Page 97 of Knight's End
“Peace.”
Enderson glanced down at my wrists and shook his head. “Your magic makes you weak. You cannot offer it to all of my soldiers.”
I nodded. “That’s true.”
Ryan called out from above. “I can learn to do what Declan did—”
But I held up a hand to stop him. I stared up at the general. “I heard a sad story. That many of you were tricked into joining this army. How many of your soldiers would rather have eternal peace?”
The general studied me for a long moment. “You have no such magic. Only the most powerful magic can put us to rest. A wizard once tried to end us and failed.”
For some reason, in that moment, I knew he spoke of Donaloo. My hand went to the little potion on my neck and clutched at it, feeling connected, even though he was gone. “I’m sorry he failed. I’m fairly certain he was sorry, too.”
I pulled out my coin purse and took out the single red flower that Dini had given me. I handed it to the general. “One of your captains is named Posey. Her mother is a flower sprite. And she’s currently guarding a cache of death amulets for me. If you and your soldiers help, I promise to take you there. And any of your soldiers who want eternal peace shall find it.”
General Enderson raised a hand and had one of his lackeys march down the line to find Posey. When she came toward us, I couldn’t help the small smile that crossed my face. Though she resembled her mother, there was a skip to her step that was distinctly Donaloo’s.
Enderson handed her the flower and Posey clutched at it. He whispered softly to her. She glanced at me and nodded.
Enderson clomped forward. “I have a hedgewitch here. If she scries these amulets, then we will help you.”
I nodded, my heart leaping in my throat. It took all my years of castle-imposed self-restraint not to whoop like a banshee. Instead, I stood calmly, while my claim was confirmed.
Connor descended and pulled the arrow out of my shoulder, healing me as we waited for the hedgewitch to scry the truth. As soon as she nodded, whispers spread down the line of the undead faster than the wind. A torrent of words whipped around the army.
Captain Enderson gave me a full smile, revealing several teeth had fallen out of his rotting gums. “Queen Bloss, it appears we are yours to command.”
* * *
The undead could march under the sea, they’d magicked their troops, so they didn’t float on the water. They could move through it as easily as the air. So could our gargoyles. We couldn’t. They had spent years preparing for undersea warfare. We hadn’t.
They had harpoons and spears to use against the magical sea creatures. Half of them had ripped off their own ears to become impervious to the sirens’ songs. The other half did so as we watched.
I had to turn away. The sight made my stomach churn as ears were tossed to the ground like peanut shells and seagulls swooped down en masse to snap them up.
General Enderson and his captains spoke excitedly, over one another. They’d only been allowed to protect Gitmore, never to full on attack the sea. But they’d sent out scouts and prepared for attacks. Practiced. They knew exactly where Mayi was located. And they knew about a concentration of sea-ghosts as well.
So, we had a direction.
But then we had to determine how exactly my knights and I could join the undead underwater.
Our solution made my stomach cramp with fear.
My hands trembled as we walked into the sea. I watched the waves part in front of us, not touching us, swishing and splashing as Ryan leaned on his cane and multiplied the air, reducing the water in front of us. The air cut a path through the waves. They were held back by walls of air, but I could see the currents wavering on either side of us.
“Sard it all, Ry, are you sure about this?” Connor asked as we took another few steps forward. The rocky ocean floor dipped beneath our feet. We reached the edge of the continental shelf. We were about to walk down a ridge into the middle of the sea. The walls of water on either side of us grew hundreds of feet high as that ridge descended. If Ryan lost his concentration, we’d all drown.
“Shut it,” Ryan growled.
“He needs to focus,” Declan pushed Connor lightly. “Be quiet. You have no idea how hard it is to be specific with this magic.”
Quinn hopped down a boulder and reached a hand back to help me climb down in my idiotic dress. Perfect for meeting with foreign queens, it was constantly getting hung up on the coral.He could just switch out the whole ocean for air.
“And what, condemn a whole kingdom to die?” Declan scoffed. “Great plan.”
“I’m with Dec,” Blue joined in the argument. “Besides, think of the smell of all those dead fish.”
I took a deep breath, to gather my temper. We were all on edge. “One step at a time,” I told my knights. “First step, calm the hell down.”
