‘Rosalind? Giles? What are you two doing here? They haven’t caught you too—? Oh!’ Mother’s voice cut off with a gasp.
A heavy weight seemed to press down against Cordelia’s head, far heavier than the silver crown she wore. She pushed back against it, forcing her chin upright and her gaze forward … to find her mother staring at her over her triplets’ heads with an expression of undiluted horror.
Connall silently closed one hand in support around her shoulder … and Cordelia’s spine stiffened with the strength of that connection. ‘We’re here to rescue you, Mother.’ Her voice was perfectly steady as she raised her chin an extra notch. ‘Aren’t you glad?’
‘Have you gone mad?’ Eyes wide and haunted, Mother shook her head desperately. ‘This throne will kill you, Cordelia. I told you! If I could ever, just once, trust you to listen and do as I say instead of wildly running off and ignoring all my—’
‘Mother,’ said Connall, ‘look at the crown Cordelia’s wearing. Please. See exactly what she’s wearing now!’
Mother frowned and squinted through the shadows. Shoulders squared, Cordelia stepped closer to catch the slanting bars of dim light that fell from the high window.
Mother let out a small, incoherent, broken noise. Then she swallowed hard. ‘But … how—?’
‘Oh, we’ll tell you everything,’ Giles said cheerfully. ‘Don’t worry! I’m working on a song all about it.’
‘Make sure you remember to include all the juicy details from my battles – both of them!’ Rosalind patted the long sword that hung by her side, and Mother’s eyes widened even more at the sight of it.
‘But – the danger—!’
‘We don’t have to hide any more,’ Connall said. ‘Cordelia’s changed everything for us.’
‘We will tell you all about it,’ Cordelia promised, ‘and we’ll get that horrible collar off you too. But, Mother …’
She took a deep breath as she met her mother’s fierce, dark gaze – so familiar, so infuriating and so beloved that her whole body trembled with its impact. The weight of her mother’s shock and disapproval was almost enough to topple her completely.
But Mother wasn’t all-powerful and all-knowing, as Cordelia had once believed her to be.
She was fallible. She made mistakes. She had her own weaknesses, like everybody else.
And her love, fierce and unyielding across the years, had made all of them a family.
‘I am the Raven Queen,’ Cordelia said, ‘whether you like it or not. I won’t always do as you wish from now on, and you can’t give me orders any more.’
‘Cordelia …’ Mother started forward, frowning – but Cordelia’s raised hand halted her in mid-step.
‘I promise, I will always listen to your advice – but you cannot keep any more secrets from us, no matter who you’re trying to protect! I know it can feel too dangerous to share them. I’ve made that mistake now too. But the truth is, it nearly ruined everything … and we need to be able to trust you.’
At Cordelia’s final words, Mother flinched. She looked down at Giles and Rosalind for support.
Even Giles didn’t stand up for her this time, though. Cordelia’s triplets both stepped back and looked up at Mother steadily, waiting for her reply. Connall stood by Cordelia’s side.
When their mother finally spoke, her voice was hoarse with emotion. ‘I have only ever tried to protect you all.’
‘We know,’ Giles said.
Rosalind nodded.
‘We’ll protect you too,’ said Cordelia. ‘But you have to understand that things have changed. If you can’t – if you hate the throne too much – then you can go back to our forest and stay there. I promise, I won’t stop you. No one else will, either. You’ll be perfectly safe there forever.’
Mother shook her head, moistening her lips. ‘You know I would never abandon any of my children,’ she whispered. ‘You must all know that by now. I love all of you.’
‘We love you too.’ Cordelia’s throat tightened.
‘Then …’ Mother blinked rapidly. ‘You’ll let me stay? And I’ll find a way to accept your throne, somehow?’
‘We both will,’ Cordelia promised.
The strong stone walls seemed to close in around them with her words … and something shattered in Cordelia’s chest.
It was the wall that she had built with all her strength to hide away from the truth of her surrendered wings and everything else she had gone through ever since that first night in the forest when she had flown out of their castle and lost her first home for good.
She had stayed so strong behind that wall for so long.
She had tried so hard not to cry.
But when Mother tentatively held out her arms, Cordelia ran straight into them … and the tears that streamed out of her face to soak into her mother’s warm, familiar chest felt like rain falling on to barren earth, bringing the whole parched land back to life.
Two days later, the long, curving high street through Corvenne’s capital city was crowded unbearably full of people. How could so many human beings ever have squeezed into one place?
Flowers rained down from the windows of the tall, skinny white buildings, latticed in black beams, that leaned out over the street. If Cordelia could only have slipped into bird form, she would have shot through that shower of blooms and arrived at the grand Hall of Investiture in less than five minutes. Instead, she was paraded at a snail’s pace down the street between her siblings with all five adult dukes blocking them in, walking before and behind the family with serene, unhurried smiles.
Rows of soldiers acted as human shields around them while a massive crowd of shouting, singing onlookers fought to shove through all those lines of protection, hands desperately outstretched to grasp at Cordelia through the deafeningly loud confusion. Mother and Alys were waiting ahead, making a final check for safety before the ceremony of investiture could begin.
The sickly-sweet stench of so many sweaty strangers mixed in Cordelia’s shallow breaths with the horrible raw stink of human waste from the open gutters that ran down the cobblestoned street. The Raven Crown pressed into her scalp, painfully heavy. Impossible to remove in front of everyone.
She was hemmed in on every side. She was trapped. No space to move – no clean air to breathe—
Rosalind’s hand closed around her elbow. ‘Chin up,’ her sister whispered into her ear. ‘Remember, you’re their queen now. They just want a good look, to know who to thank for saving all their lives when you stopped that endless war.’
Cordelia couldn’t answer. She had to keep her jaw clamped shut or else her teeth would start chattering in front of everyone.
You promised, she reminded herself fiercely. You promised.
Connall frowned down at her from his position at the end of their row, his hands freed once more, and his voice grave in her head. You’re safe now, little sister.
So are you, she thought back to him.
He was a beloved brother of the true Raven Queen and the newly named Duke of Harcourt too, as Cordelia had passed that title to him. The land itself had swallowed up their grandmother; no one else would ever dare try to imprison him again. For the first time in his life, her older brother could relax his guard.
Cordelia couldn’t open her mouth to say it, though.
Beside her, Giles took one swift look down at her tightly clenched face and then said, ‘Did I tell you three that I’ve thought up a new song? It’s going to be my best one ever, I’m certain.’
‘Already?’ Rosalind groaned. ‘I don’t know if I’m ready yet for another—’
‘Oh, this one is far more epic than my last,’ he said cheerfully. ‘You see, it’s all about the really itchy, grimy bits between my toes and how much they’ve been bothering me these last few days of travel. It’s a follow-up to my stomach song but far more tragic and impressive. Here, listen!’
He sucked in a loud, deep breath, then clasped his hands to his heart as he launched into a piercing falsett
o that soared like a cat’s yowl through all the din:
My toes! My toes!
They smell nothing like a—
‘Shush!’ Rosalind snorted with laughter as she gestured menacingly at him. ‘D’you want these people to start throwing water instead of flowers, just to shut you up?’
At the end of their row, serious Connall looked indescribably pained by his younger siblings’ antics. Giles beamed, though, as he glanced down at the small smile that Cordelia hadn’t managed to suppress. Her teeth weren’t even trying to chatter any more.
‘Cordy likes my song,’ he said smugly, ‘and I think everyone in Corvenne will be singing it within a week at most. How could they resist? I haven’t even sung you all the best bit yet. You’ll never guess what I came up with as a rhyme for toe hair—’
‘Stop!’ Rosalind clapped her hands to her ears. ‘I am begging you!’
But of course, there was never any stopping Giles once he’d fully launched into a performance. By the time they reached the next turning of the street, Cordelia’s chest was quaking with barely suppressed laughter, and the overwhelming din of the grasping crowd around her had settled into a dull roar. Even the crown didn’t feel quite so heavy any more. It was hers, after all – and all the people she loved would help her to grow into it.
The whole land of Corvenne stretched around her now, vast and open to all her exploring senses.
She was the Raven Queen – and with her family by her side, she was ready to rule.
~The End~
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am so grateful to Ellen Holgate and Lucy Mackay-Sim at Bloomsbury Children’s Books for supporting me and my work and pushing me to aim higher and higher every time with your thoughtful edits and incisive questions. My books are so much better because of both of you! And thank you so much to my agent, Molly Ker Hawn, for being the best partner in publishing that I could ever imagine. I’m so lucky to be able to call my agent a friend.
Thank you to Jenn Reese, Patrick Samphire, Aliette de Bodard, Dave Burgis, Rene Sears and Jamie Samphire for beta-reading chapters as I wrote them at various stages of this process. Thank you to Rene Sears, Aliette de Bodard, Ben Burgis and David Burgis for giving me fantastic feedback on the first chapters and proposal for this book, and to Claire Fayers and Patrick Samphire for wonderful critiques of the full first draft.
Thank you to Beatrice Cross, Jade Westwood and Grace Ball for marketing and publicity, to Veronica Lyons for careful copy-editing, to Eugenie Woodhouse for proofreading, to Fliss Stevens for managing the production process so beautifully, to Jet Purdie for the cover design and gorgeous chapter headers, and to Pétur Antonsson for the beautiful cover illustration.
Thank you to Jamie and Ollie Samphire for illustrating my hard-copy manuscript with perfect, thoughtful drawings that gave me inspiration as I wrote and for sharing so many wonderful conversations with me about what animals we would all turn into if we had Cordelia’s powers.
Thank you to Tricia Sullivan for putting me up and feeding me homemade chocolate-chip cookies while I wrestled my way through a difficult part of the first draft. Thank you to Patrick Samphire, Y.S. Lee and Tiffany Trent for a wonderful, nourishing writing retreat that helped me make so much progress on my manuscript, and thank you to my parents for the generous childcare that made that retreat possible.
Thank you so much to everyone on Facebook who answered my bat-signal (bird-signal?) and gave me fantastic suggestions on the birds that Cordelia would see and/or hear in her woods: Sorrel Jones, Lindsay Glasspool, Kathy Burgis, Freda Warrington, Sarah Pitt, Katya Coupland, Cecilia Busby, Ashley and Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein, Nicky Hopkins, Dave Chetwynd, Elizabeth Williamson, Teryn Raptor Dear, Helen Hall, Matt Daubney, and Stephanie Maurer Whelan and her Terry Pratchett group.
(PS: Any mistakes that I’ve made anyway are entirely my own!)
Thank you to all my Slack and private Facebook group colleagues for moral support, cheering-on, pen and ink recommendations, and company along the way. It made a huge difference!
Thank you so much to my brothers, Ben and David Burgis, for moral support along the way. There’s a reason why I write so many siblings into my books! We may live in different parts of the world nowadays – and there may be times when we’ve squabbled every bit as much as the triplets in this novel! – but when it’s the middle of the night and I’m scared, you are always the first ones I think to reach out to, because I know that the three of us are a lifelong team – and that means the world to me.
And thank you so much to my parents, Richard and Kathy Burgis, for teaching me what family means and providing me with so much love and support even when we’re separated by an ocean. I have been so lucky with my family.
Which Animal Are You?
Imagine you had Cordelia’s powers and could turn into any animal you chose! Would you be happiest running through the forest on four paws, spreading your wings and flying, or perhaps just having a snooze in the sun? Find your perfect animal form by taking the quiz!
1Your parents announce that you and all your relatives – grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts – will be staying together at a holiday camp for a full week of non-stop family bonding. How do you react?
a.Hooray! I always feel happiest and most relaxed when I’m surrounded by my family’s love.
b.Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
c.Sorry, that’s just too many family members for me. I’m only comfortable hanging out with small groups, so I’ll be sneaking out before the distant relatives arrive.
d.I don’t mind gathering with that many relatives if it’s a real emergency, but if it isn’t, I would rather not go.
e.Can I spend some of the time with the whole family and the rest of the time relaxing on my own? I do love my family, but I also need space to breathe!
2A mysterious parcel arrives by post, addressed to you – but before you can open it (or even see the return address), your parents swoop in and hide the parcel away, saying: ‘Shh. That’s for later!’ How do you react?
a.I’ll work with my siblings to hunt it down together and we’ll have fun on the way.
b.I’ll stubbornly follow every clue to track it down myself and investigate the parcel from every angle, no matter how much chaos I cause along the way or what anyone else thinks about it.
c.I’ll sneak quietly through the house to find it. No one will even know I’ve been there.
d.I’ll problem-solve by figuring out which strategy is most likely to succeed – searching for it myself, tricking my parents into revealing the location, or talking a friend or two into helping out.
e.I’ll tirelessly stalk my parents through the house, repeating, ‘Tell me – tell me where it is!’ until they finally give up and reveal its whereabouts.
3You’re daydreaming about your perfect day and exactly how you’d like to spend it. Which of these sounds best?
a.I’ll spend the day hanging out with my whole family, playing around together and going on fun adventures.
b.I’ll explore a beautiful place all by myself, investigating everything interesting that I see.
c.I’ll successfully sneak into somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit but have never been allowed to.
d.I’ll design my own game and play it either alone or with my best friend.
e.I’ll lounge in a beautifully sunny spot and dream the day away.
4Which of these would be your worst nightmare?
a.Being stuck horribly alone for ever and ever and … !
b.Being surrounded by other people, with no space to breathe and no time to think on my own. Aargh!
c.Standing onstage with everyone staring at me. Being the centre of attention feels incredibly unsafe!
d.Having my most precious belongings stolen from me.
e.Being startled again and again by loud banging noises that make it impossible to enjoy my daily nap.
5You find a beautiful spot to sit in at a local public park,
but when a bully shows up, they claim that it’s their spot and you have to leave now, or else! What do you do?
a.Well, of course, I’ll already be hanging out in a group with at least a few of my friends or relatives, so we’ll immediately take on that jerk together and teach them never to threaten any of us again!
b.When I get mad, I get really scary-mad. After I explode at that fool, they’ll never dare make such ridiculous threats again.
c.Run! I know I’m not a fighter, so it’s only sensible to listen to the warning and get away in time to stay safe.
d.I’ll leave for the moment, but then I’ll gather up all my friends from their own houses and we’ll take him on together. We may not spend our whole lives in each other’s pockets, but we always work together when we’re needed.
e.I’ll never let them see that I’m scared, because I have far too much pride. If I actually think I can win, I’ll stay and fight. But if I can see that that would be a losing battle, I’ll just say something really sarcastic and scathing and then walk away with my head held high.
ANSWERS
MOSTLY A: You’re a wolf!
Wolves are natural pack animals who work best as a team and love playing as well as hunting together. You’ll have the best time running and singing with your pack across forests or fields as a beautiful, loyal wolf.
MOSTLY B: You’re a bear!
You value peace and quiet and enjoy your alone time in the deep forest. Generally you’re pretty peaceful, but if you get angry, you get really angry. You’ll be happiest as a brave, determined bear, living life on exactly your own terms.
MOSTLY C: You’re a mouse!
People tend to overlook mice, but that’s actually their superpower. It’s almost impossible to keep them from sneaking anywhere they want to get exactly what they need! You’re naturally inquisitive and have a true gift for spy-work. You’ll be happiest as a tiny, stealthy mouse, using your size and your cleverness to your best advantage.
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