Chapter Twenty-Six
The walk uphill and back to the castle felt far more taxing than the walk down had been, as Florian tried his best to not think about the last Arrow that sat in the quiver at his hip. Guilt made his throat tight, making his breaths come in short, ragged gasps. He focused on the hot air that stung his nostrils as he breathed in—the ache of his legs as they trudged up the hill—anything to avoid having to think of what they had just done, and what they were about to do.
When they reached the top of the hill, Florian paused at the gate that led into the castle grounds. The seal that blocked the entrance to the actual castle wasn’t visible yet, but he almost thought he could see its impossible glow over the wall. He turned to face the others, and they watched him expectantly as he gathered his thoughts.
“I guess this is it,” he finally managed. “From what Valyris told me, I think that... I think she might be in there. Queen Soleil. I think she’s still in the castle.”
“But we’renotsupposed to shoot her with the last Arrow,” Rune said, and Florian nodded. “So what are we supposed to do with it?”
“Maybe there’ll be something else like the seal,” Koji offered. “Maybe it doesn’t involve her at all. We should investigate the castle as much as we can once we’re in there.”
Florian bit his lip, wondering how much he should say.
“The Arrow with the different inscription talks about ‘the heart of sacrifice’,” he finally said. “So I think, maybe, it specifically needs to go through her heart.”
“Kraken-god, they really just want us to murder our way out of this,” Rune muttered. Florian’s stomach did a flip-flop, but he supposed she wasn’t exactly wrong.
“I think Koji’s idea has some merit,” Kade said slowly. “We need to be careful. There’s no rush to figuring this out. There might be some clues that the horse shifters missed.”
“That couldn’t hurt,” Florian agreed. “Yeah, let’s take our time and look around as much as we can.”
Some part of him hoped his suspicion was wrong: maybe whatever was left of Soleil had gone after the horse shifters had shot her with the Arrow so many years ago. He hoped that there was something else they were supposed to do in the castle—that once they were in there, it would be obvious what they had to do. He doubted things would go that way, but part of him still hoped.
The gates to the castle grounds swung open easily, and Florian led the way back through the wide, empty courtyard. When he looked around, he could catch glimpses of a far different courtyard in his memory, full of lush vegetation and lavish decorations. He tried to push the images away. They were only a distraction now.
In the courtyard, the light of the seal pierced even the brightness of the Blight, coming into full view as they startedheading up the castle steps. The magic that filled the air felt like static against Florian’s skin, making him rub his arms self-consciously as they walked.
The Arrows felt heavier on his hip than they ever had before. With shaking hands, he pulled the quiver off his hip, sorted through the Arrows to find the odd one out, left it in the quiver, and kept the rest in his hand. The six Arrows were practically vibrating against his skin, reacting to the powerful magic of the seal.
“You know,” he said with a half-hearted grin, turning to look at Kade, “Maybe you should have had me train with a bow and arrow instead of a sword.”
It took a moment for Kade to realize that he was making a joke, but then he let out a soft chuckle, his mouth twitching into a smile.
“That would have made sense, yeah,” he replied softly. His expression sobered as Florian stepped closer to the seal. “Be careful.”
“I am,” Florian replied. “I don’t think this part matters as much. It feels kind of like they’re magnetic. Watch.”
He took another step closer until he was within arm’s length of the seal, so close he could feel a faint, droning thrum radiating from it. He took one of the Arrows and slowly brought it closer to the sigil. As if drawn by gravity, it all but pulled itself into the nearest marking within the circle. While the seal itself seemed flat where it floated in the air, Florian couldn’t see the other end of the Arrow as it slipped into the diamond-shaped mark until only the feathery golden fletching remained.
He waited a long moment after placing the first Arrow to see if anything would happen. Nothing about the seal changed visually, except for the fletching of the Arrow that was visible in the notch closest to Florian. He glanced back at the others, watching for their reactions; they were only watching him withvarying degrees of concern and curiosity. After a moment, Kade gave him a sharp nod, then stepped closer to him.
“Those on the top are pretty high up,” he said softly. “Let me help.”
Florian managed a smile and handed him three of the remaining Arrows. When their fingers brushed as he passed them off, he could feel that Kade’s hands were unsteady, too.
They turned back to the seal. One by one, they placed their arrows. Kade had to stand on his tiptoes and grip the arrow’s fletching to touch the point to the seal’s highest notch. All at once, the arrow straightened and slid into place. Florian and Kade stepped back as the droning sound seemed to deepen—then there was silence as the entire magical circle vanished, taking the Arrows with it. Where the seal had been just an instant ago, so bright that it hurt to look at, was now only a simple, heavy iron door.
He blinked, the afterimage of the seal still burning in his eyelids, then looked back at Kade and the others again.
“That was easy,” Koji offered, and the forced cheerfulness of his voice made Rune snort, making Florian laugh. Even Kade let out a small chuckle.
“Yeah,” Florian agreed, looking back up at the door. “I think that was the easy part.”
“All that fuss to find those Arrows,” Rune murmured. “I was expecting something more flashy. At least a firework or two, you know?”
“No, I’m glad nothing exploded,” Kade said, shaking his head. Florian let out another nervous laugh as Kade stepped ahead of him to cautiously open the door. But it didn’t appear to be locked, swinging open with little effort. Kade peered within, glanced around, then looked back at the rest.
“Seems okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”
