Chapter 54
You need to stop pacing, Little Raven. It’s not helping.
Fen’s voice rattles in my head, but I don’t want it there. I don’t want to speak to anybody right now. I need to get my thoughts straight, and that’s nearly impossible.
‘I need to go,’ I say. ‘I have to go. If I don’t, innocent people are going to die.’
‘You really believe they’ll just let you hand over the dagger and come back?’ Kyor asks incredulously, grabbing my hand. ‘Think. Think about Kay. About William.’
Damn him for knowing my buttons.
‘That’s exactly what I am thinking about!’ I explode. ‘I’m thinking about my family. My family is safest if I do this. If I just do what they ask. Shit! Magnus told them I’m the princess. That means they know about my family’s heritage too. About Kay at least. She’s not safe.’
The way Kyor pales deepens my dread. He knows I’m right.
Fear surges through me, strong enough to freeze the entire mountain range if I let it, but I don’t. Breathing, I focus on the light, and my magic remains under control.
‘It’s okay!’ he says suddenly with relief. ‘Magnus said he’s going to remove their memories, remember?’
The wave of relief that strikes me is all too short-lived.
‘So they’re safe for now, but for how long, Kyor? If I don’t give Mila the dagger, she’ll get to me another way. First, she tried by stealth with the shade, second by force, attacking Isthyr, but if that doesn’t work, then they’ll go for Kay. I know they will.’
I don’t expect Kyor to object and say I’m wrong, but his silence is like acid filling my lungs.
‘Look. I’ve been thinking about it, Rose. About the three daggers. To bind, to free, to kill, right? That means whichever one Mila has, it isn’t the one she wants, right? That’s why she has to have yours.’
He’s the one who takes up the pacing now. Slow steps, as if they will help slow the onslaught of his thoughts.
‘Maybe the dagger really is how Sanrott was bound? Thessa herself said that there are only rumours of what happened to the God, that no one knows for sure, so maybe they used the dagger to bind him. And what if the knife Mila wants is the one that frees him?’
‘You’re right. If she had the one that frees him – and that’s what she’s planning to do – then she wouldn’t be searching for the others,’ I murmur.
I think of everything we know of the Sannings’ God, and specifically the way he stole magic from his own people.
And then I think of Noleen and the way her magic was gone by the end.
What if that’s why she didn’t return to Mortidem but instead became something else?
The thought sends an icy chill spreading over my arms.
‘The Rottings…’ I whisper. ‘The army in the tunnels. I think they’re Sanrott’s.’ I swallow hard.
Kyor’s face is grim. ‘Maybe the Rottings are Sanrott’s and Mila’s. Maybe they want to finish what he started with the Sannings.’
The thought is too colossal. Too big to even hold in my mind. I shake it away.
‘It doesn’t change anything. I will not let innocent people die because of me. If the Morathkian soldiers attack Isthyr when so many of the Issen fighters are on the front lines … there will be utter devastation, Kyor. Deaths I’ll carry in my soul. I can’t do that. I can’t let that happen.’
‘Rose, people will die anyway if you go out there. Please, listen to me, love. I know you can’t see it, you’ve never seen it, but you are born to rule.’
I go to scoff, but he silences me by taking my hand.
‘I mean it. You bring people together. Like Benny and me. Like the expansionists. I’ve barely heard a grumble from them since you made that gargantuan wolf statue.
Whether you rule beside me or alone here over the Issen or – fuck knows – maybe even both somehow, I don’t know, you’re destined to lead.
You’re the one who saw that the Rottings are on the move.
You know something is happening, and now Mila has come here, wanting the dagger.
That can’t be a coincidence. And you can’t give in. ’
‘No,’ I agree. ‘But then what do we do?’
My question is still lingering in the air when there’s a tap on the door. ‘Come in,’ Kyor calls.
‘Sorry to interrupt.’ Loch stands in the doorway. ‘I heard what happened.’
Of course he did.
‘In his defence, you two aren’t great at quiet conversations.’ My heart leaps as Benny steps out from behind Loch. ‘Wasn’t particularly hard to hear you.’
‘Right.’ I offer an awkward smile to my grieving friend.
‘Look, I just wanted to come chat because despite all your talking, neither of you has mentioned the obvious issue we need to address first.’
‘The obvious issue?’ I ask. ‘What’s that?’
‘You mean that Isthyr’s about to deal with an invading army when all its key warriors are at the front line?’ Kyor begins.
‘No, no, that’s not what I mean.’ Benny shakes his head. ‘I mean, how the hell did they know Rose was here? Someone must’ve told them, right? Unless you believe the bullshit about them having known about the pyrrhic for months?’
‘No, that’s definitely bullshit,’ Kyor confirms. ‘Caz said so, and though the Morathkian forces have long suspected there was some way the Issen could get through the mountains unseen, we always figured it was some form of portation method.’
‘Okay, so maybe before we figure out how we’re going to handle the dagger situation, we need to work out who the hell has been feeding information to the Morathkians from here.’
The skin on my neck prickles. Benny’s right.
We have a traitor.
We immediately head back down to the throne room, not just Kyor and me this time, but our entire group, wolves included.
‘Somebody told them,’ Benny tells Magnus, starting off where we finished upstairs. ‘One of your people betrayed Rose, and we need to find out who and how.’
‘No, no.’ Magnus sits with his hands across his lap. ‘I don’t believe it. The people love Rose. You’ve all seen that. You’ve seen the way they call to her in the streets.’
‘Well, somebody doesn’t love her,’ Benny snaps. ‘Somebody hates her enough to inform the Morathkians that she’s here and showed them the way through the illusion too.’
Magnus shakes his head. ‘It’s not just about Rose. To disclose the pyrrhic to our enemies would be the greatest betrayal. Sacrilege. I cannot believe it is one of my people.’
‘So who do you think it is? Because it’s not one of us,’ I say.
‘Could’ve been one of Uzra’s men?’ Benny muses aloud. ‘One of the Wrohelm guards?’ He looks to Kyor. ‘I know you’ve grown close to them, but is there a chance?’
‘I honestly don’t think so,’ Kyor replies. ‘Why would they choose now? They could have defected at any time. Returned to Morathka and told my father all about the pyrrhic.’
‘They can’t anyway,’ I comment. ‘Uzra told me they took vows after they turned on Korvane. Took vows not to reveal the pyrrhic to anyone.’
‘So it has to be an Issen,’ Caz presses. ‘Unless you’re saying that after all this time they finally found their way in through the pyrrhic? We found it, sure, but Rose had a magic ring guiding her.’
Magnus draws in a long breath. ‘You’re right. It does seem unlikely. But for one of my people to do this…’
There is so much pain in his voice. Pain for what this means for Isthyr, yes, but also pain for himself. Magnus trusts his people, not only as a collective, but also as individuals. And for one to betray him…
One name fills my head: Stefan. But no, he is magicless and was severely wounded even as he was banished.
Another name leaps to my tongue: Brida. She tried to hurt me before – what is one more betrayal? Yet the answer does not sit well. I don’t want to consider her because Brida and I have been making peace, truly. This morning at the Veil I felt it again, that fragile truce between us.
‘What about Brida?’ Kyor says, as though he’s read my mind. ‘She did try to kill Rose.’
‘That was Brida?’ Caz exclaims.
I suck in a sharp breath and glare at my lover.
I told Kyor that in confidence.
‘Yes, it was, but that’s sorted. And as for your question, no, I don’t think she would have done it. At the beginning, maybe, when I first arrived here, but not now. No.’
I wouldn’t go so far as to call us friends or even allies, but I definitely feel we’ve stepped away from the precipice of being enemies. After all, she hasn’t tried to suffocate me to death recently.
‘What about her mother?’ Caz suggests. ‘Ranveeg?’
Thessa nods slowly. ‘Perhaps Brida’s vitriol comes from her upbringing. From the words spoken around her.’
That’s something I can’t deny.
I expect Magnus to immediately dismiss the idea, but he doesn’t. Instead, he rubs his chin thoughtfully. ‘I would hate to believe such a thing.’
‘But that’s not a no, is it? Where is she now?’ I ask.
‘I will send my men to locate her,’ Magnus replies with a nod to Toren, who hastily disappears.
I let out a slow breath and gaze out of the window.
From the Raven Sight vision to the Veil and now this, the day has slipped away from me, and the sunlight is already fading.
‘Okay, so what do we do now? Magnus, what about your siphon?’ I ask, the idea suddenly coming to me.
‘The one who took our powers when we first arrived? Can’t you use it on any Morathkians who get through the pyrrhic? That would help even the odds.’
Magnus shakes his head solemnly. ‘He is but a child. Sending him to a cave is one thing. I will not send him to war.’
I groan in frustration. ‘So what’s the plan then? We have until dawn to work out how we handle this.’
‘Now, you sleep,’ Magnus says firmly. ‘Put this out of your mind. You are not doing anything. Not tonight.’
‘But we have to do something.’
‘No,’ Kyor agrees with Magnus. ‘We don’t.’
There’s something about the manner in which he says it that tells me he’s thinking. I wait a beat, seeing if he’ll let us in on the machinations of his mind. When he doesn’t, I just ask him outright.
‘What is it?’