“Queen Jastra realized this years ago and tried to do it by capturing more spirits in the untamed lands, thinking they would bolster her power. But without land, the spirits were uncontrollable, and she spent all of her extra energy keeping them from ripping Semo to shreds.” Merecot paused as a flicker of pain flashed across her face, then was gone—so fast that Daleina thought she’d imagined it. “Overall, it was a bad idea. What she should have done is conquer a second kingdom, thereby doubling her power with nice, stable spirits, who aren’t busy fighting one another over a mountain or two.”
“And that’s why you had me poisoned and my heirs killed?” Daleina kept her voice flat, but her hands were squeezing together so tightly that her nails dug into her skin. This is a terrible idea, pursued by terrible people.
“Precisely.” She said it so casually, Daleina almost flinched. Why, exactly, do I want to be friends with her? She answered herself: Because a friendship with Merecot would mean peace for my people.
Unless Merecot destroys the world first.
Merecot continued. “I thought that if I could conquer Aratay, then with the combined strength of Aratay and Semo, I’d have enough power to issue a command that will change the fate of Renthia. You can’t do it—even as queen, you don’t have the power. But I do. That’s why it has to be me.”
Holding up a hand, Daleina stopped her. Even if she accepted that Merecot could become powerful enough to do it, why would she ever want her to? She pictured the barren lands, the lost homes, the lost lives. “You said you wanted to destroy the spirits. How would you do that without destroying everything and everyone we know in the process?” She tried to keep her voice even and calm, but it was difficult. This was madness. She couldn’t believe she was having a conversation about why her friend had tried to kill her and had had so many others killed. Still, if this—an end to spirits—was what Merecot truly wanted, Daleina at least had to give it to her: she couldn’t say the goal wasn’t grand.
She doesn’t think small, that’s for certain.
Daleina didn’t know whether she wanted to scream, cry, or laugh. Maybe all three. And then shake Merecot until she sees sense.
Merecot waved her hand dismissively. “I was being dramatic. Destroying the spirits would of course destroy the land. No, I don’t want to kill them. I want to change them! I want to order them to evolve. I want to force them to . . . well, become the land. I suppose that’s the best way to put it. Instead of nature spirits, we’d merely have nature, the way it’s supposed to be.”
As she said this, Merecot was watching her reaction. And Daleina couldn’t help but react. Her mouth fell open. That was . . .
Bold.
And also brilliant.
If the spirits were changed, if they could be altered en masse in a fundamental way . . . Carefully, not wanting to hope, Daleina asked, “What exactly do you mean?”
“The spirits weren’t meant to be like this, continually torn between shaping the world and dismantling it. They were supposed to finish creating this world and then change to become a passive part of it.” Merecot gestured at the windows, the ceiling, the wall, as if they represented the world. “You’ve heard our versions of the creation story. Here’s theirs: they were supposed to evolve into a new kind of spirit, but they didn’t. They couldn’t.”
Despite herself, Daleina began to feel drawn in. She thought of the gratitude story her parents always told before every meal, and the ballads that the canopy singers sang. “Because the Great Mother died.”
“Yes! After her, no one had enough power to change them.”
Could it be true? Were the spirits supposed to have evolved?
“For generations, queens have kept the peace with relative degrees of success in their own lands. They gained enough power through the spirits they controlled to keep the status quo, but not enough to truly influence the spirits, to force them to finish their evolution. But if a queen were to have more power . . .” Merecot trailed off as if the conclusion were obvious.
Daleina stared at her. She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. She couldn’t believe she was considering this. But if it were possible . . .
It wouldn’t just change the spirits.
It would change the world.
Merecot sighed dramatically. “Really, Daleina? I paused so you could jump in with your own ‘aha!’ revelation. You were supposed to use your towering intellect to fill in the blanks.”
“Fill it in for me.” She refused to leap to conclusions, though she was pretty sure she knew exactly where Merecot was going. She wanted Merecot to say it, all of it. Out loud.
“Fine. Once I’m strong enough, once I can draw strength from the spirits of both Semo and Aratay, I’ll finish what the Great Mother couldn’t. I’ll order the spirits to change.” Her face was flushed, and her hands were shaking. Merecot obviously believed every word she was saying.
And Daleina couldn’t help but believe her too. Or at least, couldn’t help but want to believe. She knew how powerful Merecot was, and the spirits of Aratay, combined with the spirits of Semo, would make her even more powerful. Powerful enough? she wondered. “You think this is a thing that can be done?”
“I think this is a thing that was supposed to have happened long ago, before humans ever walked the lands of Renthia, before Renthia even existed. Something went wrong long ago, and I want to make it right. Help me make it right, Daleina.”
It was an amazing thought. If it was truly possible . . . It would be a miracle. In a hushed voice, as if Merecot had uttered a spell she was afraid to break, Daleina asked, “What are you asking me to do?”
She knew the answer before Merecot said it.
This was what Merecot had been leading to. This was why she’d come. She’d already said it multiple times, in fact, she just hadn’t said why until now.
“Abdicate,” Merecot answered. “Let me take control of the spirits of Aratay. With them and with the strength of Semo, I can do this. It requires someone with enough strength giving the right command.” She leaned forward, intense. “I know the right command, and I am the right someone.”
“And you didn’t want to tell me any of this before now?” Daleina felt outrage build—Queen Jastra and Merecot had the solution to the problem that had plagued Renthia since the beginning of history, and they were just . . . keeping it secret?
“I didn’t think you’d understand, or agree,” Merecot said. “So that’s why the poisoning. But given a choice, I’d rather work with you than against you. We used to be friends. It would be nice if we could be again.”
Daleina did not change her expression. She held herself very still. Merecot may be ambitious and ruthless and many other things, but she’d never been a liar.
If it’s possible . . .
If there’s even a chance that it’s possible . . .
An end to the spirits, to the deaths, to the fear.
She thought of Arin’s boyfriend, Josei, of her own lost friends, of her childhood home of Greytree, of the fallen champions and the ordinary people of Aratay who had suffered at the hands and claws of spirits. If the spirits were to “evolve” . . .
No one else would have to die.
She would be fulfilling her ultimate duty as queen: to protect her people.
Merecot had talked about destiny, and Daleina had rejected it. But if she was to choose a destiny, it would be to do all she could to save all she could. And now Merecot was offering her a way to do exactly that. If it works. “You believe this. Do you have any proof that the command will work? Proof that the spirits can be changed?”
“Bayn. Your wolf. He’s an evolved spirit.”
“And now he’s dead because your spirits drove him into the untamed lands. Do you have any other proof? Any living proof?”
“Call back a spirit or two,” Merecot said. “Ask them to tell you their story. Ask them about their lost destiny. Ask about who or what they were supposed to be. In truth, I’m only planning to do what the spirits themselves want.”
Daleina shook her head. “But they—”
“Just listen to them. Please, Daleina. And then give me your answer, whether you want to save the world or . . .” Merecot trailed off.
“Or?” Daleina prompted.
“Or die, so I can.”
Chapter 29
There was a child in the untamed lands.