The air was cold the instant it crossed the border, and the ground was covered in a thick sheet of ice. The spirit liked the ice—the mirror-smooth ice reflected the spirit nicely, its beautiful blue and its lovely wings.
Deeper into Elhim, the ice changed: here were forests of ice, trees with delicate snow-leaves. And cities of ice, with sculpted towers and fortresses. The ice had been twisted into pinnacles that rose into the air then splayed out like antlers in a forest of odd shapes. In other places, it had been smoothed into vast cliffs that forced the little water spirit to fly higher and higher, up where the air was colder and colder.
As the spirit flew closer to the palace of the queen, the ice became even more beautiful, carved into sea creatures and forest animals and nameless shapes of such delicate beauty that the water spirit began to wonder if its reflection had been lovely after all.
The palace itself looked as if it were made from lace. Delicate ice strands were woven together in flowerlike patterns to create its walls. Following the command of the queen of Aratay, the water spirit flew unerringly toward the tallest tower, seeking out the queen of Elhim.
As it reached the palace, two ice spirits shot out from behind a pinnacle of blue ice. The water spirit had a chance to see itself reflected in the mirror-smooth bodies of the ice spirits and think, Yes, I am lovely—right before the ice spirits plunged through its heart.
The water spirit froze.
And died.
Queen Xiya of Elhim never knew it had come.
One day, her daughter would find the little spirit’s body and think it was quite beautiful. She’d bring it inside to admire, and she’d discover the message. But that would not happen for an entire year.
The third spirit, an air spirit, journeyed south, toward the islands of Belene.
It was shaped like a sparrow, but with knife-sharp metal feathers. It had been the hardest spirit of the three for Queen Daleina to command, but once the order was imprinted, the spirit was determined to reach the ocean queen as quickly as possible.
It flew straight south, defying the air currents, without wavering its course. When it reached the southern border of Aratay, it did not slow. It shot into the ocean air and soared high above the water.
Below, the ocean roiled as if it were fighting with itself. The sky was a bruise of swirling purple, blue, and black. The closer the spirit flew to the islands, the wilder the winds and water became. The sparrow spirit felt the spirits of Belene: wild with rage, and the spirit’s own rage rose up to meet it—
But the queen of Aratay’s command still rang through the little sparrow spirit.
It kept flying.
The islands lay ahead, jewels encircled by raging sea. The air spirit of Aratay saw several water spirits of Belene hurl themselves at the islands’ shores. These ocean spirits were massive, with hundreds of tentacles and bodies as large as the islands. They looked like mountains rising out of the sea. Other spirits within the sea responded to them, forming axes and swords of water to pound against the monsters, keeping them back—spirits were fighting spirits.
As the air spirit flew, it saw a funnel of water rise from the middle of the chaos. The waterspout stretched and warped, and then it bore down on one of the islands.
The island was built out of the bones of spirits: a turtle shell as large as a city, a rib cage of a sea monster, a chain of vertebrae from a sea serpent. Grasses and palm trees grew on top of the bones, and between them were clusters of villages with homes decorated with shells. The streets were paved with mother-of-pearl, and the humans were screaming and running through them.
The spirit thought that was amusing.
The waterspout continued its path toward the island, and the sparrow spirit shot ahead of it, faster than the spout was. It flew through the highest window of a spiral-shaped tower, where it sensed Queen Asana of Belene stood.
She was peering through a telescope at the waterspout. Her braids were unraveled, and her crown of shells was lopsided on her head. She was bleeding from a gash on one shoulder.
The air spirit thought that after it delivered its message, perhaps it would help the waterspout and make the foreign queen bleed more.
“What’s this?” Queen Asana asked. Dropping to her knees, she untied the message from around the air spirit’s leg and read it. “The queen of Aratay asks for an heir, if we can spare one.” She made a sound that was half like a laugh and half like a choking gasp.
The sparrow spirit didn’t see the humor, though it thought if the waterspout tore through the city, that would be amusing. Straining to peer out the window, it tried to watch both the queen and the battle on the sea.
Standing, Queen Asana wrote a message on the back of the note. She finished and retied it around the air spirit’s leg. “Please tell her to send us help,” she said to the spirit.
The little spirit felt a churning inside. The call of the vengeful ocean spirits was strong and growing stronger. It tasted saliva filling its mouth, wanting blood. It stared fixedly at the gash on the queen’s shoulder.
Queen Asana closed her eyes for a moment, and the spirit felt a command sink in: Return home. “I’m deeply sorry, but your queen is on her own.”
She then released the air spirit.
With its new order, the spirit flew out the window. But the waterspout called to it, and the rage of the sea was too strong. It joined with the ocean spirits, forgetting its mission, and attacked the islands.
Chapter 20
Daleina felt the loss of the three spirits. First one, then the other, then a few days later the third. She didn’t know if they’d died or if her order had failed to hold them at such a distance, but each loss felt like a jab.
Somewhere in Aratay, she knew a bit of the land died.
She sent other spirits to heal it, as best they could. But they were already stretched thin. There were so many barren patches now, and her spirits were still sluggish to respond to her commands—even with Queen Naelin gone from Aratay, they hadn’t yet shaken the aftereffects of her emotional hurricane.
She felt a headache form.
I need a new idea. Her people had to be kept safe. Presiding over the Council of Champions, she didn’t tell them that she’d tried to reach out to other queens, or that she’d failed. Instead she focused on their reports on the progress of their candidates.
Champion Boden had the floor. An older man with a thick white mustache and a booming voice, he’d been droning on for a while. “. . . preparations for devastation. I’m proposing that heir training include a rotation of guard duty of the emergency winter stores. Furthermore—”
Sensing a spirit approaching, Daleina straightened and held up one hand to silence the champions. The spirit was flying fast toward the top of the tower, and she felt its urgency. News from the north? Please let it be good! “One moment, and then we will continue.”
She crossed to the edge of the chamber, beneath an archway. Golden leaves curled around the vines above her, and she felt as if she were wearing a second crown.
The spirit came into view: a white deer with wings, one of the air spirits of Aratay. It had feathers instead of fur, and she felt the imprint of Naelin’s thoughts in its mind. It did bear a message. She was right.
Landing, its hooves echoed on the chamber floor, and all the champions watched, tense. Daleina stroked the feathers on its neck. You’ve had a long flight. Thank you for flying so far and fast. Only a strong spirit could have done that.
It preened at the compliment.