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“It wasn’t the warmest letter I have ever read, but it was a start,” Krew confirmed.
“Did you bring the letter? I can help think up a proper response. Doesn’t the queen of Dra Skor fancy jewels? We could send a gift. A show of good faith.”
Krew smirked. “I rather had a different show of good faith in mind.”
No, he was right, I was thinking too small. “An entire ship full of goods and jewels?” Then again, they might just sink it before it got to shore.
“We need an in. Someone on the ground,” Krew continued. “The sages all agree that father somehow poisoned their water supply. We need a way to get to that water. And we need samples, so we know exactly what we are working with.”
“What you need is a damn spy,” I muttered.
“Exactly.” Krew grinned slowly and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“Exactly,” Owen mimicked, handing me the flask back.
They couldn’t be implying what I thought they were. What did Krew want me to do, just waltz into Dra Skor, announce that our father had poisoned them, look pretty and ask for some samples, and then continue to live to tell the tale?
It was a death trap.
“You can tell me no,” Krew said, grabbing the flask out of my hand but looking me in the eyes. I knew he meant it. “I can send Emric with a whole team of men.”
I choked on a laugh. “Yes. Of The Six, send Emric, of all people. Emric who flirts with everything. Including the trees.”
“Only your mother’s tree,” Owen commented.
I gave my head a shake, not wanting to think too hard about that.
“The Six think it is best to start trying to figure this out, starting with water samples. Brakken has already agreed to send some, and they already know our suspicions. I doubt they really believe we will be able to fix it at this point, but even just having the samples to see what we can do about reversing the poison will help.”
I stood up, brushing the sand off as I went, the sun fading enough that we were now sitting in the dark. And leaving the king of Wylan sitting on the beach in the open in the dark wasn’t all that safe. “You don’t think they’ve already tested it themselves? They’ve probably done it all. They’ve been without their Enchantments for nine years.Nine years.What is it that you think we can do that they haven’t already tried themselves?”
“What Jorah is doing with the forest. Heal it. With the purest of motives and Iron Will to back it.”
I rubbed a hand over my forehead. “You think the healing entity in her blood might be able to help fix it?”
Krew tilted his head. “It fixed the lake.”
“Along with a considerable amount of magic,” Owen added.
Krew continued, “If we can build this relationship with Dra Skor, prove that Theon Valanova’s reign is gone and that we are trying to help, word will spread throughout the realm. If we get into Dra Skor’s good graces, the rest of the countries will follow suit.”
I had to ask the obvious. “And if we don’t?”
“We will try again with the other countries. I have to believe that when we took down our father that day, his evil dissolved along with him. Therehasto be a way to reverse it. Unfortunately for us, he killed all his scientists who worked on it, and left little evidence behind.”
Even just thinking about how long the other countries had been without their Enchantments made my magic flare. Our father had put iron gauntlets on us twice, rendering our magic useless each time. I could not imagine experiencing that level of hopelessness for nine years.
“This mess is not your fault, Krew,” I voiced. And as I did, I knew I’d do it. I’d go. Even if it was a death trap. Because Krew was carrying this weight as if it were his own. Knowing that Wylan’s livelihood was wrapped up in being able to right our father’s wrongs. Which continued to haunt, even from the grave. Though I had tossed the reins of the kingdom to Krew and left for a time of reflection in Nerede, I had also promised him we’d help heal Wylan together. Lately he’d been left to carry the brunt of the load.
“We have to try,” he offered. “It is the right thing to do.”
I sighed. “For the record, this is a death trap. Heading into Dra Skor like we are old pals when the reality is that they are and always have been our greatest enemy.” I paused. “But I will go. I’m going to need a week to plan it out and figure out the best course of action.”
“Whatever you need, it’s yours,” Krew said as he stood.
“You’ll need to send a replacement for my training. If I mess this up and war comes sooner rather than later, this base in Nerede will become our first line of defense.”
“Of course,” Krew agreed. “Not once did I consider your work here unimportant.”
