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“They should be getting close,” she agreed.
“But what can I do? Should I go there?”
“You should first know what you are up against, Your Majesty. You are fire. You are married to a fire stealer,” Ismelda said. “What else can you give? What else can you take? What do the assassins need from you?”
“You know all these?” I was genuinely shocked. ‘From here? The forest?”
“Yes. We know some things. True, we are limited by our responsibilities to the forest, but our minds are witches’ own. We may be poor herb witches, but we have been so for centuries. We have learned so many things. While the rest of the Mogochislenian witches weakened, wisdom cannot be stolen even when memory can.”
“I can help them,” Demetria, the crow, squawked. She preferred her avian form and refused to revert to her human one. She hopped down to the ground, aggravating the worms crawling there through the tall grass.
“Are you willing to fly for days to reach Arrowspear, Demetria?” asked Veronica, a mix of scorn and surprise.
“She is at least willing to help,” I said. “What is it with you not wanting to try?”
“Forgive Veronica,” Ismelda pleaded. “She has no good word for Arrowspear. She feels that we should only focus on our problems here in Mogochislenia.”
“Oh, but is that not what we are supposed to do? It is not that I do not want to help. I am grateful for the king’s help, but he did get to marry our princess, did he? He has people to help him there, and our people here also need help.”
“Queen. She is now queen,” cawed Demetria.
“Queen, but not Monarch of Queenspell as she is meant to be. She is the first one to leave the continent.”
“But I am not the first one to leave,” I reminded them. “Carolina went out of time.”
“Yes, but she is still on Queenspell grounds. In the future.” It seemed that Veronica had made it a point to be stubborn that day. She had always been the grouchy one among the trio.
I exhaled a breath and shook my head in frustration but then remembered Demetria’s offer.
“What can you do, Demetria?” I asked the bird.
“I can travel for you, be your messenger. Be your eyes, see what they are up to. I can listen in and find out if they know who the assassins are. Then, I will follow their lead and travel to where their spies go.”
“That sounds – that sounds wonderful,” I clapped my hands once in appreciation and pressed the tips of my fingers to my lips. “But does my husband have spies at all?”
“Of course, he does. A man like that who travels from continent to continent to take and give heat? He cannot be on his own. He must have traveled with warriors. Witches, even. A man of almost twenty-nine summers who is used to exploring? Of course, he has spies.”
“He has his coven,” Veronica said sagely. “Covens. These witches have been loyal to King Doro and his ancestors for centuries. But it is the people of Rama that you need to be in contact with.”
I felt like she knew more about the covens of Arrowspear than she was letting on.
“How do you know these things, Veronica? I thought you have always been here on Mogochislenia.”
My wonder had become more vocal, and the frown on Ismelda’s face had become more pronounced. We did not know about Veronica’s connection with Arrowspear, and it did not look like she was about to say anything more.
“Let me be your spy, Your Majesty,” cawed Demetria.
I looked at the crow, wondering why it was so eager to volunteer.
“Why do you want to leave Mogochislenia? Are you bored?” Veronica asked. However, the usual sarcasm was gone. She was worried. Since I could not read Demetria’s expression, I listened in.
She was calm. Demetria had this easy, slow rhythm of chirps instead of the rapid squawks birds emitted when anxious. Her mind was open, not trying to shield itself from me.
“Your Majesty, you can read me if you want. I will serve as your spy. My form needs to be used at its fullest,” was the simple message.
The other two could obviously hear what she was saying. Demetria had decided not to keep secrets. At least, on the surface, it seemed that way.
“Why do you want to be my spy?”
