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I don’t understand—” I began, but then I realized that the crowd was chanting again. This time it was just one word, over and over again.
“Death! Death! Death!”
The glowing eyes of every Fae in the clearing were trained on Mordren and Elgiana and there was a lust for vengeance on every face.
And now I began to feel the emotions of the people flowing into me along with their Power. They wanted revenge for the old Queen—my mother. They still mourned for her—she had been quiet and kind and loving towards all. A true ruler who put her people ahead of herself. The Dark Fae hated the ones who had killed her—hated Mordren and Elgiana. The only true penalty for killing such a beloved Queen was…
“Death…Death…Death!”
The chanting was getting louder and louder and the Power inside me was building to an almost unbearable level. Lifting my right hand to the sky, I used the magic I had gained from drinking from Seldarin and called for the heavens to open.
“Come to me!” I shouted. “Come, now!”
“No!” Mordren shrieked—he seemed to know what I was doing. He looked up, his bluish-purple eyes wide with fear. “No!”
With a loud CRAAACKKK a jagged fork of lightning ripped out of the sky and came straight down. It hit the Lord Regent right between the eyebrows, incinerating him instantly.
I could feel the heat of the lightning bolt, but because the Power was still flowing into me, it didn’t hurt or burn me. Still, I was momentarily blinded by the brilliant flash of light. I blinked several times and when I could see again, I found that all that was left of the slimy Lord Regent was a little pile of black ashes.
The crowd cheered and I felt their approval rushing into me. Justice had been served!
“Very good, my Queen!” Lady Nolana exclaimed. “You don’t know how often I’ve wanted to do that. If only I could have gotten to your mother in time to stop them—but alas, she had already drunk the poison.”
“The poison!” I exclaimed, my eyes wide. “Sel and Krynn—now that Mordren’s out of the way, I have to help them!”
But it seemed I wasn’t the only one who was thinking of the antidote.
“Oh, Princess!” Lady Elgiana called to me. She was still caught in the thorn bush but when I looked at her, I saw a wild light in her yellow eyes.
“She is your Queen now, Elgiana,” Lady Nolana said loudly, glaring at the other woman. “I suggest you respect her—especially considering what just happened to your accomplice!”
“Oh, I respect her!” Elgiana gave a crazed laugh and I realized uneasily that her mind must have given way. “I have plenty of respect for anyone who’s about to kill me!”
“I never said—” I began.
“But I’m not going to die alone!” she continued. She held up the crystal vial of antidote and waved it at me. “Because your two half-breeds are going to die with me!”
It felt as though my heart stopped dead in my chest.
“Wait,” I said, putting out a hand to her. “We can talk about this, Elgiana.”
“Talk about what?” she demanded. “Are you going to offer to trade my life for the lives of your half-breeds? Well tell me this, Princess, what kind of life would I actually have? Are you going to strip me of my title and servants and lock me in the basement of the Palace with the Lesser Fae? Because I’d rather be dead!”
And with that, she flung the crystal vial as hard as she could. I watched it arc up into the air, glimmering in the light of the bonfire in the center of the clearing…and then smash against the trunk of a tree and shatter into a million tiny pieces.
Lady Elgiana began to laugh hysterically—a sound that had no sanity in it whatsoever.
“There!” she screeched. “Kill me if you want to, but they’ll die with me! Good luck finding some more bitterworm antidote because there isn’t any!”
I turned to Lady Nolana, feeling sick.
“Is she telling the truth?”
“I’m afraid so.” She looked stricken. “Bitterworm is an incredibly dangerous poison—it’s said that working with it for too long can drive you mad—which is why the old King, your Royal Father, outlawed it. Elgiana is probably the only one foolish enough to have it in her possession—which means she’s also the only one who has the antidote. Or had the antidote,” she added sadly.
Suddenly I couldn’t stand there one more minute talking—I had to get to my guys! If they only had a little while left to live, I couldn’t leave them alone.
I dropped Lady Nolana’s hand and ran from the Hallowed Clearing, heading for Sel and Krynn.
