Page 111 of The Iron Flower

“Well, well,” the queen says, her deep voice wizened and heavily accented. “This is a night of surprises. Can it be true? The granddaughter of Carnissa Gardner has come to petition the Queen of the Amaz for help?”

“It is true, Queen Alkaia,” I say into the red-patterned rug. “I am Elloren Gardner, and we seek your aid.”

Angry sounds erupt, filling the dome, and I stiffen in response. Eventually, the incensed noises recede, and I realize the queen must have motioned for silence. I venture a glance up at her.

“Rise, travelers,” Queen Alkaia directs, a wry note to her tone. Marina, Valasca and I straighten, but remain on our knees.

“Valasca,” Queen Alkaia says with amusement, her eyes lighting on our companion, “it was kind of you to agree to act as guard to these travelers.”

Valasca rises to her feet, smiling broadly, and bows gracefully to the queen with a dramatic flourish. “I am at your service, Queen Alkaia, and happy to act as chaperone to our Gardnerian guest.”

Queen Alkaia smirks. “Hmm. See that you don’t chaperone hertooclosely, Valasca. I do not need the entire Gardnerian military amassed on our border, intent on stealing back the granddaughter of the Black Witch.”

Steal back?What is she talking about?

“Elloren Gardner,” Queen Alkaia says, growing serious, “there are many here who remember what your grandmother did to our people. There is talk that you should be struck down, as your grandmother should have been, before her powers reached their zenith.”

Murmurs of assent well up, and I slump down, alarmed.

“I have no power,” I insist, my voice unsteady. “I’m no threat to any of you.”

“And yet you have brought a most dangerous guard.” The queen looks at Diana, who is in her usual confident stance, completely at ease and unintimidated.

“I am Diana Ulrich of the Gerwulf Pack.” I wait to hear her entire family tree, down to the last cousin, and am amazed when she stops there. Diana shoots me a smug look before turning back to Queen Alkaia. “Elloren Gardner is soon to be a sister to me, and I have come here as her bodyguard. She rescued Marina the Selkie from a vile man who should be slain immediately, and she wishes to raise an army to free the other Selkie women.”

The hall breaks out into complete confusion. Marina, perhaps seeing this as her cue, hesitantly forces herself to her feet, her silver hair glinting in the rune-light.

“Speak, Selkie,” Queen Alkaia orders, a hush once again falling over the room. “If it is, in fact, true that you can.”

Marina pulls her gills in flat, her face determined. “We need your help, Queen Alkaia,” she says in an unsteady voice. “My people are being held prisoner by the Gardnerians, and their Mage Council is about to rule to have us slaughtered.”

Shocked whispers fill the room. “So, it is true,” Queen Alkaia observes wonderingly. “The Selkie speaks.”

After studying Marina for a long moment, the queen turns back to me, her eyes narrowing. “Elloren Gardner. Do you understand why the sorceress, Ni Vin, has been sent to guard you?”

“There is a fear that I’m the Black Witch of Prophecy,” I say. “Since I resemble my grandmother.”

“You lookexactlylike your grandmother,” Queen Alkaia puts in sharply.

Vexation flares. “That may be true, but I am unlike her in many ways. And I have absolutely no access to magic.” I spare a brief glance at Ni Vin. “I don’t understand why you feel I need a Vu Trin guard, to tell you the truth.”

More unsettled murmuring ripples through the crowd. Queen Alkaia turns to stone-still Ni Vin and considers her speculatively. “And you, Sorceress? Do you believe this Gardnerian’s aims are what she says they are?”

Ni Vin regards me thoughtfully. “I do,” she finally affirms. “She did a brave thing, freeing the Selkie. I believe she is like her grandmother in looks only.”

The hall erupts into another wave of angry protest. Queen Alkaia waits patiently, as if carefully gauging the situation.

“And where did you get your wounds, Sorceress?” Queen Alkaia asks Ni Vin when the crowd finally stills.

Ni Vin stiffens. “At the hands of Carnissa Gardner.”

There’s a fresh eruption of furious voices, and Ni Vin waits for the livid protests to subside before continuing. “It was during the Realm War,” she explains, devoid of emotion. “The Black Witch rained fire down on my people as she pushed east, and my sister’s home was hit by one of her fireballs. I lost my entire family that day, save my sister. I was cursed to live.”

A wave of shame jettisons through me. I suspected that Ni Vin was wounded during the Realm War, but to hear her state it so plainly is devastating.

“Yet you are willing to give this girl a chance?” Queen Alkaia asks.

“I am, but only because of the Selkie.”

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