Page 104 of The Iron Flower

I hesitate to answer. Clive told me to mention his name to heronlyin private, but refusing to answer honestly seems like a bad idea right now. So, I take a deep breath and say, “Clive Soren.”

The side of Freyja’s mouth twitches and her posture becomes abruptly taller, her weapon higher, as if my words are a challenge.

An Urisk-featured Amaz soldier near Freyja shoots her a murderous look. This woman is easily the largest soldier here, broad and muscular, her coloring rose-white like Fernyllia’s and Fern’s, her rose hair short and spiked, her ears pointed. Her face is densely tattooed with small, circular runes, giving her skin the appearance of having scales.

I swallow nervously. “We went to Keltania to ask for his help in freeing the Selkies.”

“You were in Keltania? Meeting withClive Soren?” Commander Vin seems furious. She shoots her sister a quelling glare.

“Yes,” I tell her. I turn back to Freyja. “He told us the Amaz may be willing to help us. The Mage Council is on the brink of killing all of the Selkies in the Western Realm. We need armed help to rescue them all.”

Marina’s musical voice rings out. “Elloren Gardner speaks the truth.”

Another collective gasp.

“Avenging Goddess,” Freyja breathes. “She speaks.”

“Explain this, Kam Vin,” the gray-clad sorceress demands, seeming stunned.

Commander Vin ignores her, focused only on me. “Elloren Gardner, explain yourself.”

“Explainmyself?” I cry. “I just did! Why don’tyouexplain why you’re all trying tokillme?”

“We cannot allow the Black Witch into Amaz lands,” the gray-clad sorceress explains grimly.

“I amnotthe Black Witch!” I vehemently insist. “I’ve been wandtested. I’m a Level One Mage.”

“She is powerless,” Commander Vin affirms. “I tested her myself.”

“There is one named Fallon Bane,” Diana interjects, almost conversationally. “She’s likely to be the next Black Witch, and you should smite her immediately.”

“We know of this one,” Freyja puts in somberly, her eyes flicking to Diana. “She is no Black Witch.”

“They say her magic grows stronger by the day,” Diana counters, “whereas Elloren Gardner has none.”

The gray-clad sorceresses lower their stars in unison, and the Amaz look around at each other in bewilderment, as if trying to figure out what to do.

“What is your quest, Elloren Gardner?” Freyja asks me in a tone of confusion.

“To meet with your queen,” I answer. “To petition her for help in freeing the Selkies.”

Freyja motions toward Marina. “And...how, exactly, did you come upon this Selkie?”

“I freed her.”

“With magic?” the gray-clad sorceress asks suspiciously.

I glower at her. “I just told you that I have no magic.”

“Then how?” Freyja presses.

I shrug. “We unchained her and just...made a run for it.”

“Made a run for it,” Freyja repeats.

My temper flares. “Because I haveno magic. I may looklike my grandmother, but I have none of her power.”

“She was despised by many,” Freyja informs me gravely.

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