Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)(60)

“There is no other way. Eyllwe must be freed. And with you helping me, we could start to gather a host to—”

“No.” Nehemia blinked, but Celaena shook her head. “No,” she repeated. “Not for all the world would I help you muster an army against him. Eyllwe has been hit hard by the king, but you barely got a taste of the kind of brutality he unleashed elsewhere. You raise a force against him, and he’ll butcher you. I won’t be a part of that.”

“So what will you be a part of, Celaena?” Nehemia stood, jostling Fleetfoot from her lap. “What will you stand for? Or will you only stand for yourself?”

Her throat ached, but Celaena forced the words out. “You have no idea what sort of things he can do to you, Nehemia. To your people.”

“He massacred five hundred rebels and their families!”

“And he destroyed my entire kingdom! You daydream about the power and honor of Terrasen’s royal court, yet you don’t realize what it means that the king was able to destroy them. They were the strongest court on the continent—they were the strongest court on any continent, and he killed them all.”

“He had the element of surprise,” Nehemia countered.

“And now he has an army that numbers in the millions. There is nothing that can be done.”

“When will you say enough, Celaena? What will make you stop running and face what is before you? If Endovier and the plight of my people cannot move you, what will?”

“I am one person.”

“One person chosen by Queen Elena—one person whose brow burned with a sacred mark on the day of that duel! One person who, despite the odds, is still breathing. Our paths crossed for a reason. If you are not gods-blessed, then who is?”

“This is ridiculous. This is folly.”

“Folly? Folly to fight for what is right, for people who cannot stand up for themselves? You think soldiers are the worst he can send?” Nehemia’s tone softened. “There are far darker things gathering on the horizon. My dreams have been filled with shadows and wings—the booming of wings soaring between mountain passes. And every scout and spy we send into the White Fang Mountains, into the Ferian Gap, does not come back. Do you know what the people say in the valleys below? They say they can hear wings, too, riding the winds through the Gap.”

“I don’t understand a word you’re saying.” But Celaena had seen that thing outside the library.

Nehemia stalked to her, grabbing her by the wrists. “You do understand. When you look at him, you sense that there is a greater, twisted power around him. How did such a man conquer so much of the continent so quickly? With military might alone? How is it that Terrasen’s court fell so quickly, when its retainers had been trained for generations to be warriors? How did the most powerful court in the world get wiped out within a matter of days?”

“You’re tired and upset,” Celaena said as calmly as she could, trying not to think of how similar Nehemia’s and Elena’s words were. She shook off the princess’s grip. “Maybe we should talk about this later—”

“I don’t want to talk about this later!”

Fleetfoot whined, wedging herself between them.

“If we do not strike now,” Nehemia went on, “then whatever he is brewing will only grow more powerful. And then we will be beyond any chance of hope.”

“There is no hope,” Celaena said. “There is no hope in standing against him. Not now, not ever.” That was a truth she’d slowly been realizing. If Nehemia and Elena were right about this mysterious power source, then how could they ever overthrow him? “And I will not be a part of whatever plan you have. I will not help you get yourself killed, and bring down even more innocent people in the process.”

“You will not help because all you care about is yourself.”

“And so what if I do?” Celaena splayed her arms. “So what if I want to spend the rest of my life in peace?”

“There can never be any peace—not while he reigns. When you said you weren’t killing the men on his list, I thought you were finally taking a step toward making a stand. I thought that when the time came, I could count on you to help me start planning. I didn’t realize that you were doing it just to keep your own conscience clean!”

Celaena began storming toward the door.

Nehemia clicked her tongue. “I didn’t realize that you’re just a coward.”

Celaena looked over her shoulder. “Say that again.”

Nehemia didn’t flinch. “You’re a coward. You are nothing more than a coward.”

Celaena’s fingers clenched into fists. “When your people are lying dead around you,” she hissed, “don’t come crying to me.”

She didn’t give the princess the chance to reply before she stalked out of the room, Fleetfoot close on her heels.

Chapter 25

“One of them has to break,” the queen said to the princess. “Only then can it begin.”

“I know,” the princess said softly. “But the prince isn’t ready. It has to be her.”

“Then do you understand what I am asking of you?”

The princess looked up, toward the shaft of moonlight spilling into the tomb. When she looked back at the ancient queen, her eyes were bright. “Yes.”