Chapter 14 Rose
When Wren told Rose about Thea’s proposed trip to the Mishnick Mountains, Rose nearly dropped the tea tray.
‘Absolutely not,’ she said, setting it down with a clatter. ‘I won’t allow it.’ She crossed her arms and moved to the doorway of the throne room, as if she could physically bar them from leaving. ‘And that’s that.’
‘You have no authority over me,’ said Alarik, with a derisive snort. ‘But it’s charming that you think you do.’
Rose glowered at him. ‘Do not test me, King Alarik. I’ll quite happily enchant these doors to keep you locked in here forever if it means keeping my sister safe.’
‘I think that’s a tad beyond your capabilities,’ muttered Wren.
‘Don’t you test me either!’ snapped Rose. ‘You clearly don’t know what’s best for you if you think disappearing into the Mishnick Mountains with these two is a good idea!’
‘Rose, love, travelling to the Mishnick Mountains is the only thing that can help Wren now,’ said Thea, gently. ‘You know as well as I do that whatever has infected Wren and the king has burrowed deep inside them. Only the most practised healers will be able to cure them.’
‘Then send for them! Let them come here. Wren doesn’t need to risk the journey.’ Rose offered a brittle smile. ‘See! Problem solved.’
Thea laid a calming hand on Rose’s arm. ‘It’s not only the healers, Rose, but the mountains themselves that have the power to heal. If there was any other way, you know I wouldn’t suggest this. But I believe they must journey there, and do so soon.’
‘Well, then I’m going with you! I won’t let you disappear again.’ Rose could hear hysteria creeping into her voice, but she couldn’t help it. Everything was falling apart. ‘We’re supposed to be ruling together. Everything is supposed to be going well.’ She raked her hands through her hair. ‘How many bloody curses do we need to break before we can get on with our lives?’
Wren went to her sister and put her arms around her. Rose stood stiffly for a moment, and then relaxed into her embrace. ‘I promise I’ll be fine, Rose. Better than fine. My magic will be fixed. I’ll be fixed.’
‘You keep saying that!’ said Rose, shrilly. ‘And then the next thing I know, King Alarik is in my throne room insulting the decor! And we suddenly have bigger problems!’
Wren let out a strained laugh. ‘This time it will be true. Have a little faith.’
‘Forget faith. I’m coming with you,’ said Rose, adamantly.
Wren pulled back from her sister and squeezed her shoulders, as though to strengthen her. ‘Rose, I need you to do what you do best, and protect our kingdom. You can’t do that if you’re in the mountains with me. One of us must be strong now. One of us must stay here and rule.’
Rose sniffled. ‘How am I supposed to protect Eana from our powerful undead ancestor who knows this country as well as we do? Probably better than I do!’ She tried to shake off the memory of Oonagh’s midnight visit, but it knotted in her stomach, making her feel ill. And worse, hopeless. ‘Can she even be killed?’
‘Not with Gevran steel,’ said Alarik, darkly. ‘Despite our best efforts.’
At Rose’s look of alarm, the king went on, telling her and Thea about what had happened on the Sundvik shore only days ago. How Oonagh had been fired upon, only to survive, seemingly unscathed.
‘Stars,’ whispered Rose. ‘So, she truly cannot be killed.’
‘Nonsense. No witch, no matter how ancient they are, is ever truly invulnerable.’ Thea let out a disgruntled huff. ‘If Oonagh Starcrest cannot be felled by Gevran steel, then we must use our own weapons to bring her down. Something witch-made will do it. The older the better.’ Her dark eye glowed with certainty, the sureness in her voice commanding the room. ‘There is power in age.’
‘Finally, a morsel of good news,’ remarked Alarik.
‘Hardly,’ said Rose, in a panic. ‘Where are we supposed to find an ancient witch-made weapon?’ Her gaze darted between Wren and Thea. ‘You both know as well as I do that the Great Protector rid this country of anything to do with witches long ago!’
‘No one is that thorough,’ said Wren. ‘There are places even in Anadawn that the Great Protector didn’t know about. The tunnels here still burn with ancient everlights.’
Something else suddenly occurred to Rose. ‘The Sunkissed Kingdom!’ she burst out. ‘Their armoury is full of witch-made weapons. If we can’t find anything here in Anadawn, then surely there will be something in the desert that can be used against Oonagh.’
‘Speaking of the Sunkissed Kingdom, we need to tell Shen what’s happening,’ said Wren. ‘Oonagh is a threat to every single witch in this land. We’ll need all the help we can get to stand against her.’
‘Yes,’ muttered Rose. ‘We must warn Shen. We can’t risk putting such sensitive information into a letter. If the bird falls from the sky, if word gets out, the kingdom will fall into a state of hysteria. I’ll go and speak to him myself. I’ll be as quick as I can … there and back in a couple of days.’
‘A much better endeavour than hiking into the mountains with your poorly sister for who knows how long,’ said Wren, with a weak laugh. ‘You have far more important things to do.’
Rose gripped her sister’s hand. ‘Nothing is more important than making sure you are all right.’
‘She will be all right,’ said Tor, gruffly, and Rose didn’t miss the blush that stole across Wren’s cheeks. ‘You may surrender your worry to me, Queen Rose.’
‘I always worry,’ said Rose, with a small laugh. ‘But in this instance, I will put my faith in you, Captain Iversen.’
Alarik cleared his throat, pointedly. ‘What about me?’
‘And me?’ added Wren.
‘Must everything be a competition with you two?’ Rose chastised. Then she straightened her skirts. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go down to the tunnels to see if our ancestors have hidden anything useful down there. Tomorrow, I’ll leave for the Sunkissed Kingdom.’
‘And we’ll leave for the northern mountains,’ said Wren.
Rose turned to Thea. ‘Will you look after things at Anadawn while we’re both away?’
‘Of course, love,’ she said at once. ‘That’s what I’m here for.’
Rose gave her a grateful smile.
‘And just think, when I’m back and feeling better,’ Wren went on, ‘and we’ve dealt with Oonagh once and for all, we can throw the most extravagant ball this country has ever seen.’
‘I would very much like to have a ball.’ The thought alone helped brighten Rose’s mood. ‘A ball where nothing goes wrong and everything is perfect.’ She looked up at Tor and Alarik. ‘I’ll even invite the two of you, and Princess Anika, too. Celeste seems to have a soft spot for her.’
Alarik stood up. ‘If your magical mountain healer can cure me of this cursed affliction, I will attend whatever event you like so I can loudly toast your excellence.’
‘Just make sure you put on a shirt this time,’ teased Wren.
‘And disappoint the masses?’ he said, with a wicked smirk.
Tor chuckled. ‘I’ll admit I greatly enjoyed the last ball I attended here at Anadawn.’
Alarik frowned. ‘I can’t imagine why, Iversen. You were working.’
‘It had its moments,’ said Tor, with a lingering look at Wren.
‘It certainly did,’ she murmured.
Rose cleared her throat. Goodness. Was it really a good idea to send these three into the wilderness together? ‘Well, the next ball will be even better,’ she said, brightening at the thought of it. ‘I must say, now I am well and truly motivated to find a suitable weapon.’
‘Do you want me to go with you to the tunnels?’ said Wren.
Rose shook her head. ‘No. You get your rest. You’ll need it for the journey ahead.’
‘Ask Rowena, then. She has a good nose for magic. And snooping.’
Rose’s lips twisted. ‘You know Rowena doesn’t like me.’
‘Oh, she likes you fine. That’s just how she shows her affection. With insults and threats.’
‘Are you sure she’s not Gevran?’ remarked Alarik.
‘Fine.’ Rose sighed. ‘I’ll take Rowena to the tunnels. I’m assuming we can trust her with the delicate news about Oonagh’s impending return?’
‘Of course,’ said Wren at once. ‘She’s an Ortha witch. Loyal to her core.’
Loyal to whom?Rose wanted to ask, but she simply nodded.
Rose would have never admitted it to her sister, but she didn’t like the tunnels underneath Anadawn. Wren said they made her feel connected to the witch queens and kings of old, but Rose found them damp and eerie. To her, they felt haunted.
The everlights flickered companionably as Rose and Rowena journeyed deeper beneath the palace. While the biggest tunnel led to the banks of the Silvertongue River, they were exploring less-trodden, narrower passages that Rose had never been in.
‘Thank you for coming with me,’ she said, with a glance back at Rowena.
The fair-haired witch snorted. ‘Not like I had much of a choice. You called it a royal summons.’
‘Well, I appreciate it all the same,’ said Rose, trailing her fingers along the ancient stone walls. ‘Do you … sense any magical items down here?’
Rowena barked a laugh. ‘How exactly do you think magic works? That we can just smell it on the wind when it’s close by?’
‘Oh, I don’t know!’ said Rose, with a huff. ‘Wren implied it would be easy.’
‘I imagine the witches took their weapons with them when they left Anadawn,’ said Rowena, peering into a gap between two large stones. ‘It’s a fool’s errand, poking around here in the dark.’
‘Well, we had to at least look,’ said Rose, defensively. ‘There might have been something stashed away down here.’ She stopped at another gap in the stonework, only to quail at the giant river spider peering out of it. ‘And there still might be. We haven’t even reached the end of this tunnel.’
Rowena twirled a finger and gusted the spider back into its hole. ‘So, what’s the plan, then? Find a fancy weapon and run big bad Oonagh through with it?’
‘Yes, I suppose that is the general idea,’ said Rose, wrinkling her nose. Then a glint in the wall up ahead caught her eye. She rushed to inspect it. ‘Oh! Now what’s this?’ It was not a weapon, that much was clear. It was a cloudy blue gemstone, wedged in between the stones. Rose crouched to get a better look at it. ‘Do you think I can pull it out?’
‘And do what with it, exactly?’ said Rowena, peering down at it. ‘Put it in a slingshot and knock out one of Oonagh’s eyes?’ She sighed. ‘Why must we fight her anyway?’
‘Excuse me?’ said Rose, standing so quickly she nearly knocked into her.
In the stony silence, Rowena chewed on her lip. ‘I just mean, well, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that she’s back. She’s a witch like us. A queen, like you. Have you or Wren thought about what she could do for this kingdom? No offence but—’
‘I’m already offended,’ Rose interjected.
‘Maybe Oonagh is a better fit for the throne,’ Rowena went on. ‘Maybe she’s the true witch queen we’ve been waiting for.’
‘Rowena,’ said Rose, her voice steady but stern. ‘Oonagh Starcrest tried to murder her own sister. She turned on her people for power and splintered our magic into five weak strands for over a thousand years. We nearly lost this land because of her. She is not coming back to save this kingdom. She is coming back to bend it – and us – to her will. She is not to be trusted.’
‘Maybe she’s changed,’ said Rowena, uncertainly. ‘A thousand years or so frozen in an ice tomb can do that to a person …’
Rose shook her head. ‘She will destroy Eana. And its people.’
‘This country has a lot to answer for, Rose. Don’t forget what it did to our ancestors,’ said Rowena, with uncharacteristic seriousness. ‘As long as she protects the witches …’
‘Rowena.’ Rose glared at her. ‘Our ancestors’ anger is not our own. The time of war and bloodshed is behind us. Peace is what matters now. Forgiveness. Harmony. Only then will there be true prosperity in this kingdom. We are a united Eana now, you know that.’
Rowena stirred a gust of wind, making the everlights along the tunnel flicker higher. ‘When Banba used to talk about the witches returning to power, she never mentioned peace. She spoke about the witches taking their rightful place and turning the rivers red with the blood of all those who stood in our way.’ The everlights flared, casting away the darkness. ‘We’ve hidden in the shadows long enough.’
Rose shuddered at the sudden chill in the tunnel. She knew Wren loved Banba and mourned her deeply. Rose mourned her, too, in her own way, but sometimes how the Ortha witches spoke about Banba, about her vision and her vengeance, frightened Rose. ‘Anger is a powerful force, Rowena. Sometimes it can be big enough and dark enough to cloud even the brightest horizon.’
Rowena nodded, as though in reluctant agreement.
‘Banba had her own vision for this kingdom, but you can’t carve a future out of vengeance. You can only tear it down and live in its ruins.’ Rose drew a breath, readying another uncomfortable truth that had got lost in the ire of their conversation. ‘My grandmother is no longer with us, Rowena. We don’t know truly what she would have wanted now that we’re here. And that is because Oonagh Starcrest killed her.’ She held Rowena’s gaze, fire meeting fire. ‘I urge you not to lose sight of that. Direct your anger where it belongs.’
Rowena looked away, her brow furrowed. She raked her curls away from her face, reaching for her bravado, but she couldn’t hide the pain in her expression. When she spoke again, it was not of revenge, or even Oonagh.
‘Move aside,’ she said, nudging Rose out of the way. ‘I’ll get you this gemstone you are so concerned with.’ She took a blade from her boot and deftly knocked the gemstone out of the wall. ‘Easy.’
‘Rowena,’ said Rose, urgently. ‘You are loyal to Eana, aren’t you?’
‘I’m loyal to where I came from. The place. The witches.’ Rowena rotated the gemstone in her hands, frowning at it. It was small and cloudy. Worthless. Rose was about to press her for a clearer answer – or at least a more reassuring one – when Rowena turned to face her. Her blue eyes were soft, and for once, Rose didn’t feel threatened or hated by the tempest witch. She felt … strangely understood. ‘When Oonagh Starcrest comes to Anadawn, I’ll slingshot this stupid stone at her myself. With any luck, I’ll take her eye out.’
Rose smiled. ‘I think it might require more than that.’
Rowena smiled back. ‘Let’s see what it takes, then.’