Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns, #4)(68)

‘The mist will overtake the dead queens. The mist is our protector.’

‘You are certain?’

Mirabella shakes her head. ‘How can one be certain of anything? I only know that we—my sisters and I—are at the heart of this conflict. And if we come together, I believe we can put an end to it. I would write to Arsinoe.’

Luca turns away. She waves her hand and walks behind her desk.

‘Arsinoe is a rogue. She has chosen the side of the Legion Queen. If she sets foot in Indrid Down, she will be executed immediately. And besides, what could she do? What use is she? A bear? Against the dead?’

‘I have seen Arsinoe do things with low magic that you could not even dream of. And do not,’ Mirabella adds when Luca’s eyes widen, ‘come at me with temple rhetoric about low magic. Arsinoe can oust the dead queens from Katharine and serve them up to the mist on a platter.’

She waits as Luca imagines it. As she rolls the possibilities in her mind.

‘And then what?’ Luca asks. ‘If the dead queens are vanquished and the mist is quiet? What will we do then?’

‘Then Katharine will rule. The true Katharine. My little sister, as good a Queen Crowned as I ever would have been.’

Luca stares down at her desk and at her hands, hands which have shaped the course of the island for many years. Mirabella hopes that she will agree. But she did not come to ask the High Priestess’s permission.

‘You think that Arsinoe will come?’

‘I know she will.’

‘Then write your letter. Send it with Pepper. But you must tell Katharine that you are doing it.’

‘Of course. I know.’ Mirabella smiles. She relaxes her shoulders. Every bone in her body feels like it has been overcooked, like she has danced with lightning for hours.

‘There is one more thing I would ask of you,’ she says, and Luca smirks.

‘I am almost afraid to hear it.’

‘What do you know of the original temple? The first temple that was built here in Indrid Down, before the capital was the capital?’

‘I do not know much,’ Luca replies, surprised. ‘Why do you seek it?’

‘It is just a sense I have,’ Mirabella says. ‘So many old queens return. Old queens and old tales brought to light. If we are to face them, I would know as much of our history as I can.’

‘Very well,’ says Luca. ‘I will see what I can find.’





SUNPOOL




Arsinoe watches as Jules’s ax comes down in a graceful arc and cleaves the log in two. A clean, fast cut through a fallen trunk as thick as Braddock’s back leg. It should have taken many more swings than that. It would have taken Arsinoe the better part of the morning. But the strength in Jules’s ax does not come from her arms. It comes from her war gift. She did not really even need the ax at all.

Arsinoe goes to the pile and takes a log in her arms to load onto the cart. They have come fairly far into the forest to cut wood, so far that Braddock got bored and stopped following. But she hears him, off somewhere not far away, rustling through brush for old frozen berries or other things to eat. She smiles. The bear may not be her true familiar, but they are still quite alike.

‘Trusting yourself around an ax again, eh?’ Arsinoe asks. She means it as a joke, but Jules loses concentration and the blade buries itself only a few inches into the wood.

‘Aye,’ Jules says, and grunts as she pulls the blade free. When she uses the war gift, Jules’s edges are sharper. Her glances cut, and Camden’s claws are quicker to come out. But the tether is holding, and that is what matters.

‘And what about Emilia? With your gifts tied together, is she a full naturalist yet?’

‘No.’ Jules pauses midswing. ‘But she has grown very involved with her horse.’

Arsinoe laughs.

‘She wants me to be queen so badly. The Legion Queen. But you and I both know I’m not suited for it. With this curse or without. I’m a soldier. A warrior.’

‘A guardian,’ says Arsinoe, and Jules smiles.

‘A guardian.’

‘You’re as much of a queen as I am,’ Arsinoe says.

Jules looks at her.

‘No. I’m not.’

And it is true. After all that has happened, Arsinoe could rule if she had to. Sometimes she even feels the pull to lead the rebellion, which could explain why she and Emilia always butt heads.

Camden grunts and hops on top of the log pile, sniffing the air. A few moments later, Emilia and Mathilde ride into the clearing. Mathilde with Pietyr Renard on the back of her saddle.

‘And what do we do with Master Renard?’ Arsinoe asks, exaggerating his name.

Jules shrugs, eyes narrowed as she watches them approach. ‘Emilia says the spies will report back to Katharine that he’s awake. My bet is that she’ll decide for us.’

‘I hope they tell her that I woke him up when she couldn’t.’ Arsinoe smirks. ‘That ought to stick in her craw.’

Jules sinks the ax deep into a chunk of wood and wipes her hands. The horses stop at a respectful distance, and Mathilde lets Pietyr slide to the ground.

‘What’s this?’ Jules asks. ‘Afternoon exercise?’

Emilia nods to Pietyr.

‘The prisoner has asked to see the queen.’