Warrior Witch (The Malediction Trilogy #3)(17)

“Do you think it’s the correct choice?” I asked.

Marc leaned back in his chair, troll-light moving with him so that his face remained in shadows, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Sabine standing at the door, expression intent. “I think it would certainly be the swiftest and surest way to put a stop to Angoulême, Roland, and their followers. That in the short term, it would mean less loss of life. And,” he held up a hand to forestall my interjection, “that is worth something. But it would come at a cost.”

I chewed on my thumbnail. “Because it would put the King back in control?”

“Worse,” Marc replied. “It would cement his power to the point we might never be able to wrest it from him again.” He leaned toward me, elbows on his knees. “Tristan has worked for a very long time to create an alternative to the way his father rules Trollus. At first, it was covert, appealing only to the half-bloods and a few token sympathizers. But that’s changed. The city is ready to follow him, ready to fight for a new way of life, and if he were to bend knee to his father now…” Marc sighed. “It would be a betrayal I’m not sure he’d ever be able to overcome. And it would mean the Isle would be subject to Thibault’s rule for the rest of his life.”

I had no stomach for this: for the weighing of strategies when lives were at stake. I’d always take the path that would save lives now versus saving lives later, because I believed that time would provide a solution that would see all lives saved. Some – Tristan included – would say that it was a lack of foresight on my part, but I couldn’t stand by and watch people die because it was the strategically correct thing to do.

“He wouldn’t really be bending knee to his father,” I protested. “It would only be until we’ve dealt with Angoulême, and then Tristan can rid Trollus and the world of his father.”

“And do you think Thibault wouldn’t be ready for that?”

I jumped to my feet, chair tipping over with a clatter. “So you think I’m wrong? That we should just sit back and let Roland slaughter our friends and families while we figure out a way to assassinate the King?”

“I didn’t say you were wrong, Cécile,” Marc said. “Only that the solution might not be as clear cut as you might wish.”

“And both of you are forgetting one big problem,” Sabine said, bringing a tray of food to the table. “The fairy queen.”

I took a bowl of soup from the tray and began spooning it into my mouth as I considered Sabine’s words. “She did something to our bond so that Tristan didn’t know I’d left the castle,” I said.

Marc shook his head. “She couldn’t affect that. What she did was catch you in an illusion within your own mind – one that you and Sabine shared.”

I blinked once and Sabine lifted her eyebrows.

“She wanted you to believe you were across the city from Tristan,” Marc said. “But she knew he would sense the distance, so instead she used illusion to deceive you. Time flows differently in the mind, but it would have been taxing, even for her.”

My mind couldn’t even begin to wrap itself around the concept, so I set that part of his explanation aside and focused on the last. “If it was so taxing, why did she do it?”

“Because she wanted to talk to you without his interference.” Marc rubbed his chin. “She didn’t care to risk a direct confrontation with him. It’s well within his power to do her a great deal of harm.”

And here I’d thought it was the other way around. I let my spoon fall against the lip of the bowl with a clatter. “Then why is he afraid of her?”

“He should be wary, yes. Her power is immense, and she commands an enormous host of deadly creatures. But her magic isn’t a weapon in the way a troll’s is.”

“I didn’t say wary.” My skin burned with my rising anger. “I said afraid.”

Marc hesitated, his stillness betraying his unease. “I don’t know.”

I desire to renew our acquaintance… The fairy queen’s words danced through my head and I swore. “They’ve met before.” Shoving a roll in my pocket, I started toward the door.

“Cécile–”

I stopped without turning around. “No, Marc. I know you’re trying to protect him, but if he’s keeping things from us then he doesn’t deserve it. We’re at war, and there’s no place for us keeping secrets from each other. Not for Tristan. Not for any of us.”

I left the room and he didn’t try to stop me.





Chapter Eleven





Cécile





I climbed the stairs of the other tower, wrapping my cloak around me before I shoved open the heavy oak door. The chill made my arm ache in memory of Winter’s touch, but I shoved aside the pain as I scanned the darkness for Tristan.

He stood in the shadows, elbows resting on the weatherworn parapet. Though he knew I was there, he didn’t turn and, after a moment, I went to stand next to him. Casting my eyes out over the city, I noticed the light of the dome was gone, its presence apparent only through the slight distortion in the air. The blizzard had ceased, but the cloud cover had thickened, blocking out all light from the stars and moon. The Isle should have been pitch black in the hour before dawn.