Page 70 of Heart of the Summer Queen

She stops. “I did.”

Elaric’s expression darkens. If Belinda refuses to hand over the sword, there’s nothing we can do.

“And you’re going to break your word?” I ask, consequences be damned. All I can see is my sister’s face, frozen forever.

Holding my breath, I wait for more vines to race toward me. To tear through me.

But the woods are unnervingly still.

“You dare to accuse me of such a thing, girl?” Her eyes gleam as she speaks, hinting at the deadly power she holds.

My throat dries. Knowing how precariously I’m currently playing with my life, I opt to stay silent, hoping her rage will pass.

“You should be grateful I don’t take your tongue for such careless words,” she hisses.

I flinch inwardly.

Belinda’s gaze pierces mine before she turns back to the hollow tree. “Follow me,” she says and then vanishes through the strange door.

I glance at Elaric, and he nods to where Belinda is disappearing into the tree. Though he protested about allying with her last time, now he seems willing to follow her into the unknown. His previous concerns were for my safety, but maybe he now thinks the prize is worth the risk. With the sword within reach, ending this may outweigh all else.

I stop before the tree trunk and reach out to the emerald light pouring from the dark opening. As my fingertips brush themagic, my skin tingles, the sensation spreading up my arm. It feels like bubbles fizzing and bursting around me.

I dare to take another step into the light until it envelops me.

Then wind blasts into me, and the tingling stops.

Once my eyes adjust, I realize I’m on the other side of the portal. Below, trees stretch all around me, and I’m standing upon the hill which Belinda makes her home.

The rustling of leaves is accompanied by the bubbling of the swamp ahead. The stench is even more terrible than I remember, and it takes all of my willpower not to pinch my nose.

Elaric steps out from the tree, the grim look on his face indicating that he finds Belinda’s strange magic as unsettling as I do.

Sudden movement to the left catches my eye. I turn to see Belinda weaving vines into a bridge, extending it across the swamp to reach her toadstool hut. Barely has it formed before she walks across it.

Not wanting her to change her mind, I start across it tentatively. When she doesn’t retract the vines to throw me into the deadly swamp, I quicken my pace, Elaric close behind.

Belinda doesn’t hold the door for us as we enter. She has already disappeared into the back room. While it’s mid-afternoon, there are few windows in here and so her dim cottage relies on the central hearth for light.

As Belinda doesn’t invite us to sit, we stay standing while awaiting her return. Fortunately, she reappears swiftly.

She stops before us and holds out a bundle, wrapped in cloth and secured by a coarse thread. As I take it from her, I can feel its rigid edges beneath the cover. Though there’s little doubt that the object is a sword, whether it’s the Sword of Veliantis is another matter entirely.

Elaric reaches over and pulls on a thread, unraveling it and tearingaside the cloth.

Firelight glints across the exposed metal, blinding in its brilliance. Rubies encrust the golden hilt, sparkling like droplets of fresh blood.

Taking the sword from my arms, Elaric makes for the door. I hesitate, fearing an abrupt exit may further antagonize Belinda. Making an enemy of her seems unwise. We may require her assistance again in the near future.

“Leaving so soon?” Belinda calls after him.

Elaric stops in the doorway but doesn’t turn back. “We have fulfilled our end of the bargain, as have you. Our dealings here have reached their end.”

“You wish to kill Isidore, do you not?” Belinda presses. The lilt to her voice ripples across my skin.

“Yes,” I say steadily, burying any traces of distrust, “we do.”

“And do you know where to find her?”

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