Page 145 of Cursed Crowns

Wren

Just after midnight, Thea found Wren sitting alone in the west tower. She was still dressed in her damp Gevran dress, the fine velvet skirts now bloodstained and spattered with mud.

Thea pushed the door open, letting the music from below waft inside with her.

“There you are, little bird,” she said as she padded over to her. “Shouldn’t you be downstairs celebrating?”

Wren lifted her head from the crook of her arms. At the sight of her grandmother’s wife, soft-eyed and smiling, her face crumpled. “Thea,” she began, but the words left her. In their place, tears came. She had been holed up here for hours, hiding from the truth. But there was no escaping it now. “It’s Banba.”

Thea pressed a hand to her chest, and Wren knew that she had been steeling herself for this moment. “She’s gone, isn’t she?”

Wren tried to tell her the awful truth of what had happened back in Gevra, but to her horror, a sob burst out instead. It racked her shoulders and sent more tears streaming down her face, until she could only bear to nod.

“Come here, my love.” Thea’s knees creaked as she lowered herselfto the floor. She gathered Wren into a warm hug. “It’s going to be all right,” she murmured. “We’re going to be all right.”

“I t-t-tried m-my b-b-best,” said Wren between hiccups. “I p-p-promise.”

“I know you did, love.” Thea pulled back, wiping Wren’s tears with the pads of her thumbs. Then she closed her eye and offered a healing pulse. It trickled into Wren’s bloodstream, and she felt suddenly able to breathe again.

“Thank you, Thea.” Wren’s heart ached, knowing she could do nothing for the healer’s pain. That no matter how strong her magic became, she would never be able to access her healing strand.

“I swear part of me already knew,” whispered Thea. “I woke to a peculiar feeling some days ago. It was like a pinprick in my heart. It took my breath from me. For some time now, it’s felt as though a flame inside me has gone out. That I am only half as bright as I was.”

“I’m so sorry, Thea.” She squeezed her hand. “Please forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive, little bird. Surviving loss is the great sacrifice of our mortality.” Thea’s smile was watery. “But while Banba is gone, our love will forever remain. It is one of the few things on this earth stronger than magic. I will take comfort in that. And so should you.”

They hugged again, anchoring each other in their love for Banba, and their grief at her passing, until new footsteps sounded.

Wren looked up to find her sister standing in the doorway.

“Ah! My seer strand must be kicking in,” said Rose, swishing her skirts in triumph. “I had a feeling I’d find you up here. Don’t be so mopey. Come downstairs and dance!”

Rose looked resplendent in a magnificent pink gown. Her hair hadbeen freshly braided into a crown on her head, and her cheeks were flushed. She was dressed for celebrating, not grief.

And yet when she saw Wren’s face, her own fell. “What is it?”

Wren shook her head, trying to find the right words. Any words. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

Rose looked to Thea. “It’s Banba, isn’t it?”

“Yes, love,” said Thea sadly. “She didn’t make it, after all.”

Rose closed her eyes. “That awful, ice-hearted king.”

“It wasn’t Alarik.” Wren looked between Thea and Rose, offering the truth in three terrible words. “It was Oonagh.”

Thea frowned. “It can’t be.”

Rose quailed. “Starcrest?”

“The one and only,” said Wren. “Oonagh Starcrest isn’t dead. She’s the one who killed our grandmother. Celeste’s vision was correct. She saw a queen frozen in Gevran ice, only it wasn’t me she was seeing. It was Oonagh.”

“What are you saying?” said Rose, coming toward her.

Wren did her best to explain, sketching out the moment of Banba’s death, and how Oonagh Starcrest had pulled the mountain down on top of them, shattering the windows of Grinstad Palace as she strode out into the mountains.

“She’s back,” Wren finished. “And something tells me we haven’t seen the last of her.” She looked to Thea, who was silent with shock. Then to Rose, wringing her hands as she stood by the window.

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