Page 86 of Burning Crowns

Still, Rose hesitated, trying to decide if it was really worth the risk of freeing Kai. Anika relinquished her snooping and jostled in front of her. ‘A big, beefy warrior like you would get along just fine in my brother’s army. If this one –’ she jerked her head towards Shen – ‘doesn’t want to keep you around, you can certainly come and try your luck in Gevra. Our morals are much looser. Although if you betrayed the crown, we would have to feed you to our beasts.’ She pulled a face. ‘We don’t believe in forgiveness. Or redemption.’

Kai snorted. ‘Sounds like paradise.’

‘I think abruptly switching allegiances to a foreign nation at this moment would probably worsen Kai’s case,’ said Shen, pointedly. ‘Not to mention call his loyalty to me into question. Again.’

‘Yes, yes, King Shen … All hail, King Shen,’ said Kai, in a bored voice. ‘Blah, blah, blah … I get it.’ He raised his hands, jangling the chains around his wrists. ‘Well, Queenie? What will it be?’

Rose blew out a breath, choosing to trust her instincts. ‘Get ready to sail to the Sunless Sea, Kai Lo. But know this, I’ll be watching you. And at the first hint of misbehaviour, I’ll throw you into the waves myself.’

‘You’ve got much better at threats,’ said Kai, with a wide grin. ‘And that one is especially effective as I don’t know how to swim.’ Then he frowned. ‘Wait. Why are we going on a boat?’

Shen clapped his cousin on the back. ‘I’ll fill you in.’ Then he glanced at Rose. ‘Grab your things and meet me in the stables in ten minutes.’ He kissed her, then, right there in front of the others, his lips brushing against hers for only a moment, but Rose felt the urgency behind it. As if he was worried if he didn’t kiss her now, there would be no other chance.

She knew then that he was truly afraid of what was to come.

‘Carrig is frightfully cold, even by my standards,’ said Anika, as they made their way back to the palace. ‘You two will need furs. Luckily for you, I always overpack. Come with me.’

Anika, along with her nine trunks, had been installed in one of the many guest rooms in the palace. Rose noted the room was nicely decorated, with pale blue drapes along the four-poster bed, and gold suns spiralling across the walls.

Anika pointed at her trunks. ‘I suppose I can’t bring them all if we’re riding back to Wishbone Bay on horseback, can I?’

‘You know you can’t,’ said Celeste. ‘Choose your most practical outfit.’

‘And what am I meant to tell my valet?’ Anika lamented. ‘I didn’t just magically appear here, you know. I came with staff.’

‘Leave a note instructing them to follow tomorrow, and swiftly,’ said Celeste, opening one of the trunks and pulling out a purple cloak trimmed in silver fur. ‘Oh, this isdivine.’

‘Take it,’ said Anika, breezily. ‘I have a dozen like it.’

‘And you can wear this one,’ she said to Rose, pulling out a thick red cloak lined with white fur. Rose and Celeste quickly changed back into their travelling dresses, and went to meet Shen and Kai in the stables.

Kai, now unchained, leaped up on his horse in one smooth movement, his whip slung around his waist. He caught Rose looking at it and gave her a wolfish grin. ‘You hardly expect me to take down your evil ancestor with my bare hands, do you?’

Rose gave him a tight smile as she mounted her own horse, desperately hoping she’d made the right decision. As they rode east, towards Wishbone Bay, the desert air thrummed with a sound she would never forget – the thunder of a thousand wraith horses galloping across the sands.

A warning to them all.

Wren

CHAPTER 27

When Wren left Willa’s chamber, it was late in the evening. She was too exhausted and much too hungry to think about where Oonagh Starcrest was at that precise moment, or how they might go about tracking her down. Alarik wasn’t faring much better, and so, on the advice of the Healer on High, they decided to spend the night in the mountain.

They retired to the dining hall, where three bowls of hearty venison stew sweetened with carrots and parsnips were waiting for them. There was crusty bread slathered in butter and generous carafes of pomegranate wine. Dessert was a pear and almond pie heaped with fresh cream, and for Elske, a huge meaty bone.

Despite the feast, Wren ate mostly in silence. She didn’t have the stomach for polite conversation. Every time she looked at Tor and saw that angry red cut on his cheek, she felt an awful twinge of guilt. She couldn’t seem to keep from hurting him, one way or another. In the dining hall under the mountain, healers milled around them. Wren could feel their eyes on her as she ate. Wondering, no doubt, what a queen of Eana was doing in the Mishnick Mountains with the fearsome king of Gevra and his towering soldier, still dressed as a soldier of Anadawn.

Wren’s thoughts soon turned to Rose. She hoped her sister had made it safely to the Sunkissed Kingdom. Wren wished she could tell her what Willa had discovered about the curse, and just how pressing their search for Oonagh had suddenly become.

When Wren finished eating, she excused herself from the table. She left the Gevrans to talk strategy – both of them expertly acting as if that awkward moment in the baths earlier had never happened, that it hadn’t cut through Tor like a knife – and Maeva led Wren to a vacant bedchamber up near the mouth of the mountain. The room was small but cosy. A single bed was piled with furs and cushions, lit up by an everlight that hung from the low ceiling. There was a basin in the corner, alongside fresh towels, a nightgown and some fragrant soap. Wren’s satchel and travelling clothes were there, too, clean and neatly folded for the morning.

‘It’s not quite fit for a queen,’ said Maeva, apologetically. ‘But it’s been many years since we received a visitor in these mountains.’

‘It’s perfect,’ said Wren, already sagging at the sight of the bed. ‘I’m so tired I could probably sleep standing up.’

Maeva smiled. ‘Ring the bell if you need anything, Your Majesty.’

‘Thank you, Maeva. I’m sure I’ll be just fine.’

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