Page 98 of In the Ravenous Dark
“And we’re willing to challenge him so you don’t have to,” I continue. “But obviously not if you try to destroy me.Orif you intend to destroy the city.”
“What she said,” Japha adds.
I flash them a grin and turn back to the queen. “So are you with us or against us? Becausewe’regoing to take down an undead king and make the war you are about to start unnecessary.”
The queen regards me a moment longer, her expression oddly calm. “And you think you can succeed?” she asks.
It’s Ivrilos’s turn to squeeze my hand. “Rovan is the best chance we’ve ever had.”
I smile at him. “Only with you.”
Unmoved, the queen asks, “Why would you do this? What’s in it for you?”
“Revenge,” I say bluntly. “The man killed my mother and ordered the death of my father. And this is my city. The king is my responsibility. If your army invades to take care of him instead of leaving him to me, so many more people will die.”
“A trifle, next to what his blight has destroyed.” She pauses. “I will grant a temporary stay on your execution and on the deployment of our army.But,” she adds, “you must destroy this kingandhis blight.”
I blink. “The blight can be destroyed?”
“Just as your guardian is drawing upon you, something—someplace—is causing the living world to wither.”
Ivrilos gives me a meaningful look.
“The dark city,” I say.
“You’ve seen it?” the queen asks, raising a golden brow.
I suppress a shudder. “I wish I hadn’t. Athanatos has used the pneuma of others—allothers, aside from his family—to build it.”
“We’ve suspected.” Her lip curls in disgust. “Even so, it would fade, deteriorate, like all dead things do. So he bound it…”
“To the living world,” I finish. “Like a guardian to a ward.”
The queen nods. “There is a point of contact between theworlds, the source of death and decay in the living realm, and it’s there. In your city. In the palace.”
“But I thought only death could break a bond like that.”
“The living realm and the underworld are veritable tapestries of souls—the dark city literally built, piece by piece, as you say, from the dead. So this is not like the bond between a guardian and a ward, straightforward, one point connecting to another.” She gestures at me and Ivrilos. “You’re attached to him wholly, and he to you, so only a final death can separate you. The living world is too strong and vast to be bound fully, and the underworld too disparate. The grip is less sure, less complete. It’s more of a bridge than a chain, with myriad strands that all tie to a precarious point—an anchor point.”
“It must be in the king’s quarters,” I murmur.
“That would be my guess,” Ivrilos says.
The queen shrugs. “Wherever it is, you must find it, and sever the connection. If you fail, both Thanopolis’s sovereignty and your life, such that it is, are forfeit.”
I bare my teeth more than grin at her. “I’m pretty sure if I fail, I’ll be gone anyway.”
The queen abruptly turns away from the portal. “Then you may live so long as you are helping us in our efforts to restore balance to the living world. But if you step too far out of line and upset the balance yourself… we will end you.”
I shrug. “You can try.”
Alldan glares at me.
The queen, for her part, ignores me. “Make yourself ready. We’ll not grant you much time before we put our plans back into motion.”
Nervousness, excitement, and fear all coil inside me, my too-quiet stomach like a basket of waiting snakes. “How long do I have?”
She glances back at me at the edge of the portal’s frame. “Tonight.”
