Page 117 of Burning Crowns

Another beast came from her left. This one was a decomposing snow tiger, freshly dead. Its entrails trailed along the ground behind it, and maggots squirmed inside its gaping eye sockets. Then came another tiger that was missing half of its skull, and the next was gnawing on its own severed tail. All around Rose, an army of undead beasts moved through the forest, slowly surrounding her. ‘Go away! Leave me alone!’

Her wrists stung as she desperately tried to pull herself free. She thrashed wildly, until the vines cut into her skin. The animals growled, scenting fresh blood.

‘No!’ she cried. ‘Stay back! All of you!’ She snapped her chin up, calling out to the trees. ‘Witches of Eana,protect me! I am your queen!’ But the forest was still, silent. ‘Please!’

She was answered by a familiar rippling laugh.

Rose froze as Oonagh Starcrest stepped through a break in the trees. ‘You are no queen,’ she sneered. ‘Your time on the throne of Anadawn is at an end.’

Oonagh’s hair was long and ragged, stained with blood and strewn with twigs. The green of her eyes had turned red, and her cheeks were gravely sunken. She looked like a corpse, so emaciated that Rose couldn’t understand how she was moving at all. A pair of undead ice bears stood sentry at Oonagh’s side. Their heads were little more than barren white skulls, their mouths filled with huge slabs of crumbling teeth.

‘It’s not as simple as that!’ said Rose, raising her chin to try to show she was not afraid, even as she trembled. ‘You can’t just kill me and be done with it. My sister—’

‘Will be along shortly.’ Oonagh swept closer, her beasts swarming at her back.Stars.There were far more than Rose had thought, hundreds upon hundreds of undead creatures skulking in the trees. ‘I suspect she will rise to the challenge of rescuing you. Sisters tend to do that.’

Rose’s hands twitched. How she wished for her dagger, but she had left Daybreak behind on Marino’s ship, leaving her weaponless.Whyon earth did she keep ending up in this sorry position? Well. She might not have a weapon but she still had her voice. Her courage. She would wield that instead. ‘This country willneverbow to you.’

‘Not without force.’ Oonagh licked her rotting teeth. ‘I assure you, fear can be highly effective.’

Somewhere in the deep forest, a beast howled.

Rose swallowed. ‘It will take more than an army of rabid beasts.’

Oonagh lunged, closing the space between them until Rose could smell the horrid stench of death on her breath, see the cracks in her teeth. Just how much had Oonagh already sacrificed to raise this army?

‘On that we certainly agree,’ Oonagh said, in a growl of her own. ‘I will need more than beasts to make this country bend its knee.’ She glanced up at a floating seed. ‘Which is why I intend to raise my own army of witches.’ Her lips curled, triumph alighting in her eyes. ‘They will destroy you all.’

Rose almost laughed. ‘Even you cannot raise the witches! You have given too much already, Oonagh.’ She looked her up and down, her nose wrinkling. ‘By the looks of it, there is hardly anything left to give.’

Oonagh was unmoved. ‘Oh, my little trembling Rose,’ she taunted. ‘This time I won’t be sacrificing myself. I will be sacrificing somethingfarmore valuable.’

Rose’s breath shallowed in her chest. She searched for air, but terror had snatched it all away. ‘You can’t mean …’ She trailed off, too frightened to say the words aloud.

Oonagh’s triumphant grin was answer enough.

Rose quailed. This wasn’t the end of her ancestor’s depraved plan. It was only the beginning. ‘You mean to sacrifice me.’

Oonagh traced a sharpened fingernail along her jaw. ‘Look at all this life inside you. This bleeding heart and valiant soul. Wouldn’t it be a shame to simply waste it all?’

Rose squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake off her horror. She wished more than anything that Wren was here, her sister standing strong and sure at her side. But Rose was utterly alone.

How had it come to this?

She wanted to weep like the forest often did. To scream until she went hoarse. But more than that, Rose realized that she wanted to fight with every breath left in her body. If only she could find a way …

When she opened her eyes, Oonagh was already turning from her. A new wind stole through the forest, stirring the vines, and for one impossible moment, Rose swore she heard her sister’s voice.

Hold on, Rose. I’m coming.

Oonagh stopped walking, a branch cracking underfoot. ‘Ah,’ she said, jerking her chin up. ‘It seems your sister is right on time.’

Wren

CHAPTER 39

Wren dismounted her horse at the Mother Tree and sent word to her Captain of the Guard that her soldiers were not to follow her into the forest. Nor were the witches. She had to tread this part of the journey alone.

‘Are you sure about this?’ said Shen, slipping soundlessly from his own horse. Instinctively, his hands came to his daggers. ‘If you go into that forest by yourself—’

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