Tobiah steadied himself and gazed over the crowd. It was impossible to say how long we had before the wraith escaped his mirrors, so we had to hurry.
I lifted my voice. “Colin Pierce is dead. Patrick Lien is dead. The battle is finished. Aecorians: your queen, the rightful heir to the vermilion throne, has won. Citizens of the Indigo Kingdom: you are all refugees, and by coming to Aecor, you agree to obey my laws. With me, I have King Tobiah, Sovereign of the Indigo Kingdom, House of the Dragon. He, too, is a ward of Aecor, per the Wraith Alliance.”
Tobiah made himself tall and proud, and in mirrors all across the park, I caught reflections of the two of us: black-clad vigilantes standing side by side. “Queen Wilhelmina has graciously taken us in. Indigo Army, you will submit to our queen. Aecorians who followed Prince Colin’s rule, you will submit to our queen.”
My heart thundered when he said my name. When he said queen.
I fought to hide the tremor in my voice as I spoke. “Our problem now is the wraith. It surrounds you. These mirrors won’t hold it forever, but I will take action to fix that upon my return to Sandcliff Castle.”
Thousands of eyes gazed up, some with anger, but more with hope.
“I need you all to work together. Protect one another. Every one of you is valuable.” I stopped myself before looking toward Patrick and Colin; we could have used them, too. The sense memory of my dagger entering his gut still echoed in my fingers.
Tobiah took my hand and squeezed the sensation out, though it probably wasn’t meant to be comforting, but a reminder. Hurry.
“You have your orders. Those who refuse to obey will be arrested and put on trial. Those who wish to throw out their former allegiances will be pardoned.”
Immediately, people began moving, calling orders, looking for guidance from their comrades. I let them be, keeping my head high as I strode toward the side of the building to climb down again.
A faint keening rose up, inhuman and piercing.
Tobiah stood where I’d left him, his hands clenched at his sides and his jaw tight.
“What is it?” I walked back to him. The noise grew louder, humming like bees. Below, everyone was looking around, moving more quickly.
Tobiah met my eyes. “Wraith.”
With a sharp crack and flash of light, every mirror in the park exploded.
FORTY-SEVEN
GLASS AND LIGHT shot upward in a thunderous explosion, but as the shards began to rain down, they vanished.
Tobiah was sweating, shaking, gasping. “It escaped. It broke free of the mirrors.”
He’d gotten rid of the mirrors before they caused people harm. That was something. But now the wraith mist was free; it swirled and shrieked, spinning through the park with a blinding glow. Mist burst outward, stretching farther into the city.
I took Tobiah’s hand and hauled him toward the edge of the building, where Melanie and James waited on the ground. “Down we go!”
We rappelled as quickly as possible. People ran from the park, others killed wraith beasts, and some attempted to make arrests. The brilliant light of wraith silhouetted my friends below, making my eyes water. I blinked away tears and looked for a place to land among the crush of people and screaming wraith.
Melanie took me by the ribs to steady me. “What happened?” She stepped back to give me room, elbowing others aside. “I thought Chrysalis had control.”
“He did.” I stashed my grapple and line and wiped my stinging eyes. “Now he doesn’t. Maybe because of the mirrors; it’s hard to say. Regardless, we need to go to the castle immediately.”
“Right.” Melanie shoved me close to Tobiah so James could watch both of us, and she began rounding up soldiers with knives painted on them. “Protect the queen!” Her voice carried over the din. “Protect the king!”
A small chorus took up the call. “Protect the queen! Protect the king!” The words spread and people circled us, creating a human barrier. Melanie and James led the group out of the lowcity.
We plowed through the confused disorder of people struggling to escape the park, but it was too slow. We’d never make it to the castle if we were forced to walk like this.
I leaned toward Tobiah. “Can you make more mirrors?”
He gave a swift nod, and a heartbeat later, a giant mirror appeared on a factory wall ahead of us, reflecting the blinding light of the park.
Tobiah staggered with the effort; I lunged to support him as more mirrors came into existence.
James glanced back.
“I’ve got him!” I matched my steps with Tobiah’s, directing him and taking as much of his weight as possible while he closed his eyes and called a hundred mirrors into being. A thousand, maybe; the wraith wasn’t contained in the park anymore, and if he wanted to stop it all, every wall in the lowcity needed mirrors.
But the wraith did stop. It trembled in its own reflection, buzzing angrily.
Tobiah’s breath rasped by my ear.