Bold.
And also brilliant.
If the spirits were changed, if they could be altered en masse in a fundamental way... Carefully, not wanting to hope, Daleina asked, “What exactly do you mean?”
“The spirits weren’t meant to be like this, continually torn between shaping the world and dismantling it. They were supposed to finish creating this world and then change to become a passive part of it.” Merecot gestured at the windows, the ceiling, the wall, as if they represented the world. “You’ve heard our versions of the creation story. Here’s theirs: they were supposed to evolve into a new kind of spirit, but they didn’t. They couldn’t.”
Despite herself, Daleina began to feel drawn in. She thought of the gratitude story her parents always told before every meal, and the ballads that the canopy singers sang. “Because the Great Mother died.”
“Yes! After her, no one had enough power to change them.”
Could it be true? Were the spirits supposed to have evolved?
“For generations, queens have kept the peace with relative degrees of success in their own lands. They gained enough power through the spirits they controlled to keep the status quo, but not enough to truly influence the spirits, to force them to finish their evolution. But if a queen were to havemorepower...” Merecot trailed off as if the conclusion were obvious.
Daleina stared at her. She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. She couldn’t believe she wasconsideringthis. But if it were possible...
It wouldn’t just change the spirits.
It would change the world.
Merecot sighed dramatically. “Really, Daleina? I paused so you could jump in with your own ‘aha!’ revelation. You were supposed to use your towering intellect to fill in the blanks.”
“Fill it in for me.” She refused to leap to conclusions, though she was pretty sure she knew exactly where Merecot was going. She wanted Merecot to say it, all of it. Out loud.
“Fine. Once I’m strong enough, once I can draw strength from the spirits of both Semo and Aratay, I’ll finish what the Great Mother couldn’t. I’ll order the spirits to change.” Her face was flushed, and her hands were shaking. Merecot obviously believed every word she was saying.
And Daleina couldn’t help but believe her too. Or at least, couldn’t help butwantto believe. She knew how powerful Merecot was, and the spirits of Aratay, combined with the spirits of Semo, would make her even more powerful.Powerful enough?she wondered. “You think this is a thing that can be done?”
“I think this is a thing that wassupposedto have happened long ago, before humans ever walked the lands of Renthia, before Renthia even existed. Something went wrong long ago, and I want to make it right. Help me make it right, Daleina.”
It was an amazing thought. If it was truly possible...It would be a miracle.In a hushed voice, as if Merecot had uttered a spell she was afraid to break, Daleina asked, “What are you asking me to do?”
She knew the answer before Merecot said it.
This was what Merecot had been leading to. This was why she’d come. She’d already said it multiple times, in fact, she just hadn’t saidwhyuntil now.
“Abdicate,” Merecot answered. “Let me take control of the spirits of Aratay. With them and with the strength of Semo, I can do this. It requires someone with enough strength giving the right command.” She leaned forward, intense. “I know the right command, and I am the right someone.”
“And you didn’t want to tell me any of this before now?” Daleina felt outrage build—Queen Jastra and Merecot had the solution to the problem that had plagued Renthia since the beginning of history, and they were just... keeping it secret?
“I didn’t think you’d understand, or agree,” Merecot said. “So that’s why the poisoning. But given a choice, I’d rather work with you than against you. We used to be friends. It would be nice if we could be again.”
Daleina did not change her expression. She held herself very still. Merecot may be ambitious and ruthless and many other things, but she’d never been a liar.
If it’s possible...
If there’s even achancethat it’s possible...
An end to the spirits, to the deaths, to the fear.
She thought of Arin’s boyfriend, Josei, of her own lost friends, of her childhood home of Greytree, of the fallen champions and the ordinary people of Aratay who had suffered at the hands and claws of spirits. If the spirits were to “evolve”...
No one else would have to die.
She would be fulfilling her ultimate duty as queen: to protect her people.
Merecot had talked about destiny, and Daleina had rejected it. But if she was to choose a destiny, it would be to do all she could to save all she could. And now Merecot was offering her a way to do exactly that.If it works.“You believe this. Do you have any proof that the command will work? Proof that the spiritscanbe changed?”
