Page 26 of The Flame King's Queen

“Is he?”

“Oh, yes. He’s the king fromThe Mountain Prisoner.”

“Never,” Anise breathes. “Is he?” She stares vacantly across the room as she no doubt recites the tale to herself.

Biddy sets a saucer in front of me, pours in some water, and then adds a few drops of something from a tiny bottle, and the water turns black. “It’s nothing special. Just some ink in water, but very useful if you have the gift of sight, as you do. What do you wish to see, girl?”

My journey with Zabriel to the wild eastern flare has Ravenna uppermost in my mind. “I wish to know if Ravenna is well.”

Biddy clicks her tongue and shakes her head. “Bad manners it is to spy upon a fellow witch.”

“It is my last intention to spy. I only wish to know that Kane hasn’t hurt her. Don’t you think she would understand my concern for her?”

Biddy sniffs and keeps picking over the dried flowers. “Do you not trust her?”

“Of course I do, but…” I feel responsible for Ravenna as a fellow witch, a fellow Omega, and the future Queen of Maledin. Shouldn’t I be able to do something for her in one of these roles? If I do nothing, am I not neglectful?

Anise is nibbling on her lower lip and gazing at me with big eyes in a way that tells me she wishes to say something.

“What are you thinking? I wish more than anything to untangle my thoughts about this matter.”

“I was remembering the day that the Brethren came to the village and took you away to be a Veiled Virgin. A whole year you were tithed to them, and I woke every morning knowing that they had taken you in my place, and I felt like it was all my fault. I prayed that it would be undone, and you would come home, and that I could know whether you were suffering because of me. I would have done anything to know what was happening to you. So I understand your worry about your friend.”

Anise felt guilty and ashamed that I was taken away instead of her? I had no idea that my sister felt this way. “I never wished that I had done anything differently, Anise. But I understand how hard that must have been for you.”

“If you do see Ravenna, will it change anything? If she is suffering, can you save her?”

Biddy casts me a dark look. “If she is intimate with her mate, will you judge her?”

I wince. I hadn’t thought of that. Who knows what Ravenna is having to do to survive with Kane. She may be mortified if she knows anyone has witnessed her allowing him to hold her, or even more than that.

Ravenna chose to go with Kane. She survived as a witch for many years under the Brethren. They hunted her with witchfinders who would have burned her alive had they found her, but she evaded them all until Kane found her. I know little of the circumstances of her capture, and it’s likely that it was terrifying and brutal. But she still lives.

I gaze at the saucer of black ink. Seeing is power, and even the tiniest bit of power seems to come with a great tangle of considerations and dilemmas. Apparently it’s just as hard to be a witch as a queen, and I’m still learning how to do both.

“You’re both right. I seek to know how she fares for my own sake, not hers. At this moment, I can do nothing for her. I will respect Ravenna’s decision and her privacy.” But if Ravenna is killed by her Alpha, I will never forgive him or myself. “Thank you both for helping me with this.”

“We are your coven, girl. It’s what we’re here for, to give counsel.”

“Me as well?” Anise asks in surprise.

“You’re doing witch’s work tonight, girl.”

I smile, gazing at both their faces in the flickering firelight. The room is cozy, and my thoughts feel lighter now that they have helped me clear my head. There is space in this room for Ravenna, and in my heart, and I won’t lose hope that someday soon she will be here with us. She’s been alone and frightened for so long, but one day she’ll be able to come in from the cold. Please, let it be sooner rather than later.

Biddy brushes dead stalks from her lap and asks me, “Is there not someone else you wish to see at this moment? It’s easier to scry with a fond heart than a stormy one.”

I gaze at the reflective surface of the water and think of Zabriel. “Yes, there is. I always wish to see him when I am parted from him, and I know that he will always welcome me.”

“Then sit closer, girl. Sink into this mirrored world and seek him out.”

11

Zabriel

“Are you ready?”

I look up from the enormous map of Maledin spread across the table in the War Room. Stesha is standing in the doorway, and I’m alone in the War Room with only my thoughts and anxieties for company.

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