Page 120 of Across an Endless Sea

The púca nods, sucking in a breath like he’d forgotten to breathe. “She’s not doing it consciously, and she’s never done it while actively leaning on her connection to Danu, which is concerning. With practice, and the Goddess’s power, could anyone resist her?”

“Necromancy and charm,” I mutter, crossing my arms. “Danu better know what she’s doing.”

Our tiny Nicnevin is a magical powerhouse.

“The nobles are going to freak,” Jaro agrees. “Diana’s empathy was hard enough for them to accept…”

Lore sighs. “This is boring,” he complains. “I’m going to go find the puppy.”

I grab his arm before he can blink away. “You’re going to bring all of us to Kitarni, and then we can break it to Rose together.”

Bree nods. “We promised not to keep it from her.”

Jaro rubs the back of his neck, conflicted. “She may not react well.”

“She reacted better than us to her necromancy,” I retort. “Besides, we’re not certain yet. Kitarni will know more.”

High Priests and Priestesses are connected to their Nicnevin from their birth. If our suspicions are correct, Kitarni will be able to verify them.

Then what?

“She needs to learn to control it, fast,” Jaro mutters, reading my thoughts. “If anyone in the other courts even suspects she’s using her powers on them…”

It will cause a riot—possibly even a rebellion. The last thing we need is a second war of seasons on top of the war with the Fomorians.

“After we’re certain, we’ll keep the knowledge in her court as long as possible.” I rub my temples. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We need to find Kitarni first,” I reiterate, looking at the redcap.

Lore rolls his eyes. “Walk.”

Then he blinks away.

Why that insolent—

“Come on,” Jaro interrupts. “Bree, are you with us?”

The púca still looks out of it, but he trails behind us as we rush from the room.

Fortunately, we’re not forced to hunt the High Priestess down, because Lore blinks her to us as we reach the foyer of the palace.

They’re alone. Rose isn’t with them.Where is she?

Bree asks the obvious question before I can.

“She went for a walk,” Kitarni says, swallowing. “Lore told me what you think…”

“And?” I demand, losing patience.

“It feels right,” Kitarni admits. “It even makes sense with her symbol. The rose… it was never about flowers or plants. It was because the flower was in place of a tongue.”

The breath leaves my lungs, and Bree lets out a strangled sound of disbelief.

“She needs to know,” Jaro says. “Where is she?”

As one we turn to Lore, who groans. “I’ll take her to her room,” he finally agrees. “But you can get there yourselves. I’m too pretty to ferry you all over the castle!”

He jumps, disappearing mid-air and leaving the rest of us to trudge up the hundreds of stairs to Rose’s garden.

Thirty-Seven

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