Page 134 of Crown of Darkness
To get that crown means venturing right into the heart of my mother’s kingdom.
Past armies. Past enemies.
Right beneath her nose.
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Chapter Twenty-Eight
“No. Absolutely not,” Thiago snarls.
I spent the entire trip home to Ceres thinking through my arguments, so I’m calm as I face him. “I know the ruins of Briar Keep. I know every inch of the land surrounding it. It makes sense if I’m the one who goes.”
“You’re with child.”
“We only suspect that—”
“Suspicion is enough for me!” he yells, his voice echoing through the council chambers. “If your mother gets her hands on you and my child, then this war is done. She will win, because I will do anything to get you both back. I will crawl at her feet. I will slit my own throat. I will chain myself to her throne if she so demands it.”
“But I won’t be alone,” I tell him, because I discussed this with Eris on the boat ride back to the Hallow. “Eris will be coming with me.”
“Eris?”
“You were quite content to let her accompany me into Unseelie to visit the oracle. Do you not trust her with my life?” I ask him.
His face reddens and he shoots a glare at Eris. “You’re awfully silent. I take it my wife has your consent for this foolish plan?”
She shrugs. “We need the crown. And we can’t enter Asturia in force. Nor can we enter in secret. The entire countryside is crawling with Asturian troops who have the faces of Evernight’s prince plastered on every propaganda poster nailed to the tavern doors. Vi knows the lay of the land. It makes sense.”
I take a deep breath. “Two riders might be glanced over, especially females. And if not, then… the Hallow at Briar Keep hasn’t been used in centuries, but if anyone can use it, it’s going to be me.”
“No,” Thiago says simply. “No.”
“So we wait?” We cannot afford to wait. Once Asturia and Evernight officially clash, the borders will lock up tighter than Nanny Redwyne’s drawers. “Eight months, Thiago! We have eight months to find it!”
He crosses his arms. “I have concerns with this story. Your mother got her hands on a powerful weapon and she just left it on this Briar King’s head?”
The thought troubles me too. Why would my mother have left it there?
To mock him?
Is she still tied to it?
It makes no sense, for she’d keep it close by, wouldn’t she? And yet, I’ve never seen anything like that in her possession, nor felt its malevolence.
“It fed on the king, and then turned on him when she defied him,” I say. “Maybe she didn’t wish to be bound to such a thing. But the oracle said I would understand everything once I took the crown from his head.”
“I don’t like this—”
“Nor do I,” I counter. “But this is the best hope we have.Please. Please trust me to do this. I need you here. I need you to create a diversion so my mother’s attention is focused on you.”
He doesn’t like it, but he’s wavering.
“You want her to be your queen,” Eris points out quietly. “You can’t smother her. You can’t lock her away.”
“I’m not….” He breaks off with a curse and starts pacing. “I can’t lose you, Vi. I can’t. You’re the only thing that helps me hold this at bay.”
My heart feels like lead in my chest. “What aren’t you telling me?”
