Chapter 64
Belle
I swept my gaze across the chapel, studying the statues. “What do you know about these people? It might give us some kind of answer as to what happened here.”
“Not much,” Valen said. “The original library was theirs, though I’ve tripled the size of the collection. Most of the records end some five hundred years ago—which I assume was when everyone was turned to stone. As for the woods, they were cursed before our kind took over the Bloodvale.”
“It was called the Fairwood back then,” I said, dust caught in my throat. “And this castle was known as Highwatch?”
Surprise etched his features. “How do you know?”
I grimaced. “There was an old map in the records…it’s how I found the road I took through the cursed woods.”
“Of course you did,” he grunted, though I wasn’t sure whether he was annoyed or grudgingly impressed.
“What have you learned from the records?” I asked. “Do they give any idea why this happened? Of whom these people were?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t looked.”
I stared at him, flabbergasted. “Why not? You had fifty years.”
A low growl slipped from his throat. “I’m not particularly inclined to dwell on the fate of another doomed king, and I’ve had my own problems—” His voice cut off as the door swung open.
Locke paused in the doorway, then stepped through, joining us amongst the statues. “I didn’t expect to find you here…and with Lady Marquette.” He glanced pointedly at me. “Seems you’re set on unveiling all our secrets.”
“It seemed like she should know.”
Locke nodded as he strolled through the room. “It’s been ages since I’ve been in here.” He turned, his eyes resting on me, challenging, as if he knew the chilling effect the statues had on me.
He smiled. “Unsettling, aren’t they? You can almost feel their misery. I wonder if they knew what was coming—or if we’ll ever learn what it was.”
I pointed to the entrance. “They’re all looking in the same direction. They saw something, or someone, there in the doorway.”
The high magister nodded. “You don’t miss much, do you?”
“Was there something you wanted?” Valen asked.
“Sarkis…is growing impatient.” Locke inclined his head toward me, then nodded at the door. “Perhaps it would be best if you let us speak in private, Lady Marquette.”
I wrinkled my nose in annoyance but turned to leave.
“Belle might as well stay,” Valen said. “Sarkis has his eyes on her sister’s kingdom after all.”
Locke’s lips twitched, but he forced a smile. “I beg your pardon, Your Highness. I didn’t realize you were planning to reward Lady Marquette further with a seat on our small council.”
“Time is running short, and she could be of help,” the king graced me with a wry smile. “Besides, I’d rather have her plotting against that bastard than me.”
Locke looked at me with outright skepticism, then leaned against the statue of a shrieking nobleman, crossing his arms. “Okay, Lady Belle. The king is cursed, and we can’t do much about it, because we have an army threatening to either pillage our kingdom or your sister’s.
Can you offer us a solution to either of these problems? ”
My mind blanked.
“I don’t know,” I stammered. “I haven’t had a chance to consider…”
“You’re a clever girl. You can do better than that.” He shoved off the statue and walked forward. “His Highness has deemed it reasonable to trust you with all his secrets. Prove that you’re worth his trust.”
They watched me with a sudden intensity, and the urge to shrink back into the shadows was almost physical. Locke was darkly bemused by his little game, but the king—the king looked at me as though I might actually have an answer.
“My sister defeated three mages,” I blurted, scrambling for anything I could think of. “Maybe she—”
“No.” Valen’s voice was cold, final. “We’re not involving them.”
“But—”
Fury flashed across his face. “My belief rests in you, not your sister—in your power and intelligence, not hers.”
Something in my chest clenched, sharp and disorienting, before the weight of his words settled over me. Falling short of his expectations might be worse than suffering the magister’s doubts.
I looked from one to the other, flailing.
“What about the spring where you met the old man? He warned you that the water would turn men into beasts, and when he forced you to drink from it, you transformed into a dragon. Perhaps if we locate the spring, we could find a way to turn you back…or discover the demon.”
“You think we haven’t thought of this before?” Locke muttered.
Valen’s expression knotted with frustration. “I tried to find the spring many times, but the woods are vast and dense. You’d need an army to find it.”
“You have an army.” The words left me before I’d had time to think. I glanced between them, the realization taking root. “You have a mercenary army sitting on your doorstep. You hired them. Tell them the job has changed and send them into the woods.”
“That’s never going to happen.” Locke chuckled. “Neither Sarkis nor his men will agree. The woods broke them. Those who survived only want plunder and an early retirement.”
I shook my head, unwilling to let him kill the idea on the vine.
“The beasts obey the dragon. Valen could fly in the army’s vanguard, driving them back.
The soldiers could search on foot and signal us if they found it.
” I turned to Valen. “It could get the army out of your way and give them an outlet for their aggression. Pay them extra, whatever it takes.”
“I doubt there’s any amount of gold that could make them go back into those woods,” Valen muttered, though it was clear he was considering my words.
“You’re not just offering gold,” I said. “You’re offering revenge. If you’re right about what happened to them, they lost two years of their life trapped in the cursed woods. That’s not your fault. The demon is the one who cursed this land. Tell them that, tell them it’s time to even the score.”
Something flickered behind the king’s mask—not surprise, exactly, but the look of a man recalculating.
Locke crossed his arms. “Even if they agreed—which I guarantee they won’t—it will take weeks or months to search the woods, even with an army.”
“Maybe we don’t have to search the entire forest. There are ancient maps in the library. Maybe one of them shows the locations of springs, or perhaps they’re mentioned in some of the castle records. I could search.”
Valen studied me, his face a mask of conflicting thoughts, before finally nodding. “We could try. It’s a desperate idea, but a good one.”
The flicker of pride barely had time to land before Locke cut through it.
“And what will you do if you find the spring, and the demon is there waiting for you?” he asked.
His expression was as ominous as a thunderstorm racing across the horizon. “I wouldn’t consider your opponent lightly. A demon with the power to trap an army in the woods and turn men into beasts is unlikely to be deterred by swords and spears, let alone a kitchen kettle hurled at him.”
“I don’t know,” I said, meeting his cold gaze. “The demon gave the king the strength to defeat three mages. Maybe it’s enough to defeat him as well. Maybe with our help—”
“Or maybe not,” Locke parried. “Maybe you’re driving the king to his doom.”
Valen released a low rumble as he stepped away from the statue of the stone king. “Enough. I’ll have to face the demon one day or give in to his curse. We’ve tried dark magic and torture. Perhaps Belle’s instincts are correct, and the answer lies with the spring. I’ll speak to Sarkis.”
“You really think he’ll return to the demon’s playground?” Locke asked incredulously.
“He’s a mercenary,” Valen said, his voice dripping with disdain. “I’ll find his price.”
“That price might include more gold than we have, Your Highness,” Locke muttered. “The mines haven’t produced for months, and we technically owe him much of what remains in your hoard.”
“Sarkis and I will reach an understanding,” Valen said, a vicious glint of gold in his eyes. “I’ll make sure of it.”