The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(125)

Footfalls sounded from the purification room.

Oscar and Sergeant Ferris marched in, Theresa and Kevin on their heels. Everyone’s face was grim.

“What’s the news?” Melanie moved to meet them in the middle. “What did you see?”

“Both armies are there,” Oscar said. “Some of ours, too. Plus wraith beasts, mostly domesticated animals that were transformed.”

Tobiah and I shared a quick glance. “Then why is it so quiet?” I asked, unless the wraith had smothered all their sound or . . .

“They’re frozen.” Sergeant Ferris was ashen. “They’re frozen like the people you saw near Mirror Lake.”





FORTY-SIX


“THEY’RE STILL BREATHING,” said Oscar.

“The wraith hasn’t solidified the way you described at Mirror Lake.” Sergeant Ferris knelt to help build the stretcher for Claire. “But they can’t move through it.”

My head buzzed with horror. The wraithland, here in my city. “Did you see Patrick or Prince Colin?”

“No, but we couldn’t get a good look. Oscar tossed a pebble into the mist, and it stuck. If they’re with their armies, they’re trapped.”

If Chrysalis regained control over the wraith, everyone would be moving again. We had to find Prince Colin and Patrick first, force them to agree to call off their armies, and somehow send away the wraith.

“All right.” I rose to my feet. “You four, take Claire to the castle. Get her to Connor.”

“I don’t like leaving you,” said Theresa.

“Please, do this. And after you deliver Claire, take all the barrier pieces up to Radiants’ Walk—the overlook above the Red Bay.”

Oscar nodded. “The barrier will be there.”

“Good. Guard it with your life.” I dragged in a long breath, heavy with the heat of wraith and stink of blood. “Melanie, James: you’re with us.”

Outside, Melanie and James moved ahead, their weapons drawn, though the street was unnaturally still; even the snow had stopped, and was steaming in piles against the buildings.

“The wraith is changing everything so quickly.” Tobiah’s voice was low.

“Chrysalis brought it as a weapon.” Now that we were so close to the battleground, haze blocked out the moon and stars completely, but the flecks of light cast enough illumination to see by. “Chrysalis doesn’t think about consequences when he acts. I don’t know if he can. I want to hate him for doing this, but I know him now. I’m learning the way he thinks. It’s almost childlike.”

“He’s no child.” The words were a growl.

“No, he’s not.”

“But he loves you. He wants to protect you.”

“I don’t think he has a choice.” I waved the topic away. “We can discuss Chrysalis and his dubious humanity another time. Right now, we need to focus on making this city safe.”

“You’ve said it a hundred times: we’ll never be safe.”

Maybe not. But right now, we both needed hope. “We have to make it safe. If not for us, for the people who come after us.”

“Right.” He wiped his arm across his face, leaving a streak of sweat and dirt. “You were giving a lot of orders back there. Do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to share?”

“No.”

“I see. You don’t want to be embarrassed if everything goes awry.”

I twitched my little finger at him. “Just because you have impeccable taste in clothes doesn’t mean you know everything, Black Knife.”

“Oh, nameless girl. When will you learn to trust me?”

“I do trust you.” I bumped my elbow against his, a pathetic attempt at levity, but he caught me, turned me, and held me in place. We stood dangerously close. “It’s myself I don’t always trust,” I whispered.

“That’s strange.” He released my arm and took a step backward. “I trust you, but I don’t always trust myself.”

“This seems to be a problem with kings and queens.”

“I think it’s a problem with people.” He smiled faintly, and we hurried to catch up with Melanie and James. “I always believed I was a monster hunting other monsters.” His voice remained soft.

Knowing what he’d done to bring back his cousin in a society that condemned all magic, I could imagine the cycle of self-loathing that must have taken hold.

“I never saw you as a monster, though. A criminal, yes. Definitely a troublemaker. But even when I learned you were a radiant, I didn’t see you differently. I thought maybe you were like me.” He didn’t meet my eyes. “Since then, I’ve fought actual monsters. Not just wraith beasts or glowmen, but the kind of people who come out of hiding when the world falls apart. I’ve traveled through the wraithland of my own home. I’ve seen things I couldn’t begin to describe.”

“Like this?” We’d come to the battleground: a huge park surrounded by shops, taverns, and food stalls. I’d been here once before; people had been planting trees and beginning the frame of some kind of stage or platform. Now vines covered the brickwork, growing every second. Broken glass windows glimmered like teeth.