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The Dauphine.
The Mother leaned harder on me, more than just a hand on my shoulder. It felt like the statue had fallen across my back. I couldn’t see. The smell of earth intensified, dark loam and rotting leaves. Death to fertilize new growth.
:THE WORLD TREE DIES. ITS BRANCHES WITHER. ITS TRUNK ROTS FROM WITHIN. ONLY THE ROOTS REMAIN, BUT IF THEY’RE NOT WATERED, EVEN THEY WILL FAIL.:
Crushing weight, ribs smashed. My lungs filled with blood. Dirt clogged my nose. Over my face. A grave.
Buried alive.
Terror washed over me. Trapped in darkness. Far from my Blood.
Bound to the table. To the Mother’s will. Even if there weren’t any other queens to take their seats.
I had to do this alone.
I’ve faced the grave before. I can do it again.
:CUT OUT THE ROT. CLEANSE THE DEAD WITH THE FIRE OF YOUR RAGE. THEN WATER THE WORLD TREE, DAUGHTER OF MY DAUGHTER. WATER IT WITH BLOOD.:
I opened my mouth, releasing the blood pooled inside me. The bottomless ocean that Sekh and the legion had given me. All of it. Pouring out of me like the Nile itself.
I couldn’t see Her face but I felt it deep in my bones when the Mother smiled.
* * *
Heart pounding, I sat straight up in bed.
Rik wrapped his arms around me, offering the security of his body. “What is it, my queen?”
I could still taste blood and dirt in my mouth, and there was dirt under my nails. Like I’d clawed my way out of the grave.
“I need to go.”
Nevarre rolled toward the edge of the bed and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. “I’ll let Gina know. Do you need the jet?”
I hesitated, letting the dream flow through me. I needed to go, soon, but it wasn’t leave in the middle of the night urgent. Yet. “No. At least not yet. What time is it?”
“It’s just after 6 AM.”
“Let’s gather in the salon again, though I don’t need Gwen to come back. Oh, text Magnum my apologies that we’re up so early. I hate descending on the kitchen like a pack of ravenous wolves.”
Nevarre’s fingers flew over the screen. “More like ravenous lions and dragons and bears, my queen. But evidently Winston warned her and there’s plenty of fresh beef and mutton on hand. I heard Mehen and Ezra talking about a BBQ in the garden space.”
Something about his words pinged in my head. “Garden space?”
He looked up from the phone. “I haven’t seen it myself. Do you think there’s a tree here you can make use of for traveling?”
“It’s possible. My mother certainly seemed to have thought of everything. Let’s go take a look but ask Magnum to join us if she has time. I still need that tour.”
Daire sauntered in looking like the cat who’d swallowed the canary when no one was looking, with an armful of clothes. “I brought you a few things to choose from, my queen.”
Outwardly, Nevarre didn’t react or say anything, though I felt the surge of irritation in his bond. He usually picked my clothes, allowing his goddess, Morrigan, to influence his selection. Evidently, the Phantom Queen and Goddess of War had impeccable taste and matched my style perfectly, because I was never disappointed in what he selected.
Though Nevarre was also far more mature than my younger warcat. He wasn’t blind to the power shifts between the feline Blood, and he was secure enough in himself to allow Daire some grace.
The clothes he’d brought were safe choices for comfort and lying around the house. Which would be fine until I had a plan of attack outlined. Though I had to roll my eyes at the Twilight hoodie as I pulled it on. That definitely wasn’t something I’d ever pick out for myself.
“Nevarre, be thinking about a wardrobe for a Triune appearance on a beach or near water.”
