Page 139 of Crown of Darkness
“Maybe… maybe I do.”
Our eyes meet.
“How did you do it?” she demands. “How did you get the power to defeat her at the Queensmoot? I’ve never felt such power before. I could feel it, shivering up through the earth itself—”
“I was desperate. And so I made a bargain with the Mother of Night.”
“What sort of bargain?” For a second, she’s my older sister, snapping at my stupidity. “Curse it, Vi. Have you lost your mind?”
“Not my mind, no.”
“What did you bargain with? The Old Ones cannot be trusted.”
I stare at her for long seconds. I don’t know if I trust her. She’s given me precious information, but as I said, she always did play the game better than I did.
Maybe I can play the game too. A little bit of information, though not all of it…. “She wanted my firstborn child—”
The blood drains from her face. “Vi!”
“But if I can give her the crown that sits on the Briar King’s head, then the debt will be repaid.”
Andraste shakes her head in horror. “And if you can’t get the crown?”
I merely stare at her.
“No.No!” She rakes her hands through her braids again. “Gods, how could you be so stupid! How could you—”
“I was desperate!” I snap. “And there is still time. There has tobea child.”
“This is my fault,” she whispers, staring blankly at nothing. “This is all my fault. I thought…. I thought….”
Eris appears from the shadows, stalking slowly across the cobbles. “It’s none of your business, Princess of Thorns. Vi.” She gives me a look. “We need to get moving. She’s stalling.”
“I’m not stalling,” Andraste whips her blade free, backing away from Eris warily. “I came alone.”
“Really?” Eris curls her lip. “Then why is there a cloud of dust moving toward us? There’s at least one squad of Asturian soldiers riding this way.”
“What?” both Andraste and I say.
“It’s a trap.”
“Not by me!” Andraste strides to the archway as if she wants to see.
Eris is quicker. Hauling Andraste back into her arms, she sets a knife to her throat. “Drop the sword.”
“Make me.”
Eris presses the knife tight enough to draw blood, and my sister’s sword clatters to the ground.
“Wait!” I reach for them. “Don’t kill her,” I tell Eris. “I need her.”
“She’s the enemy, Vi.”
“I know.” But… for a second. “Was any of it the truth? The goblins? The Alliance? Your intentions?”
Andraste’s chin tilts higher as Eris tightens the knife. “All of it. You need to get out of here. Now! I swear I had nothing to do with this. Take the west trail. If they’re coming from Hawthorne Castle, they’ll expect you to flee directly north, toward the Thornwood Hallow.”
I glance at the cloud of dust. “We can’t leave. Not without the crown.”
