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‘No.’ My lips were shaping the word all by themselves – a mindless prayer, my last plea to the world to turn itself around. ‘No, you can’t do this. Do you really not give a damn about the others you’ll hurt in the process – the others you’llkill?’
‘Oh, look at that,’ she sneered. ‘Like little Phiramelyndra all over again. Telling us to care about the rest of the world, telling us to sacrifice ourselves for those illiterate barbarians of hers … But tell me, Emelin, if we don’t take care of ourselves, then who else will do it? Hm?’
Lyn.
Poor, dear Lyn, who must have tried so, so hard.
It was the memory of her gleaming amber eyes that moved me, rather than the thought of those rows and rows of brittle crystal orbs. The way she’d pressed those chubby, freckled hands to her face as if she was fighting not to vomit, rather than the vague and abstract weight of the world’s fate on my shoulders.
My left hand slipped to the smooth gold around my neck.
My right hand swept up again.
Smoothness for mind.The magic came to me instinctively, spurred on by the fire of my anger. I threw my every spiteful thought into it, every nugget of persuasion left in me –You’re happy to join us. You’re ready to fight. You’re prepared to die for your freedom.
They fell silent, eyes turning glassy.
You wish to bargain with me. My hands were trembling, but the magic flowed and kept flowing, a silky cobweb line between me and the five phoenixes in their gold-covered robes.You wish to offer me secrecy and all your military support, in return for my promise to unbind you as soon as I’m able to. You’re glad to do so.
‘Yes,’ Khailan droned, his voice unnaturally flat as he rose, wobbled towards me, and held out a long, perfectly manicured hand. ‘We will support the Alliance during the war, Lady Emelin. I can guarantee the discretion of every phoenix under my command. A small price to pay for our wings and children, Lady Emelin.’
My stomach rolled, unexpectedly and violently.
Would it even hold, a bargain created by magical manipulation? I forced myself to extend my own right hand, making sure the flow of smoothness was never interrupted –you want to bargain, you want to bargain, you want to bargain.My words felt filthy on my lips as I pushed them out. ‘It’s a deal.’
It should have been a triumph, the blinding light igniting between our palms. This was what I’d set out to achieve here,wasn’t it? We had their armies. We had our winged forces. I even had the smallest bit of revenge for all Lyn had suffered at their hands, and wasn’t that the very least they deserved after all this time?
But that quivering hand in mine …
I had expected them to hate me, and I would have welcomed it. This – this outright cheating, their sickening fear – was not what I’d prepared for.
Was this who I wanted to be? The villain in their story?
The bargain magic sizzled out between us, and I yanked back my hand as fast as Khailan did, barely noticing the brand new, golden mark on the inside of my wrist. Was this what Zera had feared I would do, those days when she’d refused to grant me godsworn powers? Had she known I’d be manipulating my allies with fear and suffering within days of my return to the civilised world?
My brusque movement had finally interrupted my magic. Standing before me, Khailan blinked like a sleepwalker shaken from his dreams – then blinked again, gaze clearing. Then jolted two steps back, gaping at the golden bargain mark on the inside of his wrist.
The sound that fell from his lips was just short of a whimper. ‘What in the world—'
‘Thank you,’ I interrupted in a flash of blinding panic, managing something that might just pass for a confident smile to untrained eyes. ‘I’m very glad we could all agree on this subject. I look forward to working with you to free the archipelago from the Mother’s rule.’
Did they even remember the bargain he’d made? They must have. The look in Khailan’s eyes was one of confusion rather than surprise – he knew exactly where he was, just with no clue of how he’d allowed himself to end up there. Drusa was trembling. Mydhar was staring at my wrist with narrowed eyes.Thyvle flinched as my gaze slid past her, as if my attention alone might be lethal.
‘Yes,’ Khailan managed, with an audible, commendable effort to sound like he had the faintest idea of what was happening. ‘I … I suppose …’
‘Much obliged,’ Drusa stammered, trying to smooth over his hesitation. ‘If there is anything we can do to help you decipher the situation with the bindings, or if there’s anything else you need from us …’
‘There will be a council of war tonight.’ Short sentences. Simple facts. My nerves wouldn’t allow me to get more than that past my lips; my stomach was rolling, moving all over again with every glance at the wrist Khailan was still clutching in his other hand. ‘You’re warmly invited. I’ll send the alves to pick you up.’
‘Of course,’ Khailan said weakly. ‘Of course.’
None of them asked so much as a single question. None of them exchanged even the briefest confused glance. The national character, again – order and obedience, and they’d rather cling to their pride and pretend all was well than admit even to each other that they did not have the faintest idea of what had just happened between the six of us.
Which made them the perfect victims.
Which made me the perfect villain.
‘Thank you,’ I forced myself to say, held in place only by Alyra’s talons piercing through my dress and into my shoulder. ‘Is there anything else I should clear up for now?’
