Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns #3)(80)

Mirabella and Billy look at her doubtfully. So she shoves them out into the street.

But she was wrong about her wait being short. It seems an age before anyone comes back out of the castle. And when someone finally does, it is not Jules or Camden, like she hopes. Though it is still someone she recognizes: Emilia Vatros, the warrior girl who aided their escape from the capital.

“She was helpful once,” Arsinoe whispers, and takes her chance. She throws a pebble at the girl’s back. It hits her in the head. Not a great throw, from cold, aching fingers.

Emilia whirls. It takes her no time at all to discover the source of the pebble.

“Yes!” Arsinoe motions for her to come. “It’s me!” She motions again, and Emilia’s eyes slide right over her hidden in the shrubs before she turns around and walks away. So much for that. If only Camden would come out, with her superior hearing and far superior nose. At this rate, it will grow dark before she gets a real chance.

Emilia’s hand reaches out from behind her and covers her mouth. She drags Arsinoe back so fast that her feet scarcely touch the ground.

“What are you doing here?” She presses cold metal against Arsinoe’s scars. “I should cut your throat. Carve you up so that no one will recognize you!” For a moment, Arsinoe thinks she really will, but then Emilia shoves her forward onto the grass.

“What’s the matter with you?” Arsinoe flips over and scrambles up.

“Why have you returned?”

“None of your business. Right now, I’m here to see Jules.”

“See her?” Emilia spits upon the ground. “See her and complicate things. Contend for the crown that is meant to be hers.”

“I don’t want any crown.” Arsinoe holds up her hands. Angry as she is about Emilia’s greeting, she does not have Jules’s hot temper. She keeps her head. She knows what the war-gifted girl can do if given the excuse.

“Then why did you come back, poisoner?”

“I think that’s something I’ll tell her. And I’m not only a poisoner. I’m a naturalist. Like she is.”

The warrior’s eyes narrow. The last time they met, things had happened too quickly, and it had been too dark for Arsinoe to notice how severe Emilia is. The deep brown of her hair and eyebrows, the thick eyelashes. The tightness of the twin buns at the nape of her neck. All the weaponry at her belt and tucked into her tall boots. She does remember the fierce red lining of her cape and how it flashed like a new wound when they ran.

“If you interfere, it will not be easy for you.”

“I don’t know what’s going on here. And as long as Jules is safe, I don’t care. I have business of my own, on the mountain.”

Emilia purses her lips. “On the mountain? What sort of business?”

“The secret sort. The queens’ sort.”

“Queens? So the elemental is here as well.” Her eyes flicker to the bushes, the trees, the corners of the castle walls. “And you just happened to find your way to Sunpool and the Legion Queen.”

“When we got to Sunpool, it was the first I’d heard of the Legion Queen.”

“And what about the mist?”

“The mist?” Arsinoe asks, confused. “It let us pass. It brought us here.” She shrugs as Emilia studies her.

“Wait.”

The warrior goes back through the shrubs, and a moment later, returns with a burlap sack.

“Put this over your head. Don’t ask questions.”

Minutes later, Arsinoe is shoved, stumbling, through the unfamiliar castle. She has no idea where she is after the first three turns, and the sack over her head reeks of mildew. But finally, they stop, and Emilia knocks on a door.

“Jules. Someone to see you.”

“Who?”

Once inside, Emilia can hardly get the burlap off before Camden has her paws on Arsinoe’s chest.

“Oof!” Arsinoe groans as the cat rubs her whiskers against her cheeks. “It’s nice to see you, too, you big stinky cat.”

“Arsinoe!”

Jules flies against them both, so excited that for a moment Arsinoe cannot tell whether it is only the cougar who is licking her.

They draw back but hold each other at the elbows. Jules peers around her, at Emilia, who is positively scowling.

“Emilia, look! Where did you find her?” She beams into Arsinoe’s face. “Where did you come from?”

“The same place you left me.”

They smile, and the silence stretches out. There is too much to say. Finally, Jules looks past her, searching for someone.

“Emilia, is Mathilde still with the Lermonts?”

“Yes.”

“Who are the Lermonts?” Arsinoe asks.

“The Lermont family of oracles,” says Jules. “They’re really all who remain, as far as old oracle families go. Our friend Mathilde is a relation of theirs.” Her face falls. “She’s with them now, in mourning. We learned when we arrived—Katharine has poisoned their matriarch.”

“Why would she do that?” Arsinoe asks, and Jules swallows.

Emilia steps between them and takes Arsinoe’s arm. “There is much to explain. On both sides. Where is the elemental?”

“Mirabella and Billy are in the marketplace.”