Page 13

CHAPTER 13

Queen Una sat on a high-backed chair behind a large wooden desk overlooking the white clifftops of Vincentia.

While the palace was more homely than Innes had expected, the brief glimpse she had caught while Captain Kella frogmarched her to the queen’s office was enough to tell her it was bigger on the inside.

The finishings weren’t ostentatious, but they were crafted with an artisan’s eye, creating an aesthetic that was polished yet cosy.

The office was full of books and pottery; large vases sprouted fresh-cut flowers, and a cool breeze drifted through the open windows.

‘Why did Tabita send you?’ Queen Una asked, narrowing her gaze at Innes, perched nervously in front of her.

She wished they weren’t meeting under these circumstances.

Not when her travel clothes stank and her head was still spinning from the encounter she’d had with the woman outside, Remi.

Why did she feel like some ancient part of her soul recognised the warrior?

‘Well?’ Queen Una prompted, her eyebrows sky-high.

Innes cleared her throat, forcing thoughts of Remi aside and tried to find the words Tabita had fed her.

Her grandmother had been convinced Queen Una wouldn’t turn her over to the Seacht, but faced with the reality, she felt sick.

She wiped her sweaty palms on her dirty clothes and tried to muster her courage.

She was doing this for Briony.

So stop thinking about a warrior you barely know, Innes.

‘The High Witch of Telorne seeks your assistance.’

Una narrowed her eyes.

‘I see.’

Innes rifled through her pack, then handed over the sealed letter Tabita had given her.

She hadn’t opened it – Innes was smart enough to know her grandmother had bewitched the envelope so it only opened for its intended recipient.

Queen Una snapped the wax seal and read the letter, her eyes darting quickly over the paper.

Innes wished she could disappear, Evert like the gods and travel anywhere but here – but that was a skill her kin did not possess.

When the Queen was done she looked up and stared at Innes.

‘What do you come to claim?’

Innes released a breath and tapped three fingers on her chest in thanks.

Whatever Tabita had written had seemed to work.

‘I have come to ask whether you have information that might assist us in finding a cure for the blight.’

The queen’s eyes were flat as she held her gaze, then the queen sighed and stood, pushing her chair back to walk to a drinks’ trolley laden with amber bottles.

Queen Una poured a thimble’s worth in two glasses, and handed one to her.

Innes sniffed the liquid carefully.

This wasn’t the kind of welcome she’d been expecting.

‘If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t waste my good whiskey on it,’ the queen said, moving to sit on the lounge facing the cliffside windows.

Innes suppressed a sigh, watching as the queen sipped from the glass.

Making sure her pack was close by, she sat in the armchair opposite the queen.

She took a swig of the whiskey, brows raising at the fruity flavour.

‘We distil it in aged-wine barrels. It’s what gives it the colour and taste,’ the queen said, raising the glass to the light so the reddish tint of the liquid shone brightly.

‘It’s good,’ Innes said as she took another sip.

She looked at the woman before her.

The queen’s honey-coloured hair was swept back into a long plait, fine lines crinkled around her eyes and she had an undeniable air of power, not dissimilar from Tabita.

‘You look like her,’ the queen said.

Innes didn’t let her surprise show; her grandmother wouldn’t have sent her to see someone who was hostile without warning, but the familiarity in the queen’s tone was a surprise.

She took another sip of the amber liquid, the warmth of it flowing down her throat and into her belly before she responded.

‘You know Tabita?’

Queen Una nodded, a small smile spreading across her face.

‘How is she?’

Innes chose her next words carefully.

‘She’s well.

Being High Witch suits her.

’

The corner of the queen’s lips turned upwards, then she sat back, kicking her legs up to rest on the coffee table between them.

‘I always knew she was going to be appointed High Witch.’

‘There’s not many alive who qualify.

’

To her surprise the queen chuckled and took another sip.

‘You’re not wrong, although if I’m not mistaken, you might be next.

’

Innes froze.

She looked down, making sure her inkings were hidden by her clothing.

She didn’t know what she should have expected from the Queen of Vettona, but it wasn’t this.

This woman was sharp and observant, and shared the same sense of humour her grandmother had.

She was realising quickly that the favour she had come to beg wasn’t from some unknown monarch, but someone Tabita had history with.

‘I was hoping you might have answers about the blight?’ Innes asked again.

It sounded too simple, but it was the honest truth.

The queen hummed as she swirled her glass, the liquid flashing red in the sunlight.

‘Have you summoned Aurelia to ask if it’s her blessing that is forgotten?

’

Innes pursed her lips.

‘Of course you haven’t.

’ The queen chuckled grimly, and drained her glass.

‘What do you want from me, exactly? To summon Aurelia on your behalf and ask if the God of Beginnings is causing the blight?’

Innes put her glass on the table and leaned forwards, elbows resting on her knees.

‘Would you be open to doing that?’

Queen Una snorted and sat back.

‘I’m sorry to say you’ve wasted your time.

Aurelia stopped responding to my beseeches years ago.

Why do you think I agreed to the treaty with Clochain?

It’s not because I wanted my youngest daughter sold into a loveless marriage, that’s for damn certain.

’

Innes sensed her opportunity slipping away, but she could feel Briony’s presence beside her, urging her forwards.

She couldn’t give up now, not when she had only just made it to Vincentia.

‘The Ever is fading,’ Innes said.

‘New life isn’t taking, and the vilification of the Ever Blessed is on the rise.

There is something larger at play, and I believe it is connected to the blight.

’

The queen inclined her head.

‘I’ll admit we’ve had an increase of demigods in Vincentia recently.

Though it doesn’t appear that their magic is less powerful than it has been before.

’

Innes shook her head in disbelief.

‘That can’t be right.

Pulling Ever this far from a well is like trying to pour honey in winter.

If the witches are having trouble, I don’t see how the gods wouldn’t also feel the strain.

’ She took a shuddering inhale and sat back in her chair, trying to figure out what she could say to convince the queen.

‘The blight is everywhere, even in Telorne, which means it’s not tethered to the wells of Ever.

Something else is causing it.

’

‘So why have you come now? Why Vettona?’ the queen asked.

‘Vettona was our ally during the Great War.’

The queen hummed again, a low, nondescript sound.

‘Centuries have passed since then, the world is a very different place.’

‘Who’s to say we won’t need to ally again?

The Seacht slaughtered an entire race and broke the Ellarch treaty so they could rule unencumbered.

’ Innes took a breath and ploughed on, putting it all on the line.

‘Telorne’s border won’t hold for much longer.

If it falls, the witches will be gone, and Vettona will be the only force standing between the gods and the well of Ever in Telorne.

How will you fight that war, alone, if the blight continues?

’

Queen Una closed her eyes, and they sat in silence.

Innes didn’t know what to do.

She’d played all of her cards, and the queen was nonresponsive.

So, she waited.

And waited.

‘Just like Cailoch is the blessed city of Caius, Vincentia is the blessed city of Aurelia. Or it used to be, at least. We’ve had no luck communicating with her recently.

But for Tabita’s sake, I will try again.

In three weeks’ time there will be a full moon.

I expect you know how to weave a wreath to amplify my call?

’

Innes nodded.

‘Good. Then we shall attempt a summoning. But hear me when I say this, Innes. As much as I respect your grandmother, whatever happens after this will see the end of my relationship with Telorne. I cannot risk having a witch here any longer than necessary. Until the summoning, you are to tell no one of your heritage and draw no untoward attention, or our deal is off. Understood?’

‘Understood.’

Innes tried to keep the smile off her face as she left the office, because three weeks in Vincentia was perfect.

Three weeks meant she could make it back to Briony in time, as long as nothing went awry.

Queen Una organised a room for Innes in the travellers’ quarters of the palace, with orders for Innes not to go anywhere without a guard.

She knew better than to think this was for her own safety – it was so the queen could claim she had taken Innes prisoner should any demigods discover she was in Vincentia.

But she didn’t complain, not when the queen of Vettona had agreed to try and summon Aurelia for her on the full moon.

Kella had been waiting near the door when their meeting ended, and looked ready to spit fire when she heard the news that the warriors were to act as her guard.

Muttering expletives under her breath, the captain had marched Innes to her quarters and threatened gutting if she so much as looked at anyone sideways.

She didn’t think Kella knew she was a witch, which meant the captain was this kind to everyone.

Innes would have rolled her eyes at the threat if she hadn’t caught the mouthwatering smell of a stew wafting from a plate on her dining table.

Closing the door on Kella’s outraged expression, she’d hoofed it to the table and inhaled the meal so quickly she thought her stomach might burst.

It was delicious, a combination of spices that made her mouth tingle, yet it didn’t stop her thoughts flying around in circles like caged birds, and all led back to one thing.

One person: Remi.

She shouldn’t be thinking about Remi.

She should be thinking of ways to enhance Queen Una’s summoning and the types of questions they should ask Aurelia, but her thoughts kept circling back to the warrior, where a giddy, almost euphoric sensation awaited her.

Remi .

She rolled the name on her tongue, the syllables a balm she couldn’t even begin to fathom.

Only the feeling of grime on her skin and the stench wafting from her pits stopped her from leaving to find the warrior there and then.

A large tub of water sat in the washroom, and after weaving a small wreath to heat the water, she sank into its depths, nearly weeping at the warmth that swept over her body.

A month of travel had made her crusty, and lathering herself in lavender soap, she scrubbed until her skin was streaked with pink, and she felt almost normal again.

Her adrenalin was still high, and she wondered if she should venture into the city to try and find information for Briony, but her thoughts kept returning to a woman with long black hair and a smile that made Innes’ heart race.