“I am.”
“Foolishness. The Foxglove is a myth.”
“Is it?” Delilah replied. “I have brought a guest with me who knows the truth. Queen Rose does indeed possess the Foxglove, and with the assembly’s permission, my witness is prepared to prove it.”
Maddie’s heart caught in her throat as she watched the conversation unfold. It was like watching the room catch fire, and the blaze grew brighter and more terrifying with each passing moment. Her chest tightened as the door opened and the assembly began to murmur.
This isn’t possible, she thought. Rose, Maeve, Theresa, Finn, and Rain. They were the only ones who knew.
A woman in a long, dark robe walked into the room. Maddie shook her head as she neared the table and drew back her hood. Pale skin and coal-black eyes glistened in the firelight. Rose fixed her gaze on the intruder.
Gwynedd.
“Seize her,” Rose said. The guards began to move.
“This woman is under the protection of Aster!” Delilah snapped.
Brynna stood up. “Outrage!” she shouted. “This woman is the leader of a rogue state. She cannot speak here!”
Gwynedd laughed. “I’m glad you have so high an opinion of my people,” she said. “But you will be thankful for my rogue state in a moment. Had I not been in the area, Rose’s deception might have gone unnoticed.”
“She has relevant information,” Delilah said. “Is the Queen of Amaranth so afraid that she would suppress her testimony?”
The assembly began to nod, and one by one, the representatives broke their silence in support of Gwynedd. Maddie watched as Rose’s shoulders began to sag.
“Let her speak,” she said.
Gwynedd seemed to grow taller as she drew herself up to the table. “I’ll do better than that,” she said. “You will hear the evidence in the Foxglove’s own words.”
From the folds of her robes emerged a flat, metallic object. Maddie squinted through the low light. So much time had passed since the last time she saw a piece of technology, she almost failed to recognize it.
“This is a digital voice recorder,” Gwynedd said. “A human device with which I’m sure you are all familiar. It has been listening to this young woman’s conversations, and two days ago, it recorded this…”
The recording began to play, and Maddie listened in horror as her conversation with Finn and Kidhe trickled out into the room.
“I am the Foxglove. Being with me isn’t going to be easy,” she heard her voice say.
“A touching moment,” Gwynedd said when the recording finished. “But sentiments notwithstanding, she admitted to the fact herself. Rose and her highest lieutenants have been concealing her true nature from the moment she appeared.”
The ambassadors turned on Rose, raising their fists and voices as they shouted accusations of betrayal. Hatred burned across their faces. Only Brynna kept her seat.
Maddie threw herself onto Rose’s armrest. “Oh my god, Rose,” she said. “I am so sorry. I had no idea…”
Rose put a hand on Maddie’s arm. Her touch was soft, but her fingers were trembling. “It’s alright,” she said.
Maddie felt her throat close, and she bit back tears. Gwynedd stepped back from the table and Delilah took her place.
“Rose,” Delilah said. “On the authority of this assembly, I must ask that you submit yourself for arrest, turn over the Foxglove, and relinquish your throne.”
Rose sat back in her chair. “I will not.”
Delilah smiled. “The people of the Veil will not tolerate a tyrant. You leave us no choice but to take this nation from you.”
Toil and Trouble
Maeve stood over her. “Don’t reach. Invite.”
Maddie propped herself up on all fours, shuddering with fatigue on the laboratory floor as she watched her blackened veins pulse with magic.
The spell was a difficult one. For the Purging of Poison. Maddie was having trouble wrapping her head around it. How could a person be expected to open their mind to poison? It was perfectly safe, of course. The poison never actually entered the witch’s body, but feeling it… experiencing the vicious death of it…
Maddie shivered, recalling the insects they’d gone through during practice, the latest of which lay writhing on the table in front of her. The grub was about the size of a softball. Maddie could feel the relentless assault of the toxin as it attacked the creature’s systems, severing the basic threads of life. Bringing the sensation in was like injecting her chest with cyanide.
“This spell sucks,” Maddie said.
Maeve gave her a stern look. “This spell has saved more lives than I can count. The sensation will become familiar over time. As your body adjusts, the discomfort will fade.”
“Isn’t that a bit like developing a drug tolerance?”
“Of a sort,” Maeve said.
“And that’s good?”
“It is a matter of perspective. Witches are creatures of nature. To become more accustomed to its parts is to grow in your craft. You must cultivate a personal relationship with the world around you. Now, try again.”
Maddie hunkered down. Maeve was right about one thing. Having walked a mile in the shoes of the rocks, the dirt, the water, and the trees, very little remained that did not feel personal. This was the first time that the magic had connected her to an animal, and already she was thinking about becoming a vegetarian.
It was all about opening up. You didn’t just have to believe that you were connected; you had to feel it. You had to let the magic in and allow it to weave the world into your soul. It sounded easy. It sounded like the magic was doing most of the work, but in reality it was damned hard to let your mind allow the outside to exist inside. Every natural instinct went against it.
The grub began to still. Maddie’s heart raced with fear and confusion as its consciousness spilled into her mind. There wasn’t much time left.
“Stay calm,” Maeve said. “You can do it.”
Maddie forced a breath. “I’m trying. “
“Try harder. The fight-or-flight response will only make it harder for you to accept the spell. Clear your mind, and focus on your senses. Listen. Touch. Feel.”
“I feel like my skin is about to crawl off.”
Maeve didn’t answer. Maddie shut her eyes and tried again. As she opened her mind, the poison lurched into her chest, and her skin broke out into a cold sweat. The venom spread into her arms and legs, creeping out until it was practically welling up in the back of her throat.
“There. You have it,” Maeve whispered. “Now, complete the spell.”
Maddie choked, waiting until the last possible moment to make sure she got it all.
“Now!” Maeve said.
Maddie bent over and vomited. Black bile spilled out onto the floor as she heaved for breath. The grub uncurled and began to crawl away.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Maddie said, scrambling on her knees to catch it. “We’ve been through too much together.” She staggered to the shelves and took down a cage, placing the bug inside.
Maeve lifted an eyebrow. “Sentiment?”
“Call it a souvenir,” Maddie said. “Unless you’ve got a black cat lying around.”
Maeve fetched a mop from the corner. She handed it to Maddie. “We do not keep cats.”
Maddie staggered over to the sludge and cleaned it up as Rose and Theresa came down into the room.
“Well, we found it,” the princess said.
Maddie answered, “Where?”
Theresa held out the pendant from the Triple-C. There was a nail punched through it.
“A clever design. Who gave it to you?”
“A friend of mine from the city,” Maddie said, approaching to cup the pendant in her hands. “She didn’t show up for work yesterday.”
Maeve called an end to the practice session, and they gathered on the couches by the fire.
Rose gave Maddie a once-over. “Working hard?” she asked.
“Yes, your
majesty.”
“That’s a little formal,” Rose said with a smirk. “I thought we agreed that you could call me Rose.”
Maddie lowered her eyes. “It’s part of my training. Maeve wants me to adopt a more professional sense of decorum.”
Rose gave Maeve a critical look. “Seriously?”
“Yes, your majesty,” Maeve replied. “She may work for another house someday, and it is never too early to develop good habits.”
“Shall we get started?” Theresa asked. “I’ll have my people search the city for your friend, but my guess is that she was an Erlkin spy.”
“But she looked like a faerie,” Maddie said.
“No doubt thanks to Gwynedd’s magic.”
Maddie slouched in her seat. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I should have been more careful.”
“There was no way you could have known,” said Rose.
“Gwynedd is going to try to parlay this into a political takeover,” Theresa said. “Once you’re off the throne, she’ll swear fealty to Aster in exchange for it.”
“Will they give it to her?” Rose asked.
Theresa leaned back in her chair and shrugged. “It’s 50/50. They might choose to install someone of their own. Either way, we can’t leave. A government in exile is not an option. We’d never accumulate enough strength to get the city back.”
“So, what do we do next?” Maddie asked.
“Prepare to fight,” Theresa replied. “Raise an army, muster it to the gates, and pray that Delilah is bluffing.”
“Could she be?” said Maddie.
“Maybe. Wars are costly and seldom popular. If we put up enough resistance, we might be able to convince her to make a deal. Leave some people here to watch over you instead of hauling you off to Aster in a cage.”
Maddie’s eyes flicked over to Rose as apprehension gripped her chest. “Would they do that? Would they lock me up?”
“Undoubtedly,” Maeve answered.
Rose added, “But we’re not going to let that happen.”
Maeve opened a cabinet and produced a huge, woolen bag. It gave a glassy clink when she held it out to Maddie. “Take this,” she said.
Maddie looked inside. The wool sagged with the weight of heavy bottles, each bearing a tiny paper label, the results of countless hours of hard work and brutal practice. Maeve had collected every gram of excess potion she had not consumed.
“You saved them?” Maddie asked. “I thought you said bottles weren’t for apprentices.”
“Waste not, want not,” Maeve replied. “And your studies have been coming along nicely.”
Maddie reached into the bag and drew out a huge, black bottle. “And what’s this?”
“The Earth Sight unguent,” said Maeve. “Do not use it unless it is absolutely necessary. A witch’s task is to safeguard others. Pace yourself. You will be no good to anyone if you lose control.”
Maddie put it back inside the bag and shut the flap. “Got it.”
“How long will we have?” Rose asked Theresa.
“Two days,” Theresa said. “Three at the most. However long it takes them to get here.”
The sound of pounding footsteps came thundering down the stairs as Kidhe burst through the curtain covering the door. “Rose!” he shouted, leaning over to catch his breath.
She answered, “What is it?”
“We’ve got a problem.”
A few minutes later, Maddie and the others stood on the edge of the aviary roof, the highest vantage point in Amaranth. A thousand fires surrounded the city.
“They must have been en route for days,” Theresa said, staring down. “Ever since Gwynedd first got her hands on that recording, or even before.”
“You mean they’ve been planning this all along?” Maddie said.
Rose clenched her fists. “It would seem so.”
“I’m sorry, Rose,” Kidhe said, falling to his knees. “I should have seen them coming.”
Theresa looked down at him with a scowl. “Not to be too hard-nosed, but why didn’t you? An army can’t march through the forest without a trace.”
“Gwynedd,” Maeve said, cutting in. “And the Erlkin. They made their homes in the deep Veil only a few decades ago. Despite the loss of their society, there are certain to be many among them who remember its hidden paths. The wardens are not at fault.”
“Call out the volunteers and distribute weapons,” Rose said. “And muster the city watch. Our only chance is to hold them at the ramps. Kidhe, gather your wardens and prepare to repel an assault from the air.”
“Yes, majesty,” Theresa and Kidhe said in unison.
Maddie gazed down alongside Maeve and the queen, quiet for a long moment.
“This is really happening, isn’t it?” she said. “Why don’t you just hand me over?”
“That is not an option,” Rose said. “We do not trade lives in this city.”
“But people are going to die! I can’t let that happen if there’s something I can do about it. I’m not worth it.”
“That is not the point,” said Maeve. “Gwynedd serves only one purpose: obtaining the Foxglove. There is no way to predict what could happen if we delivered you into their hands. Above all else, she must be kept from your power.”
“And giving you up wouldn’t matter,” Theresa said. “Now that the politics are on her side, Delilah won’t settle for anything less than the city and the throne.”
“I thought you said she might make a deal.”
“That was before there was an army on our doorstep. If they’ve already committed to the effort, there’s no way they’re turning back. We just have to hope we can hold them off until they lose interest.”
“Can we?” Maddie asked.
“It’s unlikely. Aster’s army is formidable, and they’ve had days or even weeks to prepare.”
“We’ll need a backup plan,” Rose said. “Brynna and Ida. They can take Maddie out of the country.”
Theresa said, “I’ll let them know.”
The sound of drums rose up from the forest floor, and in the darkness, the footsteps of 10,000 soldiers beat into motion.
“Let’s go,” Rose said. “There isn’t much time.”
Battle Lines
Maddie adjusted the strap on her witching bag against her robes, and glanced over her shoulder. A formation of volunteers and city watchmen waited patiently for the battle to begin, lined up behind a deep thicket of spears and shields. Theresa’s call to action summoned over 5,000 faeries to the square. Only half of them were ready. The city watch was still distributing weapons and armor in the rear, where Rain and the palace staff were evacuating as many people as they could to the safety of the palace. The birds of the aviary brooded in the upper branches, ready to take to take flight with the wardens and repel an assault from the air. Earnest sat among them on a thick limb, a giant among his smaller kin.
The armies of Aster surrounded the city-tree’s trunk. Rose stood at the head of the formation with Finn, a full suit of armor hanging from her shoulders. The long blade of a sword as tall as Maddie hung strapped against her back. Maeve stood beside her with a witching bag of her own, and Maddie found her place behind her mistress. Together, they watched Theresa come up the ramp to rejoin the group.
“What did they say?” Rose asked.
Theresa scoffed. “Surrender the city and the Foxglove. We’ve been given 24 hours to leave. I told them to shove it.”
Rose took a long breath and unslung the blade from her back. “I guess it was inevitable,” she said.
Her daughter blew a shrill whistle through her teeth, and a pair of birds dropped down from the canopy. Kidhe was sitting on the first, guiding the other with a long rope. Theresa climbed up into the empty seat as Kidhe slid down to the ground.
“Remember,” Theresa said. “Hold here as long as you can. If you have to give ground, fall back all the way back to the palace. There’ll be no way to hold the city once they’re inside.”
A trumpet
blew across the sky as Aster’s army formed ranks and trudged up the winding ramp, coiling around the truck like a steel-gray vine. A field of spears glinted in torchlight, casting back reflections of their torches like a prairie on fire.
“I wonder where the Erlkin are,” Maddie said.
Theresa adjusted the straps on her saddle. “Oh, they’ll be along, just in time to mop up after the hard fighting. Gwynedd will want to keep them fresh.”
“Why?”
“So that she can generously offer to provide security and restore order. What a crock.” Having situated herself, the princess took up the reins and turned to face her mother. “Ready?”
Rose answered, “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”
“We can’t always pick our battles,” the princess said. “Sometimes our destiny comes to us. Right, Maddie?”
Maddie managed a weak smile and said, “I suppose so.”
The ground began to tremble, quaking under the weight of Aster’s booted feet.
“Delilah was right,” Rose said. “I should have taken care of Gwynedd long ago.”
Theresa cracked the reins. “It is what it is.”
Rose brought Maddie into a tight hug. “I’m sorry for all this,” she said. “You don’t deserve any of it.”
Maddie felt her chest go tight. “I’m not ready.”
“No one is ready for times like these. Just do your best. It will be enough.” She kissed her on the cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I don’t know why. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have to fight.”
Rose clasped her hands around Maddie’s. “If it weren’t you, it would have been something else. Just concentrate on staying safe.” Rose let her go and turned to Finn. “Both of you look after each other,” she said.
Maddie looked up at Theresa. “And you look after Kidhe.”
“Speaking of which,” the princess said, “we should be going.”
Kidhe glanced at Maddie nervously. “You be careful, okay?”
“I will,” Maddie said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “You know, I feel like I should have something more important to say, but we only just got started.”
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