“Are the spirits going to hurt them?”
She walked forward, just a step, watching the spirits. Their bodies continued to flow into one another, but they didn’t seem to be moving closer to the two. They’d made themselves into a wall, keeping them there, like she’d told them to. She hadn’t imagined her command would last so long. “I don’t think so.”
“Are they going to hurt to the spirits?”
Same answer. “I don’t think so.” Naelin had no doubt they could kill the spirits if they wanted to. She also knew what would happen if they did—their deaths would destroy a part of the forest, perhaps even the village tree itself.
“Shush, Llor, you aren’t supposed to kill spirits,” Erian said. “Bad luck.”
“Bad things happen when you do,” the champion agreed, calmly, his sword steady. “I’ve seen a spirit die and a tree crumble to dust, the moisture sucked from the air, the land barren. We try to avoid killing them.”
“I am sorry about this . . .” Naelin began, and then she stopped. She wasn’t sorry—this wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t called the spirits down on her. Maybe at least now she had the upper hand. “I’d like to offer you a bargain. You teach me to how to keep the spirits away from my family, and I will order the spirits to set you free.” She felt Erian slide her hand into hers. Llor was clinging to her leg. She wrapped her free arm around his shoulders.
“You tried to run and they followed you,” the champion guessed.
“They noticed me because of you. Now I want you to fix this. I want my life and my family back the way it was.” Minus Renet, she thought with a pang. She couldn’t trust him anymore, especially now that she’d seen how precarious their safety was.
“You can’t change what happened,” the champion said, “and you can’t deny who you are.”
Naelin held her children closer and kept a very tight rein on her thoughts. She wanted to leave the smug, self-righteous bastard to the spirits, but he was the one with the knowledge she needed. “Who I am is a mother, a woodswoman, a charm maker.” She didn’t add wife. “It is my right to define me, not yours.”
The guardswoman snorted. “I like her.”
“I don’t care,” Naelin shot back. “I don’t need your approval, and I don’t care if I fit your image of what a woman with power should be. Find yourself a little girl to brainwash. Just help me fix what you broke.”
“Aratay needs you,” the champion said.
“My family needs me more.”
He shook his head. “Are you truly this selfish?” Through the oozy bodies of the spirits, he seemed to blur and bobble.
Llor piped up. “Don’t call my mama selfish! I don’t care if you are a hero. You are not a nice man. I hope the spirits eat you!”
Kneeling, Naelin gathered Llor and Erian closer, their warm bodies as comforting as blankets. Llor was vibrating in anger, his pudgy fists curled up. Erian looked pale, her lips pursed, as if she were concentrating hard to understand what was happening. Naelin didn’t tell Llor to apologize or take his words back—she felt the same way. Trying to bargain was a mistake. But she couldn’t think of any other options. No one in Everdale could help her.
The guardswoman sighed heavily. “Tell her.”
Champion Ven objected, “Queen Daleina wouldn’t—”
“Not that. About her power.”
Naelin’s eyes narrowed. She trusted them about as far as she could throw them, which was not at all, given how many muscles they both had. It was clear they had secrets, and she was one hundred percent certain she wouldn’t like them. “What about my power?” She hated using the word “my.” She never asked to have power, and she would not let it leave her children motherless. “I don’t want it. Never wanted it.”
The champion pinned her with his pale blue eyes. She didn’t know how they could look so clear through the blur of the spirits’ bodies, but they were sharp and bright. “You’re strong.”
“Ludicrously strong,” the guard put in. She poked one of the spirits with the tip of her sword. “These spirits refuse to budge. We hurt them, and they still stayed.”
“I told them to hold you here,” Naelin said.
“Yeah, a while ago, and then you left,” the guard said. “Your command should have faded, but look”—another poke—“freakily obedient. I’ve never seen anything like it, at least in someone who’s not a queen. Or even trained.”
“She’s right,” the champion said. “You have more raw power than I’ve ever seen, and if I know that, you can be certain the spirits do too. They aren’t going to leave you alone, no matter where you run.”
Naelin clutched Erian and Llor harder, until Llor squawked. She forced herself to loosen her grip. “And if I order them to leave me alone? If I’m so very powerful, they’ll obey, right?”
“Or they’ll leave the entire village, and no plants will grow, no fires will start, and you’ll destroy your home,” the champion said. From the corner, Corinda chirped, a half moan half cry. “You’re untrained. That makes you dangerous.”
Naelin’s mouth felt dry. She swallowed and tried to form words.
“I have a bargain for you, Mistress Naelin,” he said. “Come with me to Mittriel. Meet the queen. Talk to her. And I will teach you to control your power.”
Suddenly, Erian gripped her arm. “Mama, he wants you to be an heir?”
He smiled. “That’s right. Your mother can be a hero.”
Both Erian and Llor burst into tears. “No! Mama, no!” Llor wailed. Erian clung to her and cried, “No, Mama, the heirs died! They all died! I don’t want you to die!” Kneeling, Naelin wrapped her arms around them both and held them.
“Nicely done,” the guard said.
The champion swore. “I never claimed to be a people person.”
Naelin murmured into their hair. “Queen Daleina didn’t die, did she? They want to teach me how not to die. They want to show me how to keep you safe. I won’t let them make me an heir. I won’t let them take me from you.”
They cried as if their hearts were breaking, and she felt her own heart twisting. All she wanted to do was kiss their damp cheeks and heal what this day had shredded inside them. She wanted to knit their lives back together, take them home, pretend none of this had happened, erase it from their memories. “Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!” they cried.
I don’t want to!
From the corner, Corinda, with her voice quivering, said, “You have to go with them, Naelin. Renet can—”
“I’ve left him,” Naelin said firmly. Speaking the words out loud made it official. As she said the words, she felt her body shudder once and then she felt calm. At least there was one decision she was certain about.
“Witnessed, and gladly,” Corinda said. “Leave Erian and Llor with me. I’ll watch them as if they were my own—”
“No, Mama, we aren’t leaving you!” Erian shouted, with Llor echoing her.
Naelin fixed her eyes on the champion. Every fiber of her body screamed, Don’t leave them. “Will they be safe here, with Corinda?”