Page 59 of Degradation

Yet I did feel disappointment and unease. My own. They’d resisted telling me who they were because they’d feared I would run once I knew. And they were right. In what world could one woman marry the seven princes of Turre?

“Is that what you’ve been doing these last few days, then?” I asked, trying to distract myself. “Finding casters in hiding? Potential friends?”

“Yes and no,” Brandle said. “Finding them isn’t so simple. First, we needed to meet friends of the old crown that Andrew knew. And their acquaintances. And theirs. Slowly, we are building a network of contacts and gaining more information with each introduction.

“Those meetings are how we located Pogwid. We’d hoped that she would know of others, but the spell she asked you to cast on her was also cast by all the other powerful casters she knew,” Brandle said.

I sighed, feeling decidedly defeated.

“Can one thing in my life just come easily?”

Darian’s humor exploded around me as he discreetly covered his mouth and coughed.

“You are not as funny as you think,” I said, stalking toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Brandle asked. His need to stop me warred with his need to trust me.

“Pogwid’s.”

“What about a biscuit?” Garron asked.

“I’ll grab something in the market.”

“You can’t go alone,” Edmund said. Before I could argue, he added, “None of us should. You were right that it was dangerous for Brandle to leave Liam yesterday. All in agreement?”

The dratted men all voted in favor.

“Who had nothing else already planned for the day?” I asked.

In answer, Garron hurriedly joined me.

We left without speaking, and I tried to convey an outward appearance of a calm maiden as we made our way to Pogwid’s. The ever-present tingle of warning increased with each step, and I took more care to watch for patrols and avoid them.

Like the day before, Pogwid greeted me with, “Something is different.”

“Yes. I’ve learned the truth of just how much of a royal pain in the arse they all are,” I said, sitting heavily in the chair Pogwid favored.

The older woman arched a brow at me then cast a speculative look at Garron.

“She knows who we are but is more unhappy with the delay we are experiencing than our identities.”

I didn’t contradict him.

“Is there no other way to contact casters like you?” I asked.

“None,” she said. “If there had been, we would have all been discovered before now.”

“And even with what I healed yesterday, you are not enough to face the queen?” I asked.

Pogwid laughed, but not unkindly. “That you see me in such a light is humbling, child, but even if there were ten of me, we would not be strong enough. Perhaps when she first ascended, but maybe not even then. Remember the stone I showed you?” She waved at it on the shelf behind her. “The queen has many of them on her person. In the crown she wears, adorning her ears and fingers, on a chain around her neck and even her wrists and ankles. She has more power than you can fathom.

“How many casters will we need to dethrone her?”

“All of them.”

My frustration erupted with enough intensity that the lid flew off my well. The air exploded with color as the cottage rumbled.

Pogwid paled as Garron set his hand on my shoulder. His concern and love were enough for me to regain control and close the well once more.

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