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“Whatever happens in the end, Saori Sang will never be the same,” I murmured, and Blaise nodded.
“And that’s a good fucking thing,” she added, clapping me on the shoulder before moving away to speak with an ice wolf who had just entered the hall.
I scanned the room once more, determining that everything was indeed under control. Then I headed out, needing to see Kana. I needed to hold her and remind myself of one of the biggest reasons I was still here.
Against nearly everything I’d believed coming into the Trials of the Moon, this thief had fallen in love with a princess.
As I made my way through the palace to Kana’s rooms, I noticed the mist trailing me.
“Hey, Nic,” I said as his shape formed at my side, gliding along in time with my steps. It took me a moment to realize he wasn’t alone. A hunched old woman floated along beside him, and my steps faltered as I understood who he’d brought - Valda, Kana’s grandmother.
Former Queen in her own time.
“I’m Kas...” I said, halting my odd introduction and feeling awkward as hell.
Valda chuckled. “Kingston, yes. A fitting name. You know, a mother will always love her son. But it isn’t beyond me to say you’ll make a finer King than my Girard ever did,” she said as we reached Kana’s rooms, and her words were a challenge as much as a kindness. I snapped my mouth closed and lowered my eyes, suddenly aware that I was staring.
Still, it felt good to know I’d received her approval. I sensed that even though Kana didn’t need that from her grandmother, she trusted the woman more than anyone else in her life.
“We’ve come to share what we know. The mist gathers its strength,” Nic said as he glided into the room. Kana and Rush were seated together on the couch, and I could see Cade’s sleeping form through the slightly ajar bedroom door.
Rush stood immediately and bowed to the floating former Queen, and she grinned over his bent head at Kana, wiggling her eyebrows. Kana flushed as Valda settled into the space Rush had vacated, as though she needed the seat more than he did.
Nic cleared his throat, and although both of them were mostly transparent, this was the most solid I’d ever seen Kana’s deadaima. “Should we begin with Khione?”
“The gobbelins worshiped her too, you know,” Valda said, raising an eyebrow at Kana pointedly.
“The Goddess of ice and snow,” Kana murmured, and I saw the connection just as easily. “But why would they attack me if they know she’s chosen me?”
Rush cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable with what he was about to say. “If I had to guess, love, I would say they don’t find you worthy to carry the Goddess’s magic.”
“That makes too much sense to ignore,” I agreed, and Kana nodded slowly. “They would want Khione to give her power to a gobbelin, not a vampire. It could look like the Goddess was choosing sides and didn’t choose them.”
“She was. And she didn’t. She chose the vampires,” Kana said, her voice fierce. “Just because someone worships a Goddess doesn’t give them the right to direct her power for evil. The gobbelins want to use Khione’s destruction magic to take over Saori Sang. Probably more.”
“Perhaps the fae as well,” Rush added quietly. “If my mother is indeed alive, we’ll need to see if she’s sided with the gobbelins or the fae. I wouldn’t guess she could hold much sway with the Tri-Kings, but many things have changed.”
I didn’t miss the bitter note in his voice, and I wondered what else he knew about in Aralia. But Kana pushed to her feet, beginning her usual restless pacing in the tight space between us.
“Even with the wolves, we can’t fight both gobbelin and fae,” Kana said, a bit of hopelessness creeping back into her voice.
“One task at a time, granddaughter. First, the Trials and recovering the Ancient Magic.” Valda rose and went to Kana, resting a ghostly hand on her shoulder, and the two women leaned their heads together.
“Why is he the key, Grand-mère? What do we need from Cade?” Kana asked after a long moment, lifting her head and flicking her eyes back to his sleeping form in the other room. He still looked so weak that I’d been wondering the same thing. What could he have to give to the cause now? Why was he a weapon?
Valda tilted her head. “Even the mist doesn’t know everything, dear girl. But I suspect it has to do with his blood and his ties to you, which gives him ties to Khione.”
I started to pace slowly, the pieces swirling together in my mind as I turned them around, trying to see how they all fit together. “He was a turned-human, right? Before Merden used any blood magic on him. And he’d taken your pure blood as anaima.”
“And his mother passed gobbelin blood to him in the womb,” Nicolas said, speaking up for the first time from the corner. “I told him as much recently, though he never knew before. I believe it is why Merden spared his life - she was curious.”
“But he was never addicted to it, the way humans get?” I asked, confused. Nic shook his head, failing to elaborate.
“Wait... I drank from him. We shared blood, Rush!” Kana snapped her eyes to the fae, and his expression darkened.
“That makes no sense. If my blood poisons you, his should as well,” Rush said, frowning. “Are you feeling well?” He strode toward Kana, catching her chin and gazing down into her eyes like he could see if there was poison at work in her body.
Valda raised her hands for quiet. “Blood is magic, remember. It does not always follow science. Acadian’s human body may have been able to alchemize the gobbelin blood into something different.”
