Page 166 of Stolen Crown

Amarra nodded.

“I do,” she said.

“Where is it?” Casja asked.

But from Amarra’s expression, I was pretty sure that I knew the answer.

“Terlyth,” Amarra said. “In the Light Palace.”

“The queen has a former monster,” I whispered. The bowl I was holding fell to the ground. “We have to save her.”

“Her?” Brigid asked. “Are you remembering more?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I guess. She was in pain.”

“We can’t get into the dungeon,” Amarra said. “Not before the queen does whatever she wants to do to her.”

“We can’t let her suffer like this,” I said, getting up.

“Jas,” Brigid said. “It’s been a day since you felt her. Perhaps you witnessed her death.”

“No,” I said. “She was...”

“Do you still feel her?” Amarra asked.

“I don’t know how I would know that,” I said. “I hadn’t felt her before she reached out. How is it any different?”

“You were able to reach the woman who broke her leg,” Amarra said.

“I’m tired,” I said. “Perhaps...”

“Either way,” Amarra said. “We can’t simply walk into the queen’s palace and demand her prisoner. We would be caught and executed.”

“So your suggestion is simply to forget it and get on with our lives?” I asked. “Just abandon her there and do whatever we please?”

“No,” she said. “I’m saying it's risky.”

“Everything we do is risky,” I replied. “Living here in the forest with the monster folk will be risky too. Going to Qam will be just as dangerous. The queen is searching for the monster folk anyway.”

“So your solution is to just go to her?” Amarra asked. “Make it easy for her to get us?”

“She is in pain,” I replied angrily. “What do you suggest?”

Amarra hesitated. “She might be dead already.”

“Are we hoping that it’s too late?” I asked. “That there is nothing we can do to help her? Is that how we should deal with things? Close our eyes until the bad things pass. Escape and abandon loved ones because we are cowards?”

“Loved ones?” Brigid said. “We don’t even know who she is.”

“She’s not talking about the woman in the dungeon,” Amarra said.

“Yes, I am,” I snapped at her. “We can’t just abandon her to suffer there and do as we please.”

“It wasn’t like that, Jasmine,” Amarra replied. “I left you because I thought that was the only way to protect you.”

“I wasn’t talking about us,” I said.

Amarra didn’t reply.

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