The King's Traitor (Kingfountain #3)(99)

“Who are you?” Lady Kathryn asked, coming quickly to her feet. Drew stood as well, gazing at her in wonder.

“I am here to help you,” she answered with a knowing smile. She looked at Owen, her eyes full of emotion. “I came as quickly as I could.”

“How did you travel without a fountain?” Owen asked eagerly. He’d nearly given up hope.

“The fountains are the anchor points,” she said, “but I can travel anywhere along the line. We do not have time for explanations. First, you won’t need those anymore,” she said, gesturing at the chains securing his wrists. “Anoichto,” she whispered. The locks on the cuffs unfastened, and the chains dropped to the fur blanket with a rattling noise.

Owen rose, and she rushed into his arms. He hugged her fiercely, his heart swelling with relief. He looked down at her upturned face.

“I’m sorry, my love,” she whispered to him. “The agony you’ve felt. I can feel it keenly myself. You’re injured, and in pain.” She took his hands and squeezed them hard. “You must go. You must leave the camp immediately. I’m going to call down a storm to end this battle. Take Kathryn and Andrew and flee back to your army. I’ve magicked the guards outside. Get these two far away. Bring them to Brythonica. If you leave now, you should make it before the blizzard overwhelms you. My soldiers will help you escape.”

Owen looked at her in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“The game is ending,” she said. “Severn won’t relinquish the crown, and now he knows too much. He will invoke the curse deliberately.”

“Have you seen this in a vision?” Owen said in despair. “Is there nothing we can do to save the people?”

Sinia was so distraught, it looked like she was in physical pain. “I saw, in a vision, a field of white, with dead soldiers in the snow. There were ravens flying overhead. Owen, I cannot change what I saw. I don’t know what it means, but I know that to prevent the blizzard from destroying the kingdom, I must summon a storm to this place.”

She looked agitated, but it was clear she was determined to do her duty despite the cost.

Something wasn’t right, and it nagged at Owen. “Hold a moment,” he said, breaking her clasp and beginning to pace.

“Owen, there isn’t time,” Sinia pleaded. “We must get away! The move was made. The board is acting on it.”

Something snicked inside Owen’s mind. He straightened, his eyes widening. “Then we unmake the move. We change the pattern.” He went to the small table with the Wizr board. Moments before, he had despaired of opening it, but Sinia had just taught him another word of power.

“Anoichto,” he said to the board, and heard the lock release. When he opened the board, the black king was moving to occupy the space of the white tower. He reached for the piece, but he felt a jolt shoot up his arm that nearly stopped his heart from beating.

“Drew,” he gasped, gesturing for the boy. “Move the piece away. Move the tower back to Atabyrion, over there.” He pointed to the space on the board.

The boy looked at him warily, trembling. He sidled closer to his mother, shaking his head no. Her arms were clinging around his body, holding on to him as if he’d blow away in a storm.

“Please!” Owen said. “You’re the only one of us who can use the board right now! It will protect Genevieve’s parents. It will keep them alive.”

Upon hearing those words, Drew nodded with firm commitment. He struggled free of his mother’s clasp, hurried to the board, and reached in to drag the white tower across the board to the spot Owen had directed. He did it as easily as if it were a normal Wizr piece. As soon as his fingers released, Owen felt the shifting happen again. A spark of hope caught fire in his heart. He saw the pieces fitting together in his mind, and he knew why the Fountain had chosen him to be here at this moment. His own gift would work with Drew’s to save them. Looking down at the board, he saw the strategy unfold.

“What are you thinking?” Sinia asked Owen, her eyes wide with curiosity and approval.

“I think I understand the meaning of your vision,” Owen said, feeling a smile creep across his face. “He has a childhood fear of ravens,” Owen said. “Go back to your army. Each of your soldiers has a badge or a flag with the raven symbol. Use your magic, Sinia. Breathe life into the ravens and send them to attack the king’s army. There is something powerful about fear. I think it will help me turn the king. He needs to know that he murdered his true nephew. That this boy is the true heir, not an imposter.” He looked at Drew. “The king is your great-uncle, lad. You are an Argentine. Remember when I took you to see the funeral boats? That was your father!”

The boy started with surprise, his eyes riveted on Owen. Slowly, he let out his breath and gave a short nod.

“The king didn’t understand what he was doing, lad. What he needs is forgiveness. Not because he is good. But because you are good. If we do not break this cycle, it will keep happening over and over again. Pity him. Or all is lost.”

Sinia shook her head. “I can’t leave you here with him. You or the child! No, my love. Don’t ask me to do that!”

He put his hands on her shoulders. “Trust me. This is why we are both here. Fill the sky with ravens. Send them to attack us. Now.”

Sinia looked worried, an expression he wasn’t accustomed to from her. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Then she vanished in a plume of white mist.