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“You can’t control Qai,” I told her. “But we won’t harm you. You chose to help us when you didn’t have to.”
Kieran seemed doubtful, but he did not say anything as I went on.
“Can you tell us how to turn back the monsters?” I asked. “Or was it all a lie?”
“It was a lie,” Cari said. She was doing her best not to sound too apologetic, as though she believed it was a weakness. “I cannot turn the monsters back. I don’t know if the queen can. But I can control them to be on your side.”
It was a good offer. With the monsters on our side, we could have a chance.
I met Kieran’s eyes. Before he even said anything, I knew exactly what he thought. And I loved him for it.
“No,” he said. “We cannot use the monsters. They are not willing soldiers if they don’t have their minds to themselves.”
“Do you want me to kill them?” Cari asked. “Because I can do that with a simple command. I can tell them to die, and they will.”
“No!”
All of us had spoken at once. Dearen had taken a step toward Cari as though he wanted to stop her before she could do what she had said. Brigid’s expression was tense. Kieran’s brows were tight.
“Suit yourself,” Cari said.
“Can you send them away?” I asked.
Kieran and I exchanged a glance.
“Yes,” Kieran said. “That seems like our best option. You’ve tricked us into coming here and now, my sister is captured. My father is in danger, possibly locked in a dungeon in his own castle and we weren’t there to help him because of you. This is the least you can do.”
Cari seemed guilty for the first time ever.
“I can do that,” she said. “But I need the well.”
“The well on the island,” I said.
“Yes,” Cari replied. “I can use it to send all the monsters as far away as possible. If it will help.”
And as though Cari thought agreeing to Kieran’s demand made her look weak, she added. “Now that I openly defied the queen, I need you to win.”
****
THE LAKE WAS CALM.From where we stood, I could see the little island with the big cherry tree in the middle, but the bushes and the trees around the island's shores prevented us from seeing what was on there.
The soldiers whom the queen had turned into monsters were long gone. It seemed they had moved together and went west after leaving the building. We took the little path to the East and reached the lake after a few minutes of walking.
“How long will it take for the queen to send someone here?” I asked Cari as the fresh smell of morning dew welcomed us.
“Not long,” she replied. “I told Dearen to break the mirrors in the dungeon as well, and I don’t think there are any other portals close by. But they can use any reflecting surface to create another portal.”
“Fiona killed their master portaler,” Brigid suggested.
“I am sure he wasn’t the only portaler in the palace,” I replied. “We should hurry.”
“How are we going to reach there?” Kieran asked.
“Do we have to swim?” I asked.
The island wasn’t that far away, but swimming would mean wasting precious time while ensuring that we would be trapped on the island if the queen found a way to send more men to where we were.
“I’ve never been to the island with my body,” Cari replied. “So I don’t know how to get there.”
