Ellery chewed her lip as she considered his theories. Her own doubts aside, it was hard to focus with him watching her. Despite everything she’d told him, she could find no trace of fear or revulsion in his expression.
This close, his freckles accentuated the honey brown of his irises.
“You said you got a new prophecy piece in Oldermere,” she spoke at last. “What was it?”
“‘What long laid buried lies only in wait,’” he recited. “‘Silent land in need of resurrection.’”
It perfectly matched the prophecy piece Ellery herself had received, in rhythm, in tone. She parsed through the riddle of the words. Resurrection implied death. And there was only one piece of land she could think of that was gone, that was silent.
“It’s the Barren,” she breathed, remembering what Glynn had shown her: that blank space on the map of Gallamere, the site of the dead alban tree.
“The what?”
“It must be. And I know exactly where we need to go. It’s right at the edge of the city.”
Barrow sucked in a breath and withdrew from his pocket, oddly, a dandelion. No matter how much he worried the stem, it never wilted, and its petals never drooped.
“What are you suggesting?” he asked carefully.
“That the Council won’t believe any of this. Not without proof. So maybe we should try to find some. If we’re supposed to fulfill each other’s prophecy pieces, then I would get one next, yeah? And that would mean that I, that we…” Ellery couldn’t bring herself to say it, to dare to hope. She continued hastily, “If there’s any chance at all you’re right, we owe it to Alderland to give this everything we’ve got.”
Barrow’s chest swelled, and Ellery swore that the rays of sunlight streaming through her window brightened. “I agree with you.”
“Okay then.” Ellery exhaled. “If you snuck in, you can definitely sneak me out. But we’ve got a problem. The Council told me they were going to d-destroy Iskarius.”
Her voice quavered on the last words. No matter how terrible the wand was, it was stillhers.
He snorted. “Oh, I know. They’ve been trying, but I found out when I got back that they haven’t even managed to scratch it. And I know where they’re keeping it.”
Relief flooded through her. “Then how long do you think we’ve got before anyone notices you’re gone?”
“Hmm… I’m supposed to meet with the Council this afternoon.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “So what do you say, Caldwell? Up to play a little hooky?”
Ellery let out a surprised laugh. “Gee, Barrow. I thought you’d never ask.”
XVIELLERY
WINTER
The car’s headlights beamed onto the frosty gate at the entrance to the Barren. An ominous sign was fastened to the chain links:
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
Barrow cranked down the passenger window and pointed Valmordion at the gate. Obediently, it swung open. Beyond stretched a thin dirt path, crowded by forest and crusted with ice.
“Quite the rap sheet we’re growing here,” Barrow muttered. “Trespassing, breaking and entering, carjacking…”
“Technically it’s not carjacking if we borrowed it.”
“Don’t worry. Hanna’s car has definitely seen worse.”
Ellery didn’t doubt it. Gum wrappers littered the floor. Spare shoes were piled in the back alongside stacks of overdue library books. And Iskarius sat in a sticky cup holder, shoved in a plain brown sheath, ancient and unknowable and perilously close to a sloshing thermos of mystery liquid.
She still couldn’t believe what the two of them had done. Barrow had cast an illusion of Ellery sound asleep in her dorm. Then they’d taken Iskarius from the Vault, supposedly the most secure place in the Citadel, a place Barrow claimed he’d somehow broken intobefore. They’d stolen a Councilor’s car. And to top it all off, if they were wrong, she’d be tried for treason.
Ellery Caldwell, perfect hero, was well and truly gone. In her place was Ellery Caldwell, rogue Winter magician.
Ellery drove on until the paved road abruptly stopped, replaced by inhospitable underbrush. She pulled over, and theystepped out into a cluster of trees, birches with bare branches, pine still adorned with green bristles.
