I shook my head and nearly fell as the ground swayed beneath me. “No,” I rasped, while the queen continued to observe me as if I were a particularly stubborn child. “I don’t want anyone... trading their life for mine.”Never again.
“I know this concept can be frightening,” the queen said, and her voice was soothing. “But understand, Fateless, that I only do this with permission. If I am to take life from someone else, I must have their consent. That is the bargain between the iylvahn and me, and how we have existed for hundreds of years. I protect and nurture the city, but my power comes from my people, and I take only what is freely given. Their life is a gift that I use to keep this kingdom safe.”
“Sparrow.” Raithe’s low, somehow broken voice drifted up from before the queen. Still on his knee, he turned his head very slightly, gazing at me over his shoulder. “She speaks the truth. The iylvahn have supported the queen since before the end of the war. Let her do this. We can’t lose you.”
I clenched my fists, feeling the flare of agony pump even more blood down my arm. As it spattered wetly to the ground, I narrowed my gaze at the kahjai, ready to tell him what he could do with his truth. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling the most clear-headed at the moment; all I knew was the shock, hurt, and betrayal churning inside me like a storm.
“Sparrow! Raithe!”
The drone of beetle wings cut through the stillness. Rhynebuzzed over the wall and landed a few feet away, and both Kysa and the Fatechaser leaped out of the saddle. The queen didn’t move, but Raithe whirled around and stood, placing himself, I saw, between us and the Deathless.
“Sparrow, are you all right?” Halek lunged to my side, his gaze going from me to the iylvahn woman looming over us. “We saw you go down, and there was that light and then that monster just exploded, so I have literally no idea what is going on. Who is this? Do we need to rescue you?”
“Halek.” Kysa’s warning tone sent chills up my back. The insect rider moved close, her spear not raised, but ready. Raithe also took one step forward, watching us with narrowed eyes, and my heart sank. He would protect his queen, a Deathless, from the rest of us. Bile burned the back of my throat as I stared at him. He had chosen his side, and it wasn’t with me.
“Enough.” Despite the tension, the queen’s voice remained as calm and unruffled as ever. “I am Sahmessyia, queen of these lands, and yes, I am what your kind call Deathless. Rest assured, you have nothing to fear from me, but your Fateless is dying.”
Halek jerked up at that, then seemed to notice the puddles of red at my feet. “I can save her,” the queen went on as his face paled. “It would take little effort on my part, but there is a cost involved. My power comes from the life energies around us. To heal the Fateless, I must take a small portion of that life into myself, but I will not take it without consent. Someone must offer that power willingly.”
“Sparrow,” Halek breathed. He looked horrified, not at the Deathless queen looming over us, but rather at the bloodstreaming down my arm. Glancing up at the queen again, his jaw tightened. “Easy decision,” he said. “I’m offering. Take it from me.”
“Halek,” I rasped, but at that moment my legs decided to give out. Halek caught me, lowering us both to the ground, as my vision blurred and darkness wavered at the edges. “Don’t do it,” I whispered, clutching at his shirt. “I don’t want anyone else trading their life for mine.”
“Sparrow, we’re not going to lose you.” Halek’s voice was more serious than I’d ever heard before. His blue eyes were determined as he met my gaze and smiled. “Even if I have to sell part of my soul to a Deathless, you are not going to die here.”
“I have no interest in your soul,” the iylvahn queen said. “Just your life. And only a small piece of it—not enough to matter. You will not miss it, I assure you.”
“Take mine, then,” I said. Even though the thought of it terrified me. The last thing I wanted was to have a Deathless turn her life-draining power in my direction. But I couldn’t let my friends sacrifice themselves, either. “Halek doesn’t have to do it,” I panted. “Use my life energy, and no one else has to suffer.”
“It does not work that way, Fateless.” The queen regarded me as if I were a small child failing to understand a simple concept. “I cannot take the life force of the one I am trying to heal. Another soul must make that sacrifice.” She raised her hand in a casual gesture. “Of course, the power does not have to come from a single volunteer. Others may share the burden, if they wish.”
I felt Kysa move up beside me, her gaze on the iylvahn queen. “My people swore they would never again bow to the will of theDeathless,” she said tightly. “We would rather die than be slaves to the magic of tyrants.”
“Warrior of the Scarab Clan.” The queen tilted her head very slightly at Kysa. “I remember your people. You were not mine, but I know your stories.”
“Then you know our stance on magic. And the Deathless.” Kysa gazed down at me, then at the blood staining the ground, and her face tightened. “But the Fateless is part of my clan, and I will not allow another to take a blow that can be shared. If it will save her life, do what you must and take your power from me. This once, I am willing to make that offer.”
“I am, as well.”
This time, even the queen’s expression registered surprise as she turned to Raithe. “Even you, kahjai?” she asked. “Willing to offer part of your life for a human? Why?”
“I swore I would protect the Fateless until we reached Irrikah,” Raithe answered in a voice dead of emotion. “I vowed I would get her safely through the Maze to the city within, and we are not there yet. This is part of my duty. The Fateless will get to Irrikah, as I promised, and then my obligation will be done.”
Raithe’s words settled like poison in the pit of my stomach. So, everything he’d donehadbeen just to bring me to his queen. Even the time he stood up to Vahn, the day I nearly lost him. Even that was only to get me to Irrikah safely. Was anything we’d shared real?
“Interesting.” The queen gave the kahjai a lingering look, then turned back to the rest of us. “You have loyal friends, Fateless. Even my own, it seems. Very well.” She raised one arm in mydirection, elegant fingers splayed wide. “I ask one last time,” she said, though the words weren’t directed at me. “What is lost is lost for good, and what I must take can never be given back. Are the three participants willing to offer a part of their lives to heal the Fateless?”
“Yes,” said Kysa, and Halek echoed her. I glanced at Raithe and, through blurry vision, I saw him nod once, though he wasn’t looking at me.
The Deathless queen turned to me. “This will hurt,” she warned. “But only for a moment. Try to endure, Fateless.”
My arm grew hot, radiating heat from fingers to elbow. Beneath my blood-drenched sleeve, my skin crawled. I couldfeelwounds closing, blood being drawn back into my body, the punctures in my arm shrinking. It felt like needles being pushed back through my arm, sealing the skin behind them. I hunched over the ground, holding my arm to my chest, clenching my jaw to keep the gasps contained. Vaguely, I was aware of Halek leaning close and his garbled words of encouragement, but I couldn’t focus on anything except my arm turning inside out.
Finally, the pain faded. I took a shuddering breath and sat up, wincing as the world spun around me. Halek grabbed my shoulder, keeping me upright as I swayed. The queen lowered her arm, looking as calm and unruffled as she had when she first appeared. Then again, making a sixty-foot abomination explode without even touching it had been nothing for the Deathless. I wondered how much power that had cost her, and where she had taken it from.
Almost against my will, my gaze went to Raithe. He still stoodin the same spot, unmoving, but his gaze was on me now. For just a moment, the eyes beneath the hood were bright with worry and regret, his face shadowed with pain. Just for a heartbeat—or maybe it had been my imagination, because in the next blink, the emotion was gone and his eyes were only for the queen.
“It is done.” The queen gave us all one last look, then began to rise into the air. “I would take you all into the city, but that would require more sacrifice, which I am certain none of you wish to offer. So I will leave you now, but fear not. The paths are clear, the roads safe, and my kahjai knows the way.” She nodded to Raithe, who bowed his head. The queen smiled down at me, and it was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. My breath caught at her beauty, even as I bristled at myself in protest. “Goodbye, Fateless. I await you in Irrikah.”
