Page 17

Allies

I stand up straight, head held high, as the King and Queen of Wildernyss cross the sanctuary toward where Tabra and I stand together, the rest of our friends positioned behind us in a line of solidarity.

“There really are two of you,” Istrella says in her soft voice as they stop before us.

“I truly worry for Wildernyss with leaders of such…observation,” Bene murmurs in my head.

I shoot him a warning look before Tabra and I share a quick smile. Istrella searches first my sister’s face and then mine, before shaking her head. “Fascinating. I’ve spent time with Meren, but I honestly can’t say which of you is she.”

Should I raise my hand? Curtsy? Do a dance so they know it’s me?

It probably doesn’t help that Tabra and I are both dressed similarly. While we’ve been waiting for this royal reunion, Vos managed to find us warmer clothes. Wildernyssian clothes, which will be fine for Tabra here, and hopefully warm enough for me where I’m going.

Bene leaves Tziah’s side to prowl to mine, nudging my hand.

“The Devourer,” Istrella murmurs, eyeing my sandy friend still shapeshifted to a massive wolf—jagged teeth and all.

Trysolde gives me a sharp look. “You must be Meren.”

“He is merely speculating, ” Bene says to me, unimpressed.

I lay a hand on his withers, rough against my flesh. “Bene protects both of us now, but yes, I am Meren.”

“Of course you are.” With a smile Istrella approaches to give me a kiss on each cheek, then turns to Tabra. “I am glad to see you are healed. Meren told me of you.”

“Thank you for your concern.” Tabra is everything sovereign that I struggle to be—posture perfect, gaze clear and steady, hands folded neatly before her, expression both welcoming and unreadable. “Meren also told me of your help, and I thank you for that as well.”

Trysolde, silent and watchful, glances beyond us into the chamber we came through. I don’t have to turn to know what he’s looking at. No doubt Trysolde is studying the blue glass of the portal just visible through the doorway, originally made from Aryd’s Lazuli Desert, though now shot through with white thanks to me.

I clear my throat. “I’m sorry about…”

I trail off. How exactly do I apologize for the list of transgressions? In the end, I wave behind me at the room. “All of that.”

Istrella shakes her head. “You gave me Trysolde back, and now you’ve fixed our portal to the other dominions.”

Aryd may have many, one in each of the major cities, but the other dominions were only given one each. Istrella somehow managed to get her hands on a second, secret one that we also smashed in the same moment of self-defense, but a single point of entry to each dominion was the original idea.

Trysolde puts a hand to the small of his queen’s back. “After helping to free me from the spirit that possessed me and reuniting us, all the thanks should be ours. We can never hope to repay you.”

I let out a silent breath of relief. Just the opening we need.

I look to Tabra, who was already in perfect princess mode, but for the first time, I see our grandmother, the previous queen, in her, as her eyes take on a more calculating light. “We need allies,” she says, before I can. “I am here to negotiate terms.”

Neither king nor queen seems too surprised by that, except Istrella shoots me a questioning look. “Not you?”

I shake my head. “Tabra is the true Queen of Aryd, and I have to be somewhere else.”

“Anything we should be aware of?” Trysolde asks.

“Tabra will fill you in. I hope to return before nightfall.”

“You’re leaving now?”

I glance at the snowy skies outside the wide-open windows of the cathedral. “We’re running out of time.”

All of us.

“Then I hope you return successful.” Trysolde gives me a formal little bow, which Istrella echoes with a regal nod.

“Me, too,” I murmur, then shoot a glance at Horus and Bene.

Ignoring Cain’s scowling face—because we already all argued who should go and he wasn’t picked—the three of us walk through the portal, right into the chamber in the temple of Tyndra, a place possessed by more shadow souls Reven ripped from their bodies.

And these ones we already know are very much awake.

But we also know what to do with them now.