Page 149 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

Besides, we’d reached the entrance of the Cursed City.

The last time we were here, all four of us had bargained with the stone hags for a special kind of moss that would help with our plans to sneak into Regner’s castle. Nothing much had changed. For the Cursed City, at least.

Once a grand capital, it was now reduced to a haunting vista of decay and desolation. I’d heard of the majestic buildings that had once stood here, the lively streets and prosperous people. Now, it was nothing more than a wreckage of crumbled ruins, the skeletons of buildings jutting from the ground like broken bones.

Bones and wild foliage that had reclaimed the land, creeping over much of the fallen stone. The air was heavy with dust still, and a mournful wind whispered through the remnants of the city. I would die before I admitted it to Marth, but this place had always made the hair on my arms stand up.

The hags knew we were here. They always knew. Unlike our last visit, they didn’t play games.

They appeared from the ruins, their gray skin matching the stone that remained as they lumbered toward us. Just as before, one of them wore a crown made of tourmaline.

Beneath me, my horse shifted uneasily as I surveyed the hag. This was not the same queen I’d originally bargained with.

Because that queen was standing to our left, screaming soundlessly.

“You killed the one who previously wore that crown,” I said, my gaze lingering on the tourmaline

“She broke her word.” The hag turned her face to glance at one of the others, and I recognized her then. This was the one who’d whispered into the queen’s ear when she’d resorted to extortion at the last moment during our deal. It was this stone hag who’d convinced the queen to change her mind and honor the original deal.

“And were you involved with the plan to tell Regner who he was?” Marth asked.

“No. When I learned of her duplicity, I challenged her for the crown.”

“And why would you do that?”

The tourmaline in her crown glinted as she angled her head in that slow way the hags moved.

“Because I hear the stones lying in the rivers. The stones used to cobble streets and build homes. I hear the whispers from the stone you call trowth, and I hear the stones used to build castles and armories across this continent.”

“You hear our messages?” Irritation flickered through me. Irritation, and something darker. Something that made the hag blink at me, an expression that might have been fear slipping across her gray face. I’d often wondered at the hags’ abilities to somehow know exactly what it was that a bargainer was looking for before they approached them. But knowing they’d been listening to everything our people said while using trowth stones…

Suddenly, they’d become much, much more of a threat.

“Only one who wears this crown may listen,” she said quickly. “And I know only what the stones choose to pass along to me. There are two reasons why you have comehere today.”

“Yes.”

“You can see the dead.”

I nodded.

“And even though you have blocked those who wish you harm, you still want to know how to make it stop.”

Several hags muttered. Marth’s horse shifted to the left, and I caught Marth glowering at them.

“They merely wonder why you would reject such a gift,” the queen said.

“For the most part, it is not a gift. The dead appear without warning, and they seem as alive as you and I. They’re…a distraction.”

That was an understatement.

“There is one who can remove that power from you,” she said. “One day, he will come to you for help. But it will not be for many years. In the meantime, I give you this advice… The dead have only the power you give them.”

Marth gave a slow clap. “How profound.” The hag queen ignored him.

I buried the disappointment that clawed at me. As soon as Cavis found his peace, I would find a way to reverse this curse. And if not, I would live with it. In the meantime, we had a war to win.

“And Regner?” I asked.

---