Page 16 of To Steal the Sun

GWEN

“So,” Queen Celandine said in deceptively gentle tones, “you’ve returned.”

She gazed down from her throne, meeting Gwen’s eyes with an outward calm that met Gwen’s own. It unnerved Gwen more than anger would have done. She knew her mother was furious with her. She had to be. And yet nothing in the queen’s manner gave it away.

Celandine had always been the same—at least for all of Gwen’s life. It was the reason Gwen had learned from an early age how to wear a composed mask in her mother’s presence. Celandine didn’t give way to emotion, and she didn’t appreciate others who were unable to do likewise—even small children.

To Gwen it had always made the queen’s cruelties more chilling since they were done without the heat of emotion behind them. Celandine didn’t lash out in anger or pain, hurting people and then regretting it later. Everything she did was done with calm intention.

The queen rose from the throne in one smooth movement, and it took all Gwen’s training not to flinch. Behind her gently upturned lips, she was clenching her teeth as her mother descended the steps toward her.

When the queen wrapped her arms lightly around Gwen and placed her cheek against Gwen’s own, she waited for the poisonous words to be whispered in her ear.

They never came. And in the empty room, there was no need for the queen to hide her malice anyway. Anything she had to say she could have said from the throne.

Gwen frowned slightly, too confused to entirely hold herself in. She had never been as good at the skill as her mother.

“You have returned in excellent time,” her mother almost purred, and for the first time Gwen wondered if her mother’s relief at her reappearance was so great that it outweighed any anger.

A little of the heaviness inside her lifted. If Celandine was that relieved, then the state of the court must be even more fragile than Gwen had realized. Maybe they really could succeed at outwitting the queen.

“I’m sure you’ll understand that your actions have destroyed my trust in you,” Celandine said silkily. “I’m most disappointed. Naturally you will need to be closely watched.”

Gwen’s voluminous dress concealed several deep pockets, and she thrust her hand into one solely so she could clench her fingers into a fist. In the process, they brushed against something round and cool. For a second, Gwen forgot to focus on her mother, her mind scrambling to make sense of the object. Then memory returned in a rush.

The golden apple given to her by the godmother. She had forgotten she still had it in her pocket.

Unease gripped her. She should have left it with Easton or Charlotte. Bringing it into the presence of the queen had been foolhardy. Gwen had seen how much Celandine valued godmother objects. She wouldn’t hesitate to claim it if she discovered what Gwen had in her possession.

Wrapping her hand around the cool sphere, she drew several calming breaths, trying to slow her racing heart before it gave her away. But the movement proved more distracting than settling.

The moment her fingers closed around the apple, her awareness shifted. She couldn’t have said what sense she was using, but she was suddenly gripped by the knowledge that the queen also carried a godmother object in her pocket.

Although she had no memory of seeing it in the queen’s display room, she could easily call up an image of it in her mind’s eye. The plaited multi-strand length of cord was about six inches long and included several colors along its woven length. To outward appearance, it was a useless item, but Gwen hummed with the awareness of its power. It could—

She frowned. She could feel the awareness almost there, hovering on the edge of her mind, just out of reach.

She let go of the apple, and the awareness of the cord in the queen’s pocket immediately vanished. Gwen tried to call its image to mind again, but it was hazy and indistinct.

She blinked, trying to focus on her mother’s face and keep her own features steady. When she touched the apple for a second time, the calm façade was difficult to hold, almost overwhelmed as the awareness of her mother’s object came flooding instantly back.

At least she had confirmed the new knowledge definitely came from the apple. Did that mean its purpose was to reveal the presence of other godmother objects? Gwen couldn’t help a sinking disappointment. For one brief moment when she’d remembered the apple’s existence, she had hoped it might turn the tide against the queen. But apparently it was better for little more than a parlor trick.

“Are you even listening to me?” the queen asked, her eyes tightening for the first time.

“Yes, Mother. Of course.” The words slid out easily, the product of instinct, but the title left a burning aftertaste. Gwen had rejected Celandine’s role in her life only the day before, but it wasn’t so easy to reject her to her face.

“Of course,” her mother repeated, but the tightness hadn’t left her face.

For a moment, they both remained motionless, Gwen barely breathing as she waited to see her mother’s next action. It seemed impossible that they weren’t even going to mention Gwen’s flight, and yet the queen seemed ready to sweep the whole thing under the rug. As if, by returning, Gwen had absolved herself of her past misconduct.

But it couldn’t possibly be so easy.

The queen straightened, pulling something out of her pocket. The movement dislodged something else, sending it slipping to the ground.

For a second, Gwen’s eyes caught on a multi-colored strand before Celandine swooped down and retrieved it, thrusting it quickly back out of sight. Gwen hadn’t missed the shape of it, though. It was exactly like the object she had just seen in her mind. The apple’s revelation had been real.

Gwen barely had time to feel the thrill of confirmation before her mother held up the item she had been retrieving from her pocket. A brass key.

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