Chapter 53
“Why did we have to wake up so early for this?” Driscoll whined as we all stood at the bottom of the tower, his beanstalk shrinking away.
“He didn’t get his breakfast,” Leoni said, “and now we’re going to hear him whine until he does.”
Driscoll crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground. “So what are we doing down here?”
“I think I know where the bolt is,” I said. “I figured it out last night.”
Leoni’s mouth dropped open. “Spirit Sky’s bolt?” She glanced around like she was afraid someone might overhear.
“No, the other all-powerful bolt that can free a trapped spirit,” Driscoll said.
Leoni glared at him. “Seriously, somebody get him some food.”
Driscoll opened his mouth to presumably say something snarky when Loch stuffed a wild berry right between his lips.
“There,” Loch said. “Now can we go get this bolt and get to the conclave already?”
I smiled and spread out my arms. “We don’t have to go very far.”
Loch’s eyes traveled up to the stone above us, the only one burned by lighting.
It had come to me suddenly when Loch had said that word. Divine. Lightning could strike in the same place, yes, but to strike the same stone again and again and again? Maybe it wasn’t random or coincidental. Maybe it truly was because there was something divine hidden behind that stone. I’d wondered if Gran knew all along, if that’s what she’d been trying to tell me.
I arched my neck, shading my eyes against the sun. “Emory said that she suspected the spirits had been trapped by those of the Old World, which Gran confirmed. And I think if I were going to trap the spirits and needed to hide their weapons somewhere where I’d never want them to be found, it would be a location everyone believes to be cursed.”
We all turned our gazes to the tower.
“So you think it’s actually buried in the tower?” Driscoll asked. “Because it’s going to take a long time to dismantle this thing, and these hands”—he raised his palms in the air—“were not made for manual labor.”
My gaze lifted to that scorched piece of stone above us.
Driscoll pointed. “There? You think it’s up there?”
“We have no other leads and nothing else to go on without Emory here.” I bit my lip. “We have to try.”
Driscoll threw up his arms. “Guess that means I’m going to be using my magic to summon another beanstalk—and on an empty stomach.”
Loch cut out an arm. “I can use my magic.”
I pressed a hand into his chest. “Absolutely not. You almost died yesterday.”
He winked. “I like it when you’re bossy.”
“Ugh,” Driscoll said.
Leoni scowled at Loch. “You did die yesterday. Poppy is right. Absolutely no magic.”
“I can fly up there myself,” I said.
“You’re not flying anywhere,” a voice said.
We all froze, then turned toward the intruder. My father stepped out from the thicket of wildflowers, Saestra next to him, her nervous gaze bouncing between us.
My father took another step forward, and Loch tugged me back toward him. Leoni dropped her hand at her side, a sword of water unraveling and pointing toward him. I gaped at her, surprised the former captain of the guard would dare draw a weapon on a king.
Driscoll noticed, too, scratching his head. “You know you can be imprisoned for life for this.” He gestured to her weapon.
“I don’t care,” she said. “I won’t let him hurt Poppy.”
“But the rules,” Driscoll said.
“Fuck the rules,” Leoni burst out. Driscoll’s mouth dropped open. “They’re not worth following if they mean losing a friend.” She nodded at me, and my heart warmed at the gesture.
“How did you find us?” I asked my father.
“It’s not exactly hard to track a carriage. One that I assume you stole. Saestra convinced me we needed to come find you. Claims that you didn’t murder my wife and I needed to hear you out.”
“I didn’t,” I said. “I would never!”
“She’s your daughter,” Loch said in a low voice that spelled danger, “your heir.”
“She’s an imposter,” my father spit out. “I’m only here because I care enough about Saestra to do this for her.”
I broke out of Loch’s hold and held out my hand to Leoni, signaling for her to stand down. Her sword of water disappeared, though her legs remained braced as if ready for a fight.
“How could you?” I asked, thinking of Gran’s story, my anger swelling. “How could you kill an innocent baby?”
Saestra’s brows furrowed, and she glanced at my father in confusion. “What is she talking about?”
He raised his chin in the air. “I have no idea.”
“Silla Taramoud. Queen of the shadow court. She came to your lands with her husband and newborn daughter. She came to ask for help, to warn you of a grave danger, and you didn’t even give her a chance to explain. You killed her husband and her daughter right in front of her. Tried to kill her too.”
His face went ashen, which was all the confirmation I needed that Gran’s story had been true. “Tried to kill her?”
“She survived. She was my gran,” I said. “The one who raised me.”
He stepped back, shock flashing in his eyes.
“She kidnapped me to get back at you,” I continued. “She planned on killing me, but she... well she didn’t, in the end. Instead she raised me in this tower.” I gestured to it. “You know the rest. How she was taken by shadows to Sorrengard, how those shadows were hunting me. That day in the courtyard, they came for me, and your wife, my mother, she died defending me. How dare you take that from her.” My voice shook. “How dare you think so little of me. You don’t have to trust me. You don’t have to like me. You don’t have to claim me. But I won’t stop fighting for the truth to be known. Queen Bronwen and Queen Silla both deserve that much.”
“Is this true?” Saestra looked at my father in horror.
Loch, Leoni, and Driscoll all stepped up next to me.
My father’s hands came to his stomach, and for a moment, I thought he might be sick. Then his face crumpled, and he fell to his knees, a sob escaping him. “So, in the end, it’s my fault my wife is dead. My actions all those years ago as a young, insecure king came full circle.” He met my gaze. “I never told anyone what happened the day I brought that guard to kill them. I was angry. My parents had died in the Shadow War, and I blamed the king and queen of Sorrengard. I didn’t see the baby until it was too late and the king was falling with her into the water.” He stayed silent for a moment, jaw locked, hands balled into fists. “I believe you,” he finally said in a quiet voice. “It’s going to take some time to accept this, but I believe you, and I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through.”
I wouldn’t tell him the entire truth about Queen Bronwen and how she’d gotten the crown. Hopefully Saestra didn’t either. It didn’t matter now that both she and Gran were dead. She’d been a good queen, and I wouldn’t tarnish that legacy.
Saestra dipped into a bow. “Your Majesty,” she said.
My father wiped at a tear and pushed to a stand. “Come back with us to Winded. We will work through this. Together.”
“I can’t,” I said. “At least, not right this second. There’s something I have to do first.”