“Yes.” I nodded. “That’s what Elora told me. She said the future is fluid, and just because she paints something, it doesn’t mean it will happen.”
“But it might happen,” Aurora said. “The course we are on now is set so that this will be our future. That the King of the Vittra will destroy the palace and take over Förening.”
“We don’t know that he’ll take over Förening,” Willa said, futilely attempting to help. “We only see that some of us are dead.”
“That is a great consolation, Marksinna,” Laris said snidely, and Tove shot her a look.
“Aurora has something,” I said. “All we have to do is change the course.”
“How can we possibly know that we’re changing the course the right way?” Laris asked. “Maybe whatever action we take to prevent this scene is the action that will cause it.”
“We can’t simply do nothing.” I stepped back from the painting. I didn’t want to see everyone I loved dead anymore.
I leaned back against the table and ran my hands through my hair. I had to think of something to stop this. Something to change it. I couldn’t let this happen.
“We have to take out an element,” I said, thinking aloud. “We have to change something in the painting. Make something in it go away. Then we’ll know we’ve changed it.”
“Like what?” Willa asked. “You mean like the staircase?”
“I can go get rid of that right now,” Tove offered.
“We need the staircase,” Aurora said. “It’s the only way to the second floor.”
“What we don’t need is the Princess,” Laris muttered under her breath.
“Marksinna, I told you that if you said—” Tove began but I stopped him.
“Wait.” I stood up straighter. “She’s right.”
“She’s right?” Willa was confused.
“If we get rid of the Princess, the whole scene changes,” Aurora said as it occurred to her. “The King has been coming for her this whole time, and in the painting, he finally succeeds. If we give her to him, the painting goes away.”
Nobody said anything, and by the confused, worried expressions on both Willa’s and Tove’s faces, I’d say that even they were considering it. It was hard not to. If it was only one of them dead, they probably would still fight to keep me here, but everyone was dead. My life was not more valuable than all of theirs.
“But even if we give the King the Princess, he still wants the Trylle kingdom,” Bain pointed out. “He’ll still keep coming after us even if he has her.”
“Maybe,” I agreed.
“More like certainly,” Tove said, giving me a knowing look. “Getting you is just a means to an end for the King. He wants you so he can have the kingdom.”
“I know you’re right, but . . .” I trailed off. “I’m not saying that surrendering myself to the King will prevent a war between the Vittra and the Trylle, because it won’t. What I am saying is that it will prevent that painting.”
“So?” Tove shrugged. “We won’t die that way, that day. But the King will still kill us.”
“No,” I insisted. “I can hand myself over and buy more time for you to fight back. I can prevent the painting, and you can prepare the Trylle army to conquer him.”
“He’s just going to kill you, Wendy,” Tove said. “And you know it.”
“Tove,” Aurora said gently. “If she’s with the King, then she won’t be in that painting. She’ll have changed the course, and it might be the only way to prevent all those deaths. That’s something we need to consider.”
“You’re not giving him my daughter,” Elora said firmly. She grabbed the back of the chair and pushed herself up. “That is not an option.”
“If I’m going to end up dead anyway, at least I should spare the people,” I said.
“You will find another way,” she insisted. “I am not sacrificing you for this.”
“You’re not sacrificing anything,” I said. “I am willingly doing this.”
“No,” Elora said. “That is a direct order. You will not go to him.”
“Elora, I know the thought of losing your child is unbearable,” Aurora said as gently as she could. “But you need to at least consider what’s best for the kingdom.”
“If you won’t, then we’ll have you overthrown,” Laris said. “Everyone in the kingdom would stand behind me if you were going to lead us all into certain death.”
“Death isn’t certain!” Elora snapped. “Overthrow me if you want. Until then, I am your Queen, and the Princess isn’t going anywhere.”
“Elora, why don’t you sit back down?” Garrett said gently and walked over to her.
“I will not sit down.” She slapped his hands away when he reached out for her. “I am not some feeble old woman. I am the Queen, and I am her mother, and I have a say in what happens here! In fact, I have the only say!”
“Elora,” I said. “You’re not thinking this through. You always told me that the good of the kingdom came first.”
“Maybe I made a mistake.” Elora’s once-dark eyes, looking almost silver now, darted around the room. I wasn’t sure she could really see anything anymore. “I did everything for this kingdom. Everything. And look what’s become of it.”
She stepped forward, although I didn’t know where she intended to go. Her legs gave out under her, and she fell to the floor. Garrett tried to catch her, but he moved too late. She was unconscious by the time she hit the floor.
I rushed over to her side, and Garrett was already pulling her from the floor into his lap. Her white hair flowed around her, and she lay still in his arms. A thin line of blood came from her nose, but I doubt it came from her hitting her face on the floor. Bloody noses seemed to be a result of abilities being overloaded.
“Is she all right?” I asked, kneeling beside her. I wanted to touch her, but I was too afraid to. She looked so frail.
“She’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking,” Garrett said. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped at the blood. “But she hasn’t been doing well since she painted that.”
“Aurora,” I said, looking back over my shoulder at her. “Come heal her.”
“No, Princess.” Garrett shook his head. “It’s no use.”
“What do you mean, it’s no use?” I asked, incredulous. “She’s sick!”
“There’s nothing more that can be done for Elora.” Garrett stared down at my mother, his dark eyes swimming with love. “She’s not sick, and she cannot be cured. Her life has been drained from her, and Aurora can’t give that back to her.”
“She can do something, though,” I insisted. “Something to help.”
“No,” he said simply. Still holding Elora in his arms, he got to his feet. “I’m taking her to her room to make her comfortable. That’s all we can do.”
“I’ll go with you.” I stood up and looked back at the room. “We will continue this discussion tomorrow.”
“Hasn’t it already been decided?” Laris asked with a wicked smile.
“We’ll discuss it tomorrow,” Tove said firmly, and he draped a cloth over the picture to cover it.
I went with Garrett to my mother’s room and pushed thoughts of the painting from my mind. I wanted to see Elora while I still had the chance. She didn’t have much time left, not that I even knew what that meant. Her time could be a few hours, a few days, maybe even a few weeks. But the end was drawing near.
That meant I’d be Queen soon, but I couldn’t think of that either. I only had a little time left to spend with my mother, and I wanted to make the most of it. I didn’t want to be distracted by thoughts of what would become of the kingdom or my friends or even my marriage.
I sat in the chair beside her bed and waited for her to wake up. It took longer than I’d expected it to, and I ended up dozing off. Garrett actually alerted me when she woke up.
“Princess?” Elora asked weakly, sounding surprised that I was there.
“She’s been waiting by your side,�
�� Garrett said. He stood at the end of the bed, staring down at her looking so small beneath her blankets.
“I’d like a moment alone with my daughter, if that’s all right,” Elora said.
“Yes, of course,” Garrett said. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him, and he left the two of us alone.
“How are you feeling?” I asked and scooted my chair closer to the bed. Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.
“I’ve seen better days,” she said.
“I’m sorry.”
“I meant what I said before.” Elora turned her head to face me, but I didn’t know if she could see me. “You shouldn’t give yourself to the Vittra. Not for anything.”
“I can’t let people die over me,” I said gently. I didn’t want to argue with her, not when she was like this, but it seemed like sacrilege to lie to her on her deathbed.
“There has to be another way,” she insisted. “There has to be something more than sacrificing you to your father. I did everything right. I always thought about what was best for the kingdom. And all I asked for in return is that you would be safe.”
“This can’t be about my safety,” I said. “You never cared this much about it before.”
“Of course I cared.” Elora sounded offended. “You are my daughter. I have always cared about you.” She paused, sighing. “I regret making you marry Tove.”
“You didn’t make me marry him. He asked. I said yes.”
“I shouldn’t have let you, then,” Elora said. “I knew you didn’t love him. But I thought if I did the right thing, I could protect you. You could end up happy, but now I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that will help you be happy.”
“I’m happy,” I said, and that wasn’t a complete lie. Many things in my life made me happy. I just hadn’t been able to enjoy them much lately.
“Don’t make the same mistakes I did,” she said. “I married a man I didn’t love because it was the right thing for the kingdom. I let the man I did love slip away because it was the right thing for the kingdom. And I gave away my only child because it was the right thing for my kingdom.”
“You didn’t give me away,” I said. “You hid me from Oren.”
“But I should’ve stayed with you,” Elora said. “We could’ve hidden together. I could’ve protected you from all this. That is my biggest regret. That I didn’t stay behind with you.”
“How come you’re talking like this now?” I asked. “How come you didn’t say any of this to me sooner?”
“I didn’t want you to love me,” she said simply. “I knew we didn’t have much time together, and I didn’t want you to miss me. I thought it’d be better for you if you never even cared at all.”
“But you changed your mind now?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to die without you knowing how much I love you.” She held out her hand to me. I took it in mine, and her skin felt cool and soft as she squeezed my hand. “I have made so many mistakes. I only wanted you to be strong so you could protect yourself. I am so very sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I forced a smile at her. “You did everything you could, and I know that.”
“I know you’ll be a good Queen, a strong, noble leader, and that’s more than these people deserve,” she said. “But don’t give too much. You need to keep some of yourself for you. And listen to your heart.”
“I can’t believe you’re telling me to listen to my heart,” I said. “I never thought I’d hear that from you.”
“Don’t act on everything your heart says, but make sure you listen to it.” Elora smiled. “Sometimes your heart is right.”
Elora and I stayed up talking for a while after that. She didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know, but in a weird way, it felt like the first real conversation we’d had. She wasn’t talking to me as a Queen talking to the Princess, but rather as a mother talking to her daughter.
Too soon, she grew tired and fell asleep. I sat with her for a while after that anyway. I didn’t want to leave her. What little time I had left with her felt precious.
NINETEEN
relief
I don’t know, Wendy.” Tove shook his head. “I don’t want you to die, but I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“I know.” I sighed. “That’s where I’m at too.”
Tove sat on the chest at the end of our bed, and I stood in front of him, chewing on my thumbnail. We were both still in pajamas, and I wasn’t sure how well either of us had slept the night before. I woke him early in the morning, when it was still dark out, and immediately began asking him what he thought I should do about Elora’s painting.
“You still don’t know how to kill the King,” Tove pointed out. “And you did promise him our kingdom when you’re Queen.”
“I won’t be Queen if I’m with him.”
“But he won’t let that slide,” Tove said. “Even if you go to him, he might reject you simply because he wants the kingdom.”
“I can tell him that you all booted me out when you found out my plan to combine with the Vittra,” I said. “Then he’ll have me.”
“But he still wants the kingdom,” Tove said. “He’ll still come after it, even if he has you. At best, you’re postponing the inevitable.”
“Maybe so,” I admitted. “But if that’s the best I can do, then that’s what I have to do.”
“But what then?” Tove asked, staring up at me. “What happens after the King has you?”
“You’ll become the Trylle King,” I said. “You’ll protect our people.”
“So that’s it?” Tove asked. “You’ll go, and I’ll stay?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
Loki threw open the bedroom doors, making them bang against the walls. I jumped, and Tove got to his feet. Loki’s eyes were fixed on me as he stormed in, ignoring my husband.
“What are you doing?” I asked, too startled to sound angry.
“I knew it!” Loki shouted, and his eyes never wavered from me. “As soon as Duncan told me, I knew you would immediately jump to suicide. Why are you so intent on being a martyr, Wendy?”
“I’m not a martyr.” I straightened my shoulders for a fight. “What did Duncan tell you? And what are you doing bursting into my room at six in the morning?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came down to see if you were awake,” Loki said. “I heard the two of you talking, but I already knew that’s what you would do. Duncan told me about the painting, and I knew you’d try to go back to the Vittra.”
“You were eavesdropping?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m in my personal chambers! You have no right to spy on me or come into my room without being invited!”
Loki rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t spying on you. Don’t be so dramatic, Princess. I paused outside your door to see if you were awake, and you clearly were, so I came in.”
“You still can’t just barge in.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Would you like me to go back out and knock?” Loki gestured to the doors behind him. “Would that make you feel better?”
“I would like you to leave and go back to your room,” I said.
I hadn’t really talked to Loki since we’d slept together, and I could see Tove from the corner of my eye, watching us. Loki wouldn’t look away from me, and I refused to look away first, putting us in some kind of staring contest that I was determined to win.
“I will,” Loki said. “As soon as you admit that giving yourself to the King is completely preposterous.”
I bristled. “It’s not preposterous. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can come up with. I can’t let that painting come true.”
“How do you know that going with the King will change anything?” Loki countered.
“You didn’t see the painting. You don’t understand.”
“The only way to truly stop the painting is to kill the King,” Loki said. “And you’re the only one strong enough to
do that.”
“But I don’t know how to,” I said. “And you’re strong. You can do it. I need to do something to divert the outcome of the painting until you can figure out how to stop him.”
“Wendy, if I could kill him, I would’ve done it by now,” Loki said. “You know that.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I waved my hands and stepped away from him. “This isn’t open for discussion. I’ve decided what I’m going to do.”
“And you think I’ll just let you go?” Loki asked.
“Let me?” I glared at him. “You don’t ‘let’ me do anything.”
“You know I can stop you.” His eyes met mine evenly, and he stepped toward me. “I will do everything in my power to keep you from him.”
“Loki, he will kill us all,” I said emphatically. “The King will kill Tove and me and you. This is the only way I can protect us.”
“I don’t care,” Loki said. “I would rather die fighting him. I would rather see you die fighting, than know that you surrendered to him. You can’t give up.”
I lowered my eyes and swallowed. Tove stood off to the side. I’d hoped he would jump in, say something, but he didn’t.
“What do you propose I do?” I asked quietly, still staring at the floor.
“We’ve still got time until he comes for you,” Loki said. “Learn how to kill him, and when he comes, fight him.”
“What if we lose?” I asked. “What if I can’t stop him?”
“If you can’t stop him later, then you can’t stop him now,” Loki said. “Giving up now doesn’t mean you can stand up to him later. It just means you’re dead.”
I glanced over at Tove, who still kept silent, and I thought about what Loki had said. I hated that I didn’t know what the right thing was. All I wanted to do was keep everyone safe, and I was terrified that if I made the wrong decision I would get us all killed.
“Okay,” I said finally and turned back to Loki. “I’ll stay for now. But you need to work twice as hard with Finn. The trackers must be prepared for whatever happens.”
“As you wish, Princess.” Loki smiled slightly, a corner of his mouth turning up.
Trylle Page 67
