Page 80 of Lightlark
Before the wall of spikes had attacked, she had already finished searching her assigned trees. She assumed Oro had too. The heart clearly wasn’t in this forest.
His jaw clenched. “There are too many places with the plants you indicated. I thought—because of the quantity, we would ...”Get luckywere the words she filled in.
Isla almost wanted to laugh. Or cry.
If there was any luck in the world, she and the king had never encountered it.
He shook his head. “I have another plan. One I hoped to avoid.” He looked her in the eyes. “You know those ancient creatures I told you about?”
She nodded.
“Well,” he said, “I think it’s time we meet one of them.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE HARBOR
Oro hadn’t knocked on her door in five days. He was supposed to be attempting to seek out the ancient creature, to make a deal that would guarantee their safety.
“Would one of these ancient creatures really try to hurt the king of Lightlark?” she had asked.
“I can’t be sure,” he said. “Though they would certainly not hesitate to hurt you.”
Isla had been grateful for the break. Oro had healed her back with his Moonling powers, but her body had shut down for two days after they had returned to the castle. She was wrecked. Exhausted. Broken.
But her mind had never been clearer.
Her encounter with the barbs and thorns had only made her want to break her curses more. Not just for the freedom ... but for the power.
Never again would plants harm her. Never again would she be powerless against them.
After the third day, when she was ready for their next mission and still hadn’t heard from the king, she began to worry.
Had he decided a Wildling who had been attacked by plants wouldn’t be much help to him? Had he decided to continue the rest of his plan on his own?
She refused to sit in her room and wait for him to fetch her. If his plan had changed, so had theirs. She needed to speak to Celeste.
Isla had slipped a note under the Starling’s door, asking her to meether in the agora. Since they weren’t paired, she thought they needed to start forming a superficial friendship seen by the islanders, so if they were somehow caught together, it wouldn’t be so suspicious. They were supposed to serendipitously run into each other in the Starling weapons store. Isladidneed a dagger—one that didn’t double as an accessory.
But, more than that, she needed to speak to her friend.
She had been so focused on her work with Oro that she had nearly forgotten the Starling had been forced to spend time with Cleo. What had that been like? Celeste was the type to avoid telling Isla things, so she wouldn’t worry. But she wanted to be there for her. Just as much as the Starling had always been there for her.
The agora was busier than even before, vendors filling their storefronts with their best accessories—silk hats, crystal-covered gloves, gowns that were as puffed up as the pastries sunbathing in the nearby bakery windows. All in preparation for the ball.
It was just ten days away.
Ten days until killing was permitted.
Ten days to find a way into the Sun Isle library.
Ten days to find and use the bondbreaker.
Ten days to break their curses and get off the island.
Isla stopped in front of the Starling store. Just as she was about to enter, someone bumped into her.
Strange. Usually the islanders gave her a wide berth, as if her skin was poisonous.
