Page 66 of Crownless King

She reached into her satchel once again, producing a long crystal mounted onto a pewter stick. The crystal glowed faintly. When she flicked her wrist, however, it burst to life with bright blue light.

Bending over, she held the crystal low to the ground while moving around in circles.

I kept talking. Maybe if she replied, I’d learn more about what the heck was happening here.

“More men came out after,” I said. “But I ran at that point. They didn’t see me. They said Sova was a hag. Are you a hag, too?”

She tossed me an incredulous glance. “What do I look like to you?”

“I’m not sure,” I said tentatively, afraid to offend her with an assumption. She looked jumpy and snappy, not the way I’d imagine an old wise woman would be. But she definitely had some interesting magic at her disposal. The last thing I wanted was for her to use that magic against me. “I’ve never spoken to a hag before.”

King Tiane had one in Elaros. Queen Pavline had her inspect me. But the queen remained in the room the whole time. And I’d been lying on the bed with my face up. The royal hag had never even looked at me above the waistline and never said a word in my presence.

“Weird.” The woman shrugged. “Well, my name is Sauria, and I’m a hag, just like Sova was. Now stay where you are. I need to make sure you’re not lying.”

She shone the light of the crystal onto the ground. Bending over it, she moved toward the spot where thearienman had stood. Moving in circles, she stepped carefully over patches of grass, studying something on the ground. The clothes of Sova and thearienman were now gone. Either the man’s friends had picked them up or the royal guards had.

“Poor bugger,” Sauria said softly.

“That’s what his friends said when they found what was left of him. The guy literally exploded, you know.”

“I know.” She nodded confidently. “The protection spell ended him. We all have one. Everyone knows it’s impossible to kill an experienced hag without being killed, too.”

I hadn’t known that, but I kept it to myself, not wanting to distract her or divert her focus to me.

“They said it was a mistake,” I said instead.

“Looks like it was.” She nodded, now circling over the area where Sova had fallen. “No one in their right mind would just come and shoot a hag in the open.” She bent lower and picked up a small object from the ground—an arrowhead. “A hunter’s arrow.” She sniffed it. “Laced withebonweed for a quick and painless kill.” She tossed the arrowhead into the bushes. “Poor Sova. One of the most powerful women I’ve ever known died because some hot-headed idiot mistook her for a boar. He must’ve caught her unaware?”

“He did. We didn’t notice him until it was too late.” Her genuine grief subdued my mood, too. “I’m sorry about the loss of your friend. Is that what Sova was to you?”

She nodded, staring at the ground, her frail shoulders dropped.

“She was many things to me. A friend, a teacher, my mentor. The question is…” She lifted her head, pinning me with her brown inquisitive eyes. “What was she to you? Who are you?”

I took a step back, retreating under a tree. Were the shadows here thick enough to hide what I was?

No such luck. Her eyes narrowed as she poked her crystal torch into my bare arm.

“Oh, by the fucking wings of Death! You’re the human, aren’t you? The one they now think they’ve tossed back into the River of Mists?”

So much for hiding. My very appearance betrayed me again.

“Please, don’t tell anyone.”

“Why not? You don’t want to go back to your world?”

“No.”

“Hmm.” A calculating expression flashed in her eyes as she filed that piece of information away, possibly to use it against me later. If so, she miscalculated. There was nothing she could take from me. All had been taken already. I had nothing but the muddy slippers and the ruined dress I was wearing.

Raising the crystal in her hand, Sauria came closer, peering at me with her dark eyes.

“So, you’re Sparrow,” she said, examining my face, then my exposed arms. “The human pet of kings.” She reached to touch my face, and I shrank back from her. “Hold still,” she ordered. “I need to know what exactly I’m dealing with here. It’s not every day I meet your kind.”

“What do you want with me?”

She stepped closer until my back hit a tree trunk, blocking my retreat.

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