“THAT I CANNOT GIVE YOU.”
“Then I would that I could reach the place from which the first sovereign’s rib was plucked and through the door into your realms, that I might go and retrieve him myself.”
“YOU WILL COME TO ME WHETHER YOU BARGAIN OR NOT. THE DRAUGHT OF THE NEVERSEED STEALS YOUR LIFE A BREATH AT A TIME, AND THOUGH YOU TARRY, YOU WILL COME.”
I shifted, swallowing uncomfortably. I did not have time right now to deal with the knowledge that I had been poisoned. And yet, a little butterfly of panic burst free each time I thought of it.
“I wish to enter your lands while still living.”
“THE PRICE I WOULD ASK FOR SUCH IS SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU CAN BEAR.”
“Name it.”
“A PIECE OF YOUR FLESH GIVEN WILLINGLY. AND YOU WILL WALK THE PATH OF PRINCES. FAIL AT ANY POINT, AND THE BARGAIN IS STRUCK DOWN.”
“What is the Path of Princes?” I asked, nervous now.
“Don’t do it,” Grosbeak whispered. “You can’t succeed at that.”
I heard feet behind me. The wives had not stayed put. They had followed me out into the vault.
“The Path of Princes is the way of the song,” one of the heads said imperiously. “You know the one.”
And then she began to sing and the chorus was taken up by the others.
Fly with the Arrow,
Dance with the Sword,
Give Your Heart to the Barrow,
Die with your Lord
And if ever yoube broken,
And gasp on the ground,
Hold up your fine token,
And join with the sound.
Sing for your Sovereign,
Bow to your Dream,
Make Haste for the Fallen,
Rise in Esteem.
And if ever yoube broken
And gasp on the ground,
The word may be spoken,
And salvation found.
“I’ve done half those things already,” I said boldly.
