Page 133 of Tale of the Heart Queen

“Why should we do any of this?” D’Arcy interrupts. “This sounds like your fight. And that’s assuming I believe a word you’ve said.”

My shoulders sag.

“You don’t believe us?”

“It’s . . . impossible,” she says, repeating her earlier sentiment.

“Is it? Or do you just not want to believe it?”

She purses her lips together and folds her arms, not deigning to respond.

“Wow, you sure attract a lot of drama,” Anemone says, scanning me from head to toe.

“That’s me,” I say wryly. “I don’t want it. I don’t want to be a god. I want to reclaim my queendom and bond with my mate.”

“After everything you’ve told us, you cannot risk a bond!” D’Arcy says, slamming her hand on the armrest. “This is madness.”

“We weren’t asking for your permission,” I say.

“No, but you want our help,” she spits back.

“We will do whatever we can to help,” Elswyth says. “Cedar and I swore we’d assist with whatever you need, and that hasn’t changed.”

Relief untwists in my chest at those words.

“Really?”

“Really.”

She gives me a kind smile as Linden huffs.

“Enough,” Cedar says to his sister. “I do not hold the heirs of Heart responsible for Wolf’s choices. He stood by and let it happen, too. And these three certainly aren’t to blame for any of that.”

Linden’s eyes darken to the deepest shade of pine trees at midnight as she presses her mouth together so hard her lips turn bloodless.

“If you can’t join in a productive conversation, then perhaps it’s best you leave the room.” Cedar pins her with a challenging look, and if I didn’t already like him, I’d hug him right now.

Linden doesn’t respond; she just stands up, and I think she might actually leave, but instead, she walks over to the window, spins around, and folds her arms before she leans against it, one foot planted against the wall. She glares at me, and I rub my face.

“And finally, I guess what we also need is protection. Only I can destroy the ark of Heart, just like only you can destroy those lying in front of you, but we have no idea what we’re going into beyond that.”

“Our armies are yours,” Cedar says without hesitation.

“Thank you,” Nadir says. “But I don’t think that’s what we need.”

Everyone watches him as he sits forward in his seat with his hands clasped between his legs.

“My father’s army outmatches yours by the thousands. Even if we combined everyone’s in this room, it wouldn’t be enough. Maybe if we had Aphelion, but that isn’t an option right now.”

D’Arcy huffs, reminding us of her displeasure.

“And it’s clear not everyone is amenable to that anyway,” he adds, looking at her.

“So then what?” Cedar asks.

“I think we should go quietly,” Nadir says. “We’ll need to reach the Torch to complete the bonding, but first, we have to figure out what exactly my father is up to.”

“So I’ll go in,” Amya says from where she perches on the arm of my sister’s chair.