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“The danger without you is far greater.” I leaned close and looked into her eyes. “I am afraid, but I am more afraid of what will happen should Myst be allowed free rein. You must tell me where to find the heartstone.” I thought I knew where it was, but it was simpler to just ask and make certain.
Lainule looked past me, at Wrath, who gave her a simple nod.
“Do you understand what you are offering? No, you do not.”
“I’m offering to try to save your life.”
“No, Cicely. You offer so much more than that—you make a sacrifice if you choose to do this and I cannot tell you just what that is. Not yet.”
Stubbornly, I shook my head. “Tell me where to find it.”
Her eyes shimmered, and she paused, then finally nodded. “Very well. You must go deep in the woods, to Grandfather Cedar. Grieve and Chatter know where to find it. Once there, seek the portal that lies beneath the tree. You must enter the portal, then follow the path. Beware, it is guarded by creatures of wild and feral nature. You may be forced to kill them unless you can convince them to let you pass. They are there to protect my heartstone from all invaders.” Her breath was raspy, and she paused again, fighting for strength.
“I dreamed this! I dreamed I was doing this.” A spark of hope caught flame in my heart and I took her hand, forgetting that she was a queen and I the half-breed daughter of her husband.
“Then perhaps it is meant to be.”
“Did you and Geoffrey give the Shadow Hunters the antidote to their light-rage?” I prayed for a no. If they hadn’t, we could travel with relative safety during the daylight hours.
“No,” she said—the first piece of good news I’d had in a long time. “We disagreed and I destroyed the antidote and all the notes in my temper. And I staked the vampire who knew how to prepare it.”
Somehow, imagining the Queen of Summer staking a vampire brought horrible images to mind. But I was grateful to whatever had stirred her wrath.
She opened her lips—now chapped and bleeding—and whispered, “Then go, my child. Seek my heartstone and bring it back to me, if you can. But Cicely—I don’t think you realize what this will set into motion. Are you prepared to take the burden of saving my life on your shoulders? It will foreshadow so many changes that might not come to be otherwise. When you save a life, you bear its burdens for the remainder of your days.”
My breath caught in my throat. I could feel the immensity of her words looming around us, a curse, a blessing, a prediction. “Yes, I will accept whatever consequences come from this.”
“Then go, and the gods speed you. If you can recover my heartstone, I might be able to rise against Myst and push back the snows for a time. My people will go to war for me, if I rouse them. I hoped to avoid this—we’ve lost so many, but the choices dwindle, and hope now rides at the tip of a sword.” With that, she closed her eyes and for a moment, I feared she was already dead. But then she coughed and murmured in her sleep.
Wrath kissed her on the forehead and led me away, his face impervious and unreadable. As we exited her chamber, he turned to me.
“I cannot go with you—the Consort of the Queen may never lay hands upon her heartstone. But Chatter and Grieve will make the journey, and Kaylin.”
I didn’t want to say it aloud, but I knew that I also needed Rhiannon. She had to go with us. Wrath would try to nix the idea, but in my heart, it was clear that she had to be there. So I kept my mouth shut, nodded, and followed him back into the snowy night.
We were back at the warehouse within the hour. I blinked—it felt like we’d been gone all night, but then time had little meaning within the barrows and realms of the Fae. We gathered around the table and filled everyone in on what was happening. Lannan was still out hunting, which might be a good thing, considering his mood and what we were discussing.
Grieve looked shaken. “I will go, of course. If the Queen of Rivers and Rushes needs me, I will do whatever she requires. But is it wise to have me revisit Myst’s domain? She might sense me.”
“Then so be it. You must be there. Chatter, too. Kaylin…and Rhiannon.” I turned to my cousin. “I would not ask you to go, but I had a dream and in it we were searching for the heartstone. And you were with us.”
Wrath started to protest, but I shook my head.
“No, she needs to go. This much I know. And we must leave at daybreak. The Vampiric Fae weren’t given the antidote Grieve took—Lainule grew furious at Geoffrey over something—I don’t know what—and she destroyed what was left of it. So we’ll be able to journey during the light without too much worry.”
“What about the Consortium? Can’t we wait for them?” Rex asked.
I tipped my head to one side, considering. “Lainule is on her deathbed. We must regain the heartstone in order for her to survive. And if she dies…” I paused, not really knowing what to say after that. I turned to my father. “What does happen when a Fae Queen dies?”
He let out a shuddering breath and I realized how hard the question must be on him. “Then the heirs are run through a gauntlet of tests to determine who will take her place. If there is only one heir, she will inherit the throne without contest.”
“Do you and Lainule have any children? I know Grieve is a prince—”
Grieve cleared his throat. “Yes, I am a prince, but I would not inherit the throne, even though I am a relative of Lainule and Wrath. There must be a queen before there can be a king, and he may come from outside the bloodline of nobility. But a princess must bear the blood of the Queen in her veins or her soul. And there must be a queen. The King cannot rule alone. If Lainule dies—”
Wrath interrupted. “What Grieve is dancing around is that if my Lady passes over the veil, then I will abdicate to a new queen and her choice of consort.” He smiled, his face crinkling with the bare beginnings of crow’s feet. “It is all right, Grieve. You may tell the truth without worry I will take offense. This is the way of the law, this is the way of our people.”
I stood, staring at my father. “If Lainule dies, then you—”
