Rebel Spring (Falling Kingdoms #2)(58)

“I can only touch the future right now, not see it clearly. But she will die young.”

“She’ll be corrupted by her magic.” The words hurt the queen’s throat. “And there’s nothing that can be done to save her.” The truth was far harsher than she expected. But instead of fear, Althea’s heart ached for the girl she’d claimed as her daughter for sixteen years.

“The sorceress Eva was rumored to wear a ring that controlled the battle of power within her. Otherwise it’s like a tearing, dark against light, a balance that cannot be contained forever. One will always try to dominate. Darkness will always try to extinguish the light. The light will always try to repress the darkness. There is no true hope to control this without the balancing magic of the ring.”

Finally, a glimmer of optimism took seed in the queen’s heart that this did not have to end with more death. “Where can I find this ring?”

“It was lost at the same time as the Kindred.” The witch shook her head. “I don’t know where to find it, but I know it still exists.”

“How do you know?”

“I didn’t before, but . . .” Her eyes glowed bright. “I know now. I can see it, but I know not where it is. Alas, there isn’t much time to find it before the girl will lose herself to her power.”

Althea wrung her hands. “If we can’t find the ring in time, how can Lucia control her magic?”

“She must be kept from using her elementia. The more she uses it, the more she will be consumed by it.”

“How can I stop her?”

The witch had suggested the sleeping potion, each batch of which required the blood magic gained from three sacrifices. It put a mortal into a deep sleep, the witch promised, one that couldn’t be explained. One that couldn’t be detected, not even by another witch.

Once the potion was made, Althea and the witch had left for Auranos by ship, arriving only to learn that Lucia had been injured in the explosion. The queen rushed to her bedside to find Lucia surrounded by three medics. They’d covered the girl’s pale arms with leeches meant to drain any poison from her blood.

Lucia was so weakened and dazed that she couldn’t speak, and the healers said she’d been conscious for only moments.

Althea had arrived just in time. The queen shooed away the medics, marking each of their faces so she would remember who had witnessed this. They would each have to die.

Without delay, she put the potion into a glass of water and held it to Lucia’s lips. The girl drank. And then she fell deeply asleep.

Every day since, the queen had visited her daughter’s bedside to check on her, looking for the signs that she would soon awaken. She secretly met with the witch under the protection of darkness every seven days to receive another dose of the potion—knowing full well that three more had to give their lives to buy another week.

Althea had lied to Magnus and to Lucia. The girl had not wakened again since the very beginning. But when she’d found him with Lucia, she knew it was important to plant a seed in her son’s mind. Magnus hadn’t taken the news that his sister had fallen unconscious once again well, but he couldn’t claim to be surprised it happened.

The grief etched into her son’s features alarmed even the queen. The boy was normally so controlled, so restrained. Lucia’s condition had stripped that away. Althea supposed she should feel guilt, but she didn’t. All she felt was certainty that what she did was justified. Was essential. More important than anything else.

The queen had assigned the witch the task of finding the sorceress’s ring, but the woman had had no luck in locating it.

If they didn’t find it soon . . .

There would be no choice but to quietly end Lucia’s life. This would effectively put a stop to Gaius’s plans. It would stop a monster. And it would prove to Althea that she’d finally exerted true strength of will against a husband who believed she had none at all.

This added a drizzle of sweetness to an otherwise bitter decision.

The witch stood up from her seat on the bench in the public gardens, her gray cloak masking her identity perfectly. The shadows of the night wrapped themselves around her like a second skin. The queen scanned the area to see if there were any witnesses, any guards patrolling the area.

There were none. She breathed a slow sigh of relief.

“The potion’s hold is weakening,” Althea said, her voice hushed. “I’ll need it more often. But she’s asleep again, and for now, that’s all that matters.”

The witch reached into the folds of her cloak.

The queen drew closer. “You will be well rewarded, I promise. I’m very grateful for all you’ve done so far. You should know I’ve come to consider you a valued friend.”

To her right she glimpsed the outline of a body on the ground.

Her gaze snapped back to the cloaked figure before her.

“Who are—?” she began, but got no further.

The sharp tip of a dagger sank into her chest. She gasped out in pain as her assailant twisted the knife. A cry died in her throat and she fell to the ground.

The taste of failure and of death. Both so very bitter. Without the love of a mother, Lucia’s destiny was now set.

“I’m sorry, my daughter,” she whispered with her last breath.

Above her, the cloaked figure turned away and swiftly moved back in the direction of the palace.