“He’s not your son!” Larkin shouted, the baby in her arms startled and cried even louder. Bouncing Soren, Larkin softened her volume but not her fury. “He’s Bane’s son.”
Garrot’s hard gaze shifted to Larkin. “You can’t take them.”
“You’re not married to her, Garrot,” Larkin said. “You have no rights.”
Garrot took a step back. He was going to run; she could see it in his eyes. He’d gather his men. Stop Nesha from escaping. If the enchantresses interfered, there would be another battle today.
Denan had said no incidents.
“Stop him,” Larkin said.
Garrot turned and ran through the doorpane.
Caelia
Before West and Atara could barrel after Garrot, he stumbled back inside the room. Caelia stepped in after him, her sword pointed at his chest.
“Ancestors!” Nesha grabbed her sobbing baby from Larkin and backed to the edge of the room.
“Do you know who I am?” Caelia asked.
Garrot searched for escape, but Atara, West, and Larkin all had their swords out.
Seeing he was surrounded, Garrot lifted his hands. “No.”
Had Caelia lied to Larkin to get close to Garrot? Was this her plan all along? Or had she become worried about Larkin and come looking? “Caelia, what are you doing?”
“Bane was my brother.” Caelia’s voice shook. Garrot remained silent. “Nothing to say?”
“He killed four of my men,” Garrot said.
Caelia’s eyes narrowed. “Who were trying to kill an innocent woman and the man who’d come to rescue her!”
Garrot shook his head. “Nothing I say will change what happened. Or bring your brother back. So do what you have to do.”
“Caelia,” Larkin said sternly. “I know how you feel. Light, I nearly killed him at the embedding ceremony, but you can’t do this.”
Nesha crept closer, her eyes pleading as she held her baby tight. “He thought he was protecting his people from evil, same as you’re doing now.”
Caelia’s gaze flicked to her. “My brother deserves justice.”
Garrot held his hands out to his sides. “Then take it.”
Nesha rushed forward, but Larkin blocked her. She couldn’t let Soren anywhere near a sword fight.
“Larkin,” Atara asked. “What do you want us to do?”
What we must. “Caelia, if you do this, I swear I will see you exiled.”
Caelia gritted her teeth. “I know you hate him as much as I do. He deserves to rot in the ground. Not my brother.”
“Yes,” Larkin admitted. “But not like this.” Not after she’d promised Denan.
Tears welled in Caelia’s eyes. “I wasn’t there to protect him.”
Larkin was there and still didn’t protect him. A wave of sorrow crashed over Larkin. She steadied herself until it passed. “Bane always had the same regret about not protecting you.”
Caelia stared into Larkin’s eyes for a long moment, then lunged forward. Larkin braced for Garrot’s death, but Caelia only hit him in the head with the pommel of her sword. He crumpled bonelessly to the floor.
Baby pressed to her chest, Nesha gave a little cry and ran to kneel beside him, her hand over his mouth to check for breath. “He’s alive.”
West looked at the baby with distaste. “Can you get it to stop?”
Atara shot him a flat look. “Don’t ever have children.”
Caelia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Let’s go.”
Farwin stumbled into the room. A bruise swelled on the side of his head, and his eyes were dazed. “Sorry, Majesty. He sneaked up on me.”
“Go!” Larkin grabbed Nesha’s arm and hauled her to her feet. The baby wailed, his face red.
“But Garrot’s hurt,” Nesha cried.
“He’ll be fine,” Larkin said.
Atara and West led the way. Larkin herded Nesha and Soren out, leaving the chest of clothes behind. They leaped over the darted guard. Larkin stayed close to Nesha, who was having a hard time keeping up with her limp. Dagger in hand, Farwin brought up the rear.
“Are the wounded out?” Larkin asked.
Caelia’s gaze flicked to Nesha and her baby. “Yes, and we’ve finished the testing. Everyone’s out but the dozen enchantresses I left in the Hall of Thorns.”
They hustled down the colonnade to the stairs that wound into the training room. The enchantresses waiting below glanced up at them in surprise.
“Let’s go!” Larkin cried. “Now!”
“Half in front and half in back,” Caelia cried. “We’re about to be attacked.”
The enchantresses hustled into position. Soren had finally stopped crying. Atara and West crowded Larkin so close she wanted to shove them. Farwin still held his dagger like he might get a chance to use it.
“Put that away,” Larkin snapped at him.
He grumbled but obeyed. Close on the heels of six enchantresses flaring shields, they ran out of the training room and onto the colonnade.
From above, Garrot cried, “Stop those enchantresses.” He stood on the second level and pointed at Larkin. “They’re kidnapping Nesha!”
In the dining room and along the opposite colonnade, druids dropped what they were doing to sprint for the Hall of Ivy. It was a race now. If the druids beat them to the rotunda, they’d be trapped.
“We have to reach the atrium first,” Larkin cried.
“Run!” Caelia cried.
Larkin took Soren from Nesha, but still her sister couldn’t keep up. They reached the halfway mark when druids pounded up the colonnade behind them, blocking off any chance of retreat. Nesha looked back, her eyes wide with fear.
Larkin gripped her arm and didn’t let go. “Keep moving.”
They entered the rotunda, but the clutch of soldiers had beaten them there.
“Halt!” Caelia stuttered to a stop.
The enchantresses skidded to a stop. Those in the back ran into them. Larkin bumped into Atara, who nearly went down. West hauled them both back by their backplates. The baby squalled in protest. Larkin pushed him back into Nesha’s arms and flared her sword.
The rotunda filled with dozens of druids. The men must have already been inside the Hall of Ivy. Larkin and her group had never stood a chance. Before they could even consider retreating, the druids who’d been chasing them arrived. A dozen of them, more coming by the second.
They were trapped.
“Shield wall!” Caelia shouted. The enchantresses circled the group, shields flared. Atara and West squished Larkin and Nesha between them. No one moved to attack; they just eyed each other.
Caelia gestured to the hazy barrier, which meant it was passable. “My entire unit is waiting on the other side.”
The enchantresses could fight their way to Caelia’s group, but the fallout could cost them the war. Larkin had to find a peaceful way out of this. “Don’t attack unless they do.”
“Nesha!” From behind, Garrot pushed through his men. He stumbled and nearly fell over. One of his men shored him up. Arm around the man’s shoulder, Garrot staggered to the shield wall and held out his hand to Nesha. “I know you’re angry,” he panted, “but we can work this out. Just come back.”
Larkin pushed her sister behind her. “Nesha knows what you are now, Garrot. Let us go.”
Garrot ignored her. “Nesha, have I ever been anything but kind to you?”
Tears streaked down Nesha’s cheeks. “How can I trust anything you say?”
“Don’t respond to him,” Larkin said over her shoulder.
Garrot’s expression was all loving tenderness. “It won’t happen again. I swear it.”
The baby started crying again. Nesha bounced and shushed him. “Like you swore you were doing Bane a favor?”
Garrot’s hand fell to his side. “That’s what this is about. You still love him.”
“No,” Nesha said. “This is about your lies. Your cruelty.”
“Bane abandoned you, love. For her.”
His accusing gaze fell on Larkin.
Caelia looked between the two, her eyes wide with disbelief. And then her gaze zeroed in on Soren, who looked so much like his father. And judging by her wondrous expression, she recognized her brother in the boy.
Garrot was never going to let them go without a fight. The forest take him. “Caelia, get us out of here.”
“Pulse!” Caelia cried.
All the enchantresses pulsed in unison. Some druids were smart enough to drop. The rest were blown back, slamming into each other or the rotunda’s support walls. Some went straight through the openings, a distant splash confirming that they’d hit the lake. All in all, three dozen men went down. But a dozen still blocked the exit.
“With me!” Caelia charged, her enchantresses moving with her.
They surged forward, Atara and West sticking so close to Larkin and Nesha that she could barely breathe. As they came upon the remaining druids between them and the exit, Caelia cried again, “Pulse.”
They blasted a hole through the druids and ran out onto the bridge. The surprised enchantresses waiting there parted to let them through.
“Seal them in!” Caelia said.
The enchantresses guarding the exit flared their shields over the doorpane, trapping the druids inside.
Garrot pounded on the shields. “Nesha!”
Larkin pointed to two random enchantresses. “You and you, get my sister and her baby to my hometree and guard her there.”
The two bowed and stood shoulder to shoulder with Nesha. Her sister wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Larkin, don’t start a war over me.”
Is that what she’d just done? Denan was going to kill her. Larkin glanced over her shoulder to see more and more druids lining up behind Garrot. A couple dozen were armed with swords taken from the ardents. But they had to know they couldn’t fight their way out of this—not in the middle of the Alamant.
“Garrot knows I’ve won,” Larkin said. “Feed Soren and wait for me at the back of the enchantresses.”
Larkin shot Nesha’s new guards a sharp look, silently ordering them to make sure her sister obeyed. They bowed and herded Nesha away.
Larkin looked around for Farwin, but the boy was already gone. He probably had orders to report to Denan immediately if a fight broke out. Light, Denan was going to be furious.
Atara and West stuck beside Larkin as she stepped toward Garrot. She was glad to have at least some friends during all this.
“Order your men to stand down,” Larkin said. “Hand over those weapons, and the treaty will remain.”
“You broke the treaty when you took her.” Garrot braced himself against the shields as if they were the only things holding him up.
“She left of her own free will,” Larkin said. “You want to prove you’ve changed? Let her go.”
He ground his teeth. Larkin had no doubt that he would fight through her enchantresses to reach Nesha if there was any chance he’d win. But he was also no fool.
“She’s more a prisoner with you than she ever was with me,” Garrot said.
A lie. “If she wants to return to you, I’ll escort her here myself.” Larkin would argue and delay, but she would let her sister go.
Garrot’s eyes narrowed. “Prove it.”
If that’s what it took to keep the peace, fine. “I’ll arrange a meeting with her after the embedding.” If he lived that long. The man looked like death on his feet.
“I don’t believe you.”
Larkin stepped closer and lowered her voice. “You don’t have a choice, Garrot. Anything you have is because I allow you to have it. Cross me, and I’ll have you removed from the Alamant. The forest will decide if you live or die. Don’t think for a moment that your men won’t betray you, that one of them isn’t waiting in the wings to take your place.” After all, they’d already staged a coup once.
Garrot ground his teeth. Finally, he said, “In two days’ time, we will have our thorns and I will speak with Nesha. Break this, and we will leave.” He leaned closer. “Because I would rather the Idelmarch be dead than slaves to the Alamant.”
Shoulders slumped, he turned, gestured to his men, and stormed off.
Larkin turned to go, but Caelia was waiting for her. She drew Larkin to the railing, away from listening ears. “I don’t understand. Soren is Bane’s child. But Bane risked the forest and the Alamant because he was in love with you.”
Larkin hung her head. “He thought he could have us both.”
Caelia’s head came up in understanding. “And Garrot was there, ready and willing to take care of Nesha.”
Larkin nodded. “Did you plan to attack Garrot?”
“You were taking too long. And then he was just . . . there.” Her eyes slipped closed, and she leaned against the railing. “Did Bane— Did he know? About the baby?”
“Yes. But I didn’t. Not until after he took me back to Hamel.”
Caelia rubbed her forehead. “She was pregnant, and he left her.” She finally looked up at Larkin. “I’m sorry.”
Larkin blinked back tears. “Me too.” She turned and left without another word.
Truce
The wind picked up, thunderclouds visible on the horizon. Larkin stepped through the archway that led to her hometree. Nesha trailed behind, her limp more pronounced from overuse. She couldn’t stop gaping at the White Tree.
Larkin glanced up at her chambers. Lampents sent the shadows of pages running back and forth. Which probably meant Denan was sending and receiving letters. Probably from the council. Most of them angry.
She’d broken her promise to him. Denan was going to be so furious. Harben’s fury had been followed by fists and feet. Dread felt sharp and cold inside her. Denan is not my father. She brushed her clammy hands on her legs and glanced at her friends.
Whatever happened, she didn’t want them to witness it.
“Take the rest of the evening off,” Larkin said to West before turning to Atara. “Check on Alorica and see your children.”
West blew out his mustache. “I didn’t know you had children.”
“Three.” Atara backed away from them.
“Who’s taking care of them?” West asked in surprise.
Atara shot him a glare. “Their father.” Her gaze settled on Larkin. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
West nodded a tired good night—he hadn’t slept at all.
“And take the night off,” Larkin called to him.
He waved without turning. Larkin wasn’t sure if that wave was an agreement or simply an appeasement. Sighing, she motioned for Nesha to follow her. They descended two levels to where Mama sang a lullaby in the common room.
Nesha paused outside the doorpane. “Are you sure she wants to see me?”
“It’s all she wants,” Larkin said simply.
Bracing herself, Nesha stepped through, Larkin a beat behind. The room smelled of dinner—amala bird, larger birds that lived in the branches. Larkin’s mouth watered. Her lunch had been smashed on the floor.
Mama sat in the rocking chair. Brenna lay asleep in her arms. Lying on a new chaise below the window, Sela stared at the White Tree. Its missing boughs sent a bolt of unease down Larkin’s spine.
“It’s not safe to have the pane down.” Larkin hurried to close it, cutting off the delicious breeze.
Mama groaned. “But the heat is making us sick, and the guards won’t let us swim.”
“Mama?” Nesha asked tentatively.
Mama’s head snapped up, shock plain on her face. “Nesha.” She let out a cry and rushed forward to envelop Nesha in a hug. The babies between them let out simultaneous squawks of protest.
Mama pulled back and let out a little laugh. “Oh, Nesha! Your baby. My grandchild.”
Nesha reached out to stroke Brenna’s head. “She’s gotten so big.”
“Trade?” Mama said, laughter mixing with her tears.
They switched babies. Brenna immediately wailed and reached for Mama.
Nesha laughed
. “I’m your sister, and this is your nephew, Soren.”
Brenna whimpered.
Mama stroked Soren’s cheek. “Oh, little one. You look like your father.” Mama cast Nesha a chagrined look, as if she’d just realized that Nesha might not want to be reminded of that fact.
Nesha only smiled. “It’s all right, Mama. We’ve all made mistakes. I’ve forgiven Bane for his.”
Mama breathed out in relief and pressed her forehead against Nesha’s. “I never thought you’d have the chance to be a mother.”
Mama looked over her shoulder to Larkin. Her brow furrowed as she took in the green dress Larkin wore. “What happened?”
Larkin didn’t have time to relay the entire story or the energy to reassure her. Denan was still waiting for her. Her body suddenly felt heavy and cumbersome, as if it were made of stone instead of flesh and blood.
She pulled off her helmet and ran her hands over her unruly hair. “Nesha will tell you all about it. How’s Sela?”
“As long as we keep her drinking feverfew tea,” Mama answered, “she does all right.”
Her expression concerned, Nesha crossed to sit beside Sela on the chaise. “Hello, sunshine.”
“Hello, sister,” Sela said. Sela’s skin was pale, her cheeks hollow. Dark circles lined her eyes.
Nesha’s brows rose. “She’s not lisping anymore?”
Mama could fill Nesha in on that too.
“Does the White Tree know what’s wrong with you?” Larkin asked.
Sela gave a tiny shake of her head.
“The tree?” Nesha asked in bewilderment.
Mama came to stand to the side of Nesha. “There’s so much that has happened. So much you don’t know.” Her expression became guarded. “How long are you staying?”
Nesha stared at the floor. “I-I’m not sure.”
After everything Garrot had done—after everything Larkin had risked rescuing her—Nesha was still considering going back to him. Anger surged through Larkin.
Mama tried to smile away her worry, but the fear in her eyes didn’t lie. “I’m just glad you’re here. All my girls together again.” She wrapped her arms around Nesha and Sela and looked up expectantly at Larkin.
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