The Deepest Blue(89)

She heard shouting. Guards?

With a piece of her mind, Asana summoned air spirits—they whipped across the sand, creating a wall of wind that kept Lord Maarte’s soldiers at bay. She also summoned water spirits to keep the Silent Ones from reaching the shore. “Promise me you’ll tell her. I need to know I’ll leave you okay. You must be okay. Promise me!”

Roe whispered, “I promise, Mother.”

Good. That was good. She felt a little of the tension leave her limbs. It didn’t hurt quite so much. Each stab of pain felt more like a bubble bursting inside her. Asana touched Roe’s cheek, and left a smear of red on her daughter’s skin. “I’ve missed you. I am sorry I was too afraid to save you. But after they had your father killed, I lost heart. And hope.”

“Father is . . . dead?” Roe’s voice broke, and Asana’s heart broke with it.

“I am so very sorry, my sweet.” She wished there were time for more words of comfort. She wanted to tell her so many things and to listen to everything Roe wanted to say and to learn what she was like now that she was nearly grown. But there wasn’t any time left. “You must go now.”

“Now? But . . .”

“Go now. Go, or Lord Maarte and his men will take you again. I couldn’t bear that. Did you know he tried to have me poisoned? Garnah’s foresight saved me from that. You can trust Garnah. Do not trust Maarte. He is not a good man. Promise me you will never let him have power over you.”

“I promise,” Roe choked out.

“Good girl. Now leave me. I will distract them. Kelo . . .”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Take my mother and father to your lovely little village. Give them new lives.”

“I will, Your Majesty,” he promised.

That was very good.

“Garnah?”

“Yes?”

“I want it to hurt less.”

“I can do that,” Garnah said.

“Roe, I love you,” Asana said.

Roe was crying. “I love you too, Mother.”

As Garnah lifted a vial to her lips, Asana swallowed. She felt warmth spread down her throat and then through her body. Her skin tingled, but the pain began to fade. So did any feeling in her legs and arms. She didn’t think she could move. But that was all right. She smiled up at her parents, who were clutching each other and crying. She wanted to tell them that she didn’t hurt and that they’d be okay. Kelo would take them to his village, where they’d live out their lives in safety and obscurity. She thought she had enough strength to summon a spirit to take them. As for Roe, she had too long a journey to trust a spirit—Asana couldn’t guarantee that she could hold on to life for the length of her trip. She’d have to travel by ship. Conveniently, Lord Maarte had plenty of those. Asana could generate enough confusion on the dock with her spirits to cover her escape. “Take a ship,” Asana told Roe. The words felt like marbles in her mouth. She rolled them around her tongue, tasting each of them. “Sail as fast as you can to Yena. Find this non-heir and warn her. Save yourself and the islands.”

There. She’d done all she could.

Asana’s eyes landed on the woman who had stabbed her.

“Would you like me to kill her?” Garnah offered.

“No. Let her take the blame,” Asana said. “She deserves that.” The Silent Ones from Akena Island would be here as soon as Asana’s power failed, and they’d find a dead queen and a woman with a bloody knife. They’d know what had occurred. They would arrest her murderer, try her, and then give her to the spirits.

Her fate was sealed. And so is mine.

But it’s up to me to make sure Roe is free to claim hers.

Her murderer had fallen to her knees and was weeping, but Asana couldn’t feel pity for her. Through the eyes of her spirits, she saw Lord Maarte’s soldiers trying to force their way through the wall of wind her spirits had created. They wouldn’t cross until she let them. Or until she died.

“Let me be queen one last time.” Or perhaps for the first time.





Chapter Twenty-Two

Kelo clasped Mayara’s hands. He had his instructions from Queen Asana. Take her mother and father to safety. Take them home. He knew the other villagers would hide them. They’d be safe, in case the Families wanted any kind of retaliation.

They’d be able to build new lives.

“Mayara . . .”

“I know. You have to go.”

“Come with me! The queen’s daughter will deliver the message. You and I can go home, with the queen’s parents. Keep them safe.” But he knew as he said the words that she was going to say no. And this time, he was going to respect her choice and let her go.

She shook her head. “Roe needs me. She can’t face the woman responsible for her mother’s . . . for what happened . . . on her own. And I . . . Kelo, I’m the one who introduced Lanei to Roe and Palia. If it weren’t for me . . . I have to help fix this.”

But when she was done doing what she had to do, and when he was done fulfilling the queen’s request, they’d be together again. He believed that. He knew now the lengths he would go to for her. “I understand. But when it’s over, come back to me, if you can. Or I’ll come find you. I’ll always come find you.”