Page 79 of A Petal in the Crown

"I need to ask you to do something for me," Lea said. "And I want you to let me get it all out before you argue."

Henry’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded hesitantly.

"I have a plan to defeat Alaric, but I can’t do it without your help. The goddess said I have to be the one to kill him. But Gray can’t be with me when it happens."

Henry’s shoulders rose toward his ears, but he didn’t interrupt.

"When we get closer, when we find Alaric and scout out the camp, I need you to freeze time so I can slip away. Alone. Without Gray following me, at least not immediately."

Henry’s mouth dropped open, and he shook his head slightly. "Alone?"

"The goddess said only I could defeat him. I can’t do that if I’m worried about keeping everyone else safe. Evangeline has seen it," Lea said. "She’s seen me going alone to battle him. Seen me ruling a peaceful kingdom afterward. But only if I go alone. I’ll be okay,ifyou help me."

Henry’s eyes darted around as if searching the sky for some excuse, some flaw in her logic. "Evangeline’s seen this working? You’ll be okay?" he asked.

"Yes.” Lea lied. “If you help me, I can defeat him. She’s seen us all, happy and safe. But only if Gray doesn’t follow me.”

Henry remained quiet, thinking, but Lea couldn’t afford to waste time allowing him to consider the different options.

"It feels like fate, doesn’t it? This began with me—with us—when Evangeline sent me to grow up with a father and mother who loved me, the only ones who could keep me safe. This is part of that, Dad. It ends as it began. You helping to take care of me, freezing time so I can go defeat Alaric. We all die if I don’t. This is the only way."

Henry took her hand, squeezing it tight. "You are the strongest, bravest girl," he said. "My little girl." He cupped her cheek, his eyes searching her face, but he wouldn’t find any hints of innocence or childhood there. They had been burned out of her, tragically and violently.

"Okay," he said. "If you say it’s the only way, then I’ll help you."

"Thank you," Lea exhaled in relief. She’d been prepared for more pushback, but how could he argue with her when she told him it had already been seen? Maybe it wasn’t a lie. Maybe by now, it had been seen. Maybe she’d find a way to survive taking Alaric’s magic and make Evangeline’s vision of her and Gray ruling beside each other come true without killing Evangeline.

"Thank you," Lea said again. "I’ll tell you when it’s time. Don’t say a word to anyone."

"I understand."

Gray appeared just then, a foobil in hand.

"Care to cook it for us?" he asked.

Before he could even drop the animal, Lea held out her hand and engulfed it in flames, keeping her fire going until the hair had burned off and it was cooked through.

"Look how domestic I’ve become." She gestured to the cooked rodent, and Gray laughed.

"She cooks,andshe kills," he quipped before ripping off a leg for her. "And now, sheeats."

Lea rolled her eyes at his protectiveness. He was as stubborn and worried about her as always, and it only confirmed to Lea that she wasdoing the right thing. Even if Gray knowing her plan didn’t carry the risk of Eudora seeing it and alerting Alaric, even if Evangeline hadn’t seen them failing with Gray around, he’d never allow her to go through with taking Alaric’s magic, knowing it would kill her. He’d take the magic himself somehow, or force her to pass it to Evangeline. To anyone else. He’d allow the entire kingdom to fall before he’d let her risk her life again. But that wasn’t fair. This was her battle. Her burden. Written in the stars by the gods themselves.

Lea lifted the meat to her lips, taking a bite. It had already cooled, and she ripped off a large chunk to make sure it had actually cooked all the way through. Relieved to see there was no pink inside, she popped the piece into her mouth.

As they ate in silence, a hawk soaring in the distance caught her eye. She waited to see if it would turn toward them, wondering if Genevieve was trying to reach her again, but it disappeared back in the direction they’d come from.

Henry stared after it, his jaw set in a firm line, his eyes full of worry.

It will be okay, Lea wanted to tell him, but she couldn’t. Until they were alone again, she would just have to hope that Gray didn’t notice that while he was gone, something in the air had changed.

Chapter 51

Janelle

The heat was stifling. Absolutely incessant, and the longer they traveled, the more Janelle worried she might die of heatstroke. And not even in a dramatic way. She truly was concerned about surviving this trek to Alnwick. But then, just when she thought she couldn’t survive the heat anymore, a lake appeared in the distance. A gift from the gods themselves. Or maybe just the goddess, since it was the god of the sun who was torturing them like this to begin with.

Before she even asked, Erik steered Cinnamon straight to the glassy body of water, and within seconds, Janelle stripped down to her underclothes. With a deep breath of anticipation, she dove into the crystal-clear lake. She hoped she was right that it was deep enough, but it was hard to tell when she could see straight down to the bottom. Each rock and twig were clearly visible, as if she were looking through a piece of glass.

---