Page 91 of The Queen's Box

“Willow,” Willow said, sticking out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Maeve.”

Maeve’s hand was cracked and red from dishwater—or maybe from something worse. She shook Willow’s hand warily. “Miss,” she said, dropping her eyes.

Afterward, to distract herself, Willow asked Poppy to lounge with her in front of the fire. Not long after the day of the first goat, Poppy had been assigned to serve Serrin in addition to Willow. Just for a few hours a day, so that Serrin could grow accustomed to Poppy and vice versa. Both she and Willow hopedthis meant that Poppy would be accompanying Willow when she went to live with Serrin.

“Oh, miss, I feel so lucky!” Poppy had exclaimed.

“Poppy, please. I’m the lucky one,” Willow had replied.

Even so, Willow bristled at the knowledge thatPoppy’spresence wouldn’t wear Serrin out or mess up the fragile alignment of stardust that had to remainjust soif all was to move forward according to the grand plan. But Poppy wasn’t Willow. Willow was Willow, and Willow was part of the grand plan. She knew she shouldn’t complain.

“So. Serrin,” Willow said once she and Poppy were settled before the fire with twin mugs of hot chocolate. “He’s better?”

“Ever so much,” Poppy said. “And with the Mating Ceremony fast approaching, he’s been speaking more and more about his role as the future king.” She laughed. “He says his mind is on the realm.Ithink his mind’s on his future queen.”

Willow blushed happily. “Tell me about his plans. I want to know everything!”

“Oh, he wants to rebuild the Gardened Court, for one thing. Says he’s tired of tally posts, tired of mark-ranks at the gates. He wants everyone judged by merit, not by what family they’re from.”

Willow nodded. “I agree. Tell me more.”

“And he says that something must be done about the mordreks, though he has yet to come up with a solution.”

The mordreks. Yes. Willow was fairly certain they were nothing but mosquitoes—annoying but harmless. Why did the fae fear them so?

“There have always been mordreks in Eryth,” Poppy said, watching Willow’s face and seeming to divine her question. “But it used to be you never saw them. Lately, they’ve begun to multiply. No one knows why. In the olden days, dragons kept them in check, but now...”

Poppy shrugged, as if Willow already understood.

She didn’t, but the worddragonstirred something in her chest. She thought of the creature from the pond, all muscle and shimmer, teeth and tail. She thought of the dragon in her dreams—half-remembered shapes with melted coin eyes. And further back—so far it felt like another life entirely—she remembered a night in the normal world when a streak of fire arced across the lavender sky, too slow for a plane, too fast for a star.

“Tell me about them, the dragons,” Willow said. She refilled Poppy’s hot chocolate. “Do they still exist?”

“Gracious, no!” said Poppy. “But they were a big problem once.” She widened her eyes and lowered her voice. “Fire breath.”

Willow’s thoughts slid sideways toward Maeve with her raw and glistening skin. Her hand, when Willow had shaken it, had felt like a melted candle.

“What about the Blighted?” Willow said. “Does Serrin believe they’re born wicked, the same as everyone else?”

“Oh, he’s a young man with a young man’s fanciful dreams,” Poppy replied.

“What does that mean?”

“He knows Blighted babies come from rebel families. That’s just the pattern, isn’t it? Rebellion in the blood. Resistance in the womb. And the wyrms... they smell it.” Poppy tapped the side of her nose. “But Serrin—bless him—he thinks the babies shouldn’t suffer for their parents’ sins.”

“I agree,” Willow said at once. “They shouldn’t.”

“I told him that, I did. He took your words to heart.”

“You did?Hedid?”

“He wants to please you, miss. And he’s got a tender heart, same as you, same as Jace. Told me to tell you—now, how did he put it?” She frowned. “He said that ‘helping the Blightedconstitutes the central tenet of his future stewardship.’” Poppy nodded, pleased with getting those tricky words out in the right order.

“That’s wonderful!” Willow exclaimed. “And he means it? You think he really means it?”

“He means it, all right.” Poppy thumped her chest. “Serrin’s a fine lad. He’s got a big old soggy heart. He’ll move earth and sky to help the Blighted, but it won’t do any good, now, will it? Oh well. At least you’ll be by his side to comfort him when he fails.”

“When he fails!” Willow huffed a laugh and shoved Poppy’s shoulder. “He won’t. I won’t let him.”

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