Page 17 (2/2)

"We can’t," I said "We’ve just got to hide out" I turned to I? Can you turn us all to peasants again?"

She nodded "We’ve got to get out of sight, though"

Her confidence was a s up four illusions now, and her strength had been a concern in all this, that and soh -

"It’s her! It’s the Thorn Queen!"

The shrieking voice that suddenly drew all eyes to us didn’t co the huddled refugees She reminded me of Masthera, hite hair and wild eyes She was pointing at us, and there was so quality that h the illusions to us

"Damn," said Imanuelle There was both fear and hurt pride in her voice Although this had been a possibility, I knew she’d secretly felt her poere too strong for detection Maybe the four of us had stretched her ht that one shout would be enough to pull attention to us, not in the chaos out there Yet, the woht silence to those nearby They turned to stare at us, and soon, others who hadn’t heard her noticed the reactions and fell quiet as well

"Hush," snapped a guard, finally breaking the confused silence He was one of the ones keeping the civilians out of the way "We have no time for this"

The old woman shook her head adamantly "Can’t you see? Can’t you see theht there!"

The guard’s face darkened "I told you, we - "

His jaw dropped because that hen the guards who’d been on gate duty earlier approached They ca at us in complete shock If we hadn’t panicked over the alare the illusion so we looked like the unconscious soldiers, not the ones ould have to pass by again It was a bad, bad oversight, and now everyone could see us and ourat the old wo was going on "Seize theues and decided to cover his bases "Seize them too"

Other soldiers ly I sized up the nuood, but I didn’t think Kiyo and I could take that many in melee Jasmine came to that same conclusion

"Blow them up," she said "We can blow our way out of here"

By ’we,’ sheabout storms, not explosions Some part of me had already known that was the answer Barely even realizing it, I su the beautiful, sunny day in the Rowan Land quickly fade Black and purple clouds tu so close to us that the ground tre and falling

It had co soldiers halted The old woht of thatthat no ood that Eugenie Markhaht be a wartime ene’s daughter, and that was not a title taken lightly They knehat I could do, and it was enough to freeze up years of training

"Let us pass," I said I began slowlya moment later "Let us pass, or I’ll let this store One breath, and I can let it go" Thunder and lightning crackled above us, driving home my point There were small screams from some of the crowd "Do you knohat that kind of storm will do in an area this small? To all of you?"

"It will kill them," a voice suddenly said "Horribly"

I looked over toward the castle’s entrance and saw Katrice herself standing there Guards hurried to flank her, but she held up a hand to halt the tionistic contact had been through er and letter She looked like she had at our last , black hair laced with silver and dark eyes that scrutinized everything around her She was in full regal ray satin and a sht difference She looked older than the last tiether Leith’s death and this war had taken their toll

I stared her straight in the eye, rief inout within, winds of fury and anger swirling around and around inside me

"Drop the spell," I said to I at her I wanted to be face-to-face with Katrice, and honestly, it wasn’t like le, and a few gasps told ht smile crossed Katrice’s lips

"Yes," she continued, "you could unleash a store part of this wall, this castle You could most certainly destroy all these people - which is what you’re good at, right? You put on this lofty pose about protecting lives, yet somehow, death always follows you You leave it in your wake, just as Tirigan did But at least he had no delusions about what he was doing"

The coer indarker and the air pressure intensifying

"Go ahead," said Katrice "Show me your storm"

"You don’t have to kill them," said Jasmine beside ht? Was that all it would take? I could kill Katrice, no question One unexpected bolt of lightning, and she’d be gone If ic was similar to Shaya’s: a connection and control with plant-life As a queen, someone with the ability to conquer a land, Katrice possessed that power to levels that dwarfed Shaya’s It was probably why the trees and plants here were so beautiful It was also probably e hadn’t been attacked yet This inner courtyard around the castle was cleared land, hard-packed dirt that facilitated travel for guards, merchants, and other visitors If we’d been outside the walls, I would have likely had a foreston me by now

"You can do that too," said Katrice, still trying to baitto prolong her life or trying to catch uard for some other attack "Kill me in cold blood Just like you did my son It’s in your nature"

"It’s not cold blood in wartirowled "And your son deserved it He was a weak, cowardly bastard who had to lie and drug woet what he wanted"

This htly, but she didn’t hesitate to return the arrow "But he did get what he wanted He got you He couldn’t have been that weak"

Those words stung, but before I could respond, a young man slipped into place beside her His rese to her and Leith that there could be no question of his identity: Cassius, her nephew The rage withinhim reminded me of what he’d , replaced by pure fury

"You should have let this go," I told Katrice, my voice perfectly level "You should have accepted Leith’s death as punishment for what he did An even slate Lives have been lost because of you More will be now"

One bolt One bolt, and she was dead Hell, I could probably take out Cassius with it too

"Eugenie," said Kiyo "Don’t Don’t do it"

"What else am I supposed to do?" I breathed, out of the others’ earshot

"I warned you before there would be consequences Please listen to ain"

"What do you expect me to do?" My voice was louder I didn’t care who heard "This is wartime I kill their leader I win Otherwise, I let hell loose in here, and these people die Which do you want, Kiyo? Pick - or else find another way"

He didn’t respond, but Katrice’s tight s dissent within hter I’et you with child His plan seemed wise at first, but it’s better h the gods kno much Leith tried He told me about it Often Ah, well I suppose we’ll know soon how Cassius fared "

Her gaze lingered slightly on Jasuises

"Eugenie - " Jasmine tried to speak, but I didn’t want to listen

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I deet out I was changinghow I’d killed Aeson, literally blowing hi the water from his body There were soabout hu, and despite that sret in her eyes "I have a feeling I’ll die one way or another today I just want everyone to know the truth about you before I do"

I froze I’d told Kiyo to give me another option, and he’d had none But there was one other

"The truth," I said slowly, reaching towardto die today But you’ll wish you had"

I can only assume what happened next was born out of pure eer and despair her words about me and Jasmine had evoked Situational adrenaline probably played a role too, andwell, enes after all

I pulled the Iron Crown froone Those who recognized the crown displayed similar fear, audible and visible Others just stared curiously

"No," she gasped "No Please don’t"

I think until that moment, she hadn’t truly believed I had the crown I also think that had I demanded it, she would’ve named whatever terms of surrender I wanted But I didn’t want si I wanted her to suffer, just as I had

Soabout humiliation

I placed the crown on ic - I knew exactly what to do The iron athame was still in my hand, and I crouched doith it Katrice dropped to her knees too, but it was in supplication

"Please," she begged again, tears in her eyes "Anything I’ll do anything you want"

"You’re right," I said "You will"

I slammed the blade down - and pierced the land’s heart