Page 101 of The Iron Flower

“No men indeed,” Diana huffs as she strides next to me through the wintry, snow-patched woods. “And what, pray tell, would the Amaz do if all the men were suddenly gone and they were Queens of Erthia? Would they grow trees from which would sprout new Amaz daughters?”

Diana has been on a good half-hour-long tear about the flaws in Amaz thinking and how dare they consider themselves superior to the Lupines and why the Lupines are, in fact, superior to them. My head is starting to throb with worry just listening to her. It’s beginning to seem like sheer madness to bring Diana, who’s pretty incapable of tact, on a diplomatic mission to implore the Amaz to help the Selkies.

But we’ll need her protection. Venturing into Amaz lands without an invitation is beyond dangerous.

Walls of Spine-stone tower above the treetops to either side of us as we hike through the long, slender ribbon of forest cutting through the only break in the Northern Spine.

Straight toward the Amaz border.

Rafe follows Diana closely, listening to her impassioned, indignant speech with his usual, wry good humor. Trystan, Andras and Jarod walk silently behind them, all three of them seeming lost in their own thoughts.

Yvan strides beside me as we weave through evergreen trees cast in late-afternoon shadow. His fire power is simmering with an almost vibrating tension, the edges of it fitful and flashing out randomly. I can sense him struggling to hold it in check, but there’s an aura of heat building, dangerously close to breaching all control.

Marina needs to get out of here, I worriedly consider,but so do you. Before the wrong person discovers what you are.

I glance over at Marina, who’s walking hand in hand with Gareth, the two of them having fallen into an intense friendship—and possibly more. I’ve gotten used to falling asleep to the sound of Gareth’s low, kind voice and Marina’s flute-like inflections emanating from the North Tower hallway as they converse late into the night.

Diana’s sharply critical voice pulls me from my thoughts. “...and if my father has to hear one more time about how we’ve stolen their male children from them, children they’ve left todiein the woods, I think he would be quite justified in pointing out what hypocritesthey truly are—”

“Diana,” I cut in, perhaps a bit too forcefully. She rounds on me, her expression irked. “You’re going tohaveto make an effort to keep your views to yourself when we get there.”

“Or what?” Diana shoots back dismissively. “They will threaten me with one of their rune-weapons? They are no match for me.”

“There it is,” Andras announces as we reach a break in the forest and step out onto a snow-covered field. Andras points across the field to where a dark wall of trees lies ready to meet us. “That’s the border, just up ahead.”

We all slow to a stop.

The men in our group can walk across the field, but no farther. And under no circumstances can they follow us over that borderline of trees. Any men found on Amaz land are killed. There are no negotiations, no exceptions to the rule. Everyone has heard stories of hapless male travelers crossing the border by accident, only to have their heads split in two by a sharp rune-axe.

Marina, Diana and I will be entering those woods alone.

“How will we find the Amaz?” I ask Andras.

Andras smiles slightly at this. “You won’t need to find them. Once you pass into their territory, they’ll find you.” His expression grows serious. “Remember to bow low before the queen. Don’t make eye contact until she acknowledges you. And don’t step on the threshold when you enter their dwellings.”

Diana listens impatiently, her arms crossed tightly, as Andras reminds us of the most important etiquette points. Yvan regards me quietly, his fire flaring restlessly, as Rafe and Andras try to impress upon a stubborn Diana the importance of diplomacy here. Trystan has his wand out and is eyeing the line of trees with dark appraisal as he converses in low tones with Jarod.

I follow Trystan’s gaze across the field and toward the brooding forest, reluctant to part from the men in our party. From everything I’ve read about the Amaz, they don’t take kindly to strangers wandering into their lands—even female strangers.

And here I am, the double of the greatest enemy they’ve ever known.

“Are you ready, Elloren?” Yvan asks, a tendril of his fire magic breaking free and reaching for me.

I nod apprehensively, glancing toward the forest again.

“You can do this,” he says encouragingly, a slim edge of gold limning his green eyes.

I look over at Marina, who is embracing Gareth, saying her goodbyes. “We have to,” I tell Yvan, grimly resolved. “There’s not a lot of time left. The Mage Council will be voting on my aunt’s motion soon.”

He nods, the gold in his eyes briefly intensifying, his fire whipping out toward me. He glances uneasily at the border, holding himself rigid, but his fire wraps around me protectively.

We both hesitate, attempting to hold ourselves back from each other as our fires build and the boundaries between us rapidly break down.

Yvan steps close and pulls me into a heated embrace. I cling to him, burrowing my face in his shoulder as our fire powers surge free to encompass each other.

“Be careful, Elloren,” he whispers, his breath hot on my ear. “This is dangerous. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will,” I promise, moved by his impassioned concern.

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