vahly.

She gave him a nod to continue. She appeared barely able to sit and not run screaming madly.

“Back then, two princes warred for the elven crown. They were born twins. The eldest, Eldil, was chosen and crowned, his brother, Tam, swearing allegiance. But when a powerful family supported Tam’s claim to the throne, he rebelled against Eldil.

When Eldil died during a skirmish, Tam was crowned.

In less than two seasons, Tam was dead. It began with a weakness in the hand he raised against his brother the king, then he started to collapse now and again.

One night, he went off to hunt with his supporters, and though many suspected he was killed, I saw his body when I worked with the Council’s assistants.

He had withered away like the life had been sucked from his body by some unseen beast.”

Cold speared Arc’s chest. “A curse set into the crown?” He blinked and watched Vahly. “It makes sense.”

“How?” she asked him. “You had Cassiopeia’s blessing when you swore allegiance to me.”

He lifted an eyebrow and pressed the pain to the back of his mind.

Sitting up, he cleared his throat. “I battled Mattin, an elf to whom I swore allegiance.” He brushed a thumb over Vahly’s battle-hardened knuckles.

Even though she had scars and callouses, she still had the softest skin.

He looked up. “Haldus, is there a way I can avoid death?”

Haldus swallowed. “Give up the crown.”

If he gave up the crown to Rigel or Haldus, they’d suffer the same fate. If the crown would accept them, that is. They had no royal blood. “Ursae is the only one of us who didn’t openly defy Mattin.”

Ursae’s eyes went wide. She wasn’t trustworthy. But she might be his only hope.

Arc stood with Haldus’s help. “Ursae, you never denied Cassiopeia’s commands, did you?”

The female knelt. “No, my king. I had come to my senses by then.”

Rigel’s head jerked so he was facing her. “You weren’t robbed of your senses when you first chose Mattin. You knew full well what you were about.”

Ursae kept her gaze down. “Yes. Yes, of course. But I didn’t fight Cassiopeia.”

“Do you have royal blood?” Arc asked.

“I don’t know. We were servants to the court. I…I don’t think so.”

“Then it can’t be you. The crown won’t accept it, unfortunately for all of us.” Arc paced slowly, his legs not quite functioning properly. “Let’s put this worry away for now, all. We must focus on how to retrieve the oaken sword. Queen, tell us your thoughts.”

Vahly straightened and looked from him to the crowd.

“I have learned that through experiment sometimes we can find solutions never before imagined. King Arcturus and Mistress Nix helped me discover how Kyril and the creations we raise from the earth can breathe green fire, a fire similar in strength to dragonfire with properties we haven’t fully tested yet. ”

She walked back and forth in front of her subjects, every inch the muddied, bloodied warrior queen. Arc’s heart swelled.

“When I was under the waters,” she said.

“I watched General Ryton, my captor turned savior, use a certain spell to call back his spear. I’m sure most of us have witnessed the sea folk working this magic during battle, calling their weapons home so they can strike again and again.

” Her throat moved in a swallow, and Arc guessed she recalled past battles where that particular spellwork had meant death for her beloved Lapis dragons.

“Ryton used a three-word spell to temporarily transform me into a sea kynd. As one of them, I was able to mimic some of their spellwork. Perhaps I can find General Lilia of the rebel sea folk and have her work the same spell on me. Then I would maybe have the capability to call the oaken sword as they call their coral spears.”

Arc froze. “No. Please.”

A few heads turned toward him, and he realized he’d spoken aloud.

“You nearly died there,” he said, not feeling kingly, only desperate to never see her in the state she’d been in that prison cell in the sea, the way her eyes had been nearly swollen shut, the blood on her mouth… “It was… Please, let’s consider other possibilities.”

A sad smile graced her rose petal lips. “I’m open to listening to other ideas, but I won’t consider a group going into the sea with me. We can’t risk the strategic minds here. You must lead our army. Every last one of you will be needed in the coming days. Even more so if I fail.”

But no one spoke up, Amona looking to him, then to Eux, who shook her head.

“I appreciate your courage, Earth Queen.” Eux touched a ring holding a two-inch dragon tooth near her jawline. “I can’t think of another plan. We cannot be precious about ourselves. This is not only a war. This is the war. We either win or we die.”

Arc pressed a hand against his heart, then raised his head to meet Vahly’s intense stare. “Agreed,” he said, but he couldn’t quite keep the defeat from his voice.

Watching her go back into the sea would be a far worse agony than this curse.