I motioned to Link, Montel and Bastien, and out of nowhere, Mad was standing behind me. “Montel, could you take Draper back to the castle? I’ll be there in a second.” I locked eyes with my buddy, communicating silently that I needed Draper away from the commotion to be sure he was safe. From what? I wasn’t totally sure.
“I’m not leaving without you, obviously,” Draper spouted off with a sour expression.
I pursed my lips, but didn’t argue. “Fine.” I pulled the five guys in for a huddle as the men I’d been working with gathered to the foot of the platform. Link clapped me on the shoulder. “Tha’s the way to handle a crowd before they get out of sorts. Send them to their homes so they can’t spread more talk and panic.”
“Thanks, Link. I need you three to organize the guys and send them out into the land to warn everyone about the water. We can’t have people dying off just because they didn’t know. Can you divide them up and assign them specific areas, so that every house is covered?”
“Aye, wee Rose. We can do tha, no problem.”
Bastien shook his head. “Give me the bird. I’m going with you, and you’re not holding something that’s been poisoned. I’ll take it.”
I waved off his concern. “I can make it back home with Montel and Draper. It’s not like I’m going to drop dead along the way.”
Bastien pointed two fingers from his eyes to mine, focusing us both. “Not out of my sight. There’s still someone out looking for you, and chaos like this is the best time to strike. Mad? Link? You got this?”
“Aye.” Link answered, and Mad nodded. Link spun around and clapped his hands together, calling to the workers who’d gathered, and splitting them up according to territories.
Bastien and Draper each put an arm around me, sandwiching me in, with Montel on Draper’s other side. Bastien’s hand coveted the small of my back, and the familiar feel of his territorial touch sent a flood of girlish gooiness through me that I tried to quickly suppress. The two men moved forward, shoulders hunched inward to deflect any attacks that might come my way. I felt like I was some A-list celebrity with her bodyguards. Only instead of a designer purse, I was holding a dead bird. Totally surreal. The three tried to escort me through the crowd that had somehow gone from eating and hanging out together to a stampede that left everyone scared. They all wanted to get home to their loved ones and make sure no one was dead.
We made it a few feet from the platform when I saw a kid no more than seven years old get totally trampled by several people who were in a hurry, and plowed the poor girl over. I shrieked, pressed the dead bird into Bastien’s chest and broke from the guys, running to the little girl. “You mow her down and don’t even stop? Obnoxious!” I scolded the people who kept running past. From the time I spotted her to the time I scooped her up off the dirt, five people had stepped on her. Poor baby had tears in her eyes and a bloody nose. I held her trembling body to mine, cradling her as if she was a toddler as I stood. Her legs wrapped easily around my waist, holding onto me for dear life.
The three guys were a few steps behind, but caught up with fresh reprimands coming at me from all sides. I didn’t pay them any mind, but glanced around for the girl’s parents. “What’s your name, sweetie?” I asked in as gentle a voice as I could muster.
Her black hair was pin straight and fell back from her face. She was thin, but not too bony, and had a large scar from her temple to her chin. I didn’t recognize her from the soccer games I’d organized in the dungeon, but there were new people coming into the province all the time. “A-A-Annabelle, your majesty.” Her tears seemed frozen on her face as she gaped at me, just now realizing whose arms she was in. “The Avalon Rose!”
“Yup. Where are you hurt, Annabelle? I see this scrape on your elbow. Man, you’re brave. I would’ve been howling like a baby if I’d taken a dive like that. You sure you don’t play football on the side?” I scanned the crowd for her parents, but no one was frantically crying, “Where’s my daughter?”
Draper motioned toward the platform, and Mad barreled through the crowd without apology or hesitation. It was the beauty of having a linebacker on your team.
Mad and I hadn’t spoken more than a few sentences since he’d returned, but I didn’t waste time as I handed the girl to him. “What are ye doing? Don’t give me tha!” He tried to shove her back into my arms.
“This is Annabelle. She got trampled, but I don’t see her parents. Can you keep an eye on her until her parents come? If you can’t find them, bring Annabelle to the palace after the dust settles.”
Mad held Annabelle out from his body under her back and knees like a human sacrifice, clearly having never held a child before. “It’s plain she doesn’t like me! Take her back home with ye.”
“Her parents will be looking for her. I can’t just steal someone’s kid.”
“But… But… I… Ye can’t leave me with this thing!” I could see by the sweat beading on Mad’s forehead that he wasn’t trying to be a jerk; he was just totally scared of kids.
Bastien chucked his friend’s shoulder. “You can do this. Just take her to the platform so her parents can see her.”
Annabelle was higher off the ground in Mad’s arms, and I could tell the additional height startled her. “Grand,” he said with a heavy layer of fear and sarcasm. “Now run to the palace and don’t stop for anymore wee ones.”
I bent his elbow and gently pushed her closer to him until the side of her body was resting against his broad chest. “Hold her like that, otherwise you might drop her.”
Mad grimaced at the child in his arms as she clung to his shirt, which I could tell he hadn’t been expecting. She looked slightly more afraid of falling than she did of Mad. “Uh… Um… I shouldn’t be holding a kid!” Then he whirled around, ripping a screech from Annabelle. “Who belongs to this girl? Come on, now. Fess up.”
I rolled my eyes at the caveman as Bastien and Draper whirled me around and marched me toward the castle, with Montel watching our backs.
Even as we put distance between the Town Square, I could hear Madigan growl, “Alright, now! Don’t leave me with a girl, people. Anybody!”
14
Pride and Potions
The birds followed me all the way to the castle, watching their lost baby and making sure they didn’t need to peck anyone’s eyes out if they messed with me. Birds loved easily, and I adored them for it. “Your minions can’t come inside, Rosie,” Bastien said as he slammed the front doors shut.
Montel breathed a sigh of relief that he’d gotten us inside, but now that he was here, he looked embarrassed. “Apologies, princess. I didn’t think. I just followed you inside. I’ll take my leave.”
“Nonsense. Do you need to get home?”
Montel shrugged. “Not really. My father heard the announcement, and it’s just him and me in our household. He saw me leave with Draper.”
“Then you’re welcome to stay.” I craned my neck to yell down the hall. “Dad!” When he didn’t answer, I trotted toward the throne room. Though we didn’t hold court inside anymore, it was where he went to do his best thinking. I loved the idea of him pacing the throne room with all his brilliant ideas and plans for Avalon formulating in his sharp mind. “Dad!” I called as I rounded the corner.
“Yes, darling.” Urien came out of the throne room, predictably doing his pacing and pondering. I loved that I was getting to know his little habits. “What’s troubling you?”
“Just missing your face,” I said, gazing up at him with admiration. “Oh, and here’s a dead bird. They think the water’s been poisoned.” I opened up the green bandana and showed him the evidence.
“Oh, my. Let me see the little fellow.” He was careful not to touch the bird, but examined the feathers, the nails, the beak and the glazed-over eyes carefully. His lashes shut in frustration. “Why must Kerdik always choose the most inconvenient times to go on holiday?”
My nose scrunched, like there was a gross stench in the air. “Huh? Where’s Kerdik? He
can’t be gone. He wouldn’t leave without telling me.”
“Kerdik does a great many things without approval or consult from anyone. He’s gone, though he’ll most likely return when he tires of his respite.”
My mouth fell open. “No. I mean, that’s not possible. We were supposed to go bowling in the dungeon tonight. He wouldn’t bail on me. We had plans.”
Urien gave me this sad look of pity, as if I’d told him I could build a flying machine out of old candy bar wrappers, and take us to the moon on vacation. “Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps he’ll be back in a few minutes, but in the off chance I’m correct in my assumption that we’re on our own, we need to get to the bottom of this.” He folded the bird back up in the bandana and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If the birds are certain that it’s the water supply, then it’s already too late. I think I know what this is.”
Draper’s hand found my shoulder. “What? If it’s in the water, then it could be anything. It might take us weeks to figure this all out. And without fresh water, we just don’t have that long.”
Urien peeled back the edge of the green bandana to show us the poor baby’s frozen feet. “Do you see the black edges on the nails? And look at this.” Using the cloth, he pried back a few feathers, exposing the flesh beneath. I expected to see pale skin at the root of the coal feathers, but instead there were gray and black spots that protruded out from the skin, almost like miniature boils.
“What happened to her?” Montel asked. He’d grown a soft spot for my animals, as they often accompanied us on the wall.
“It’s the mort noire root. It’s been introduced to our water supply, which means someone ground up mort noire and dropped it in our wells.”
Draper postured. “But that would mean there’s a spy among us. Morgan couldn’t have done this herself.”
Urien nodded gravely. “Indeed. This much we already knew, though. We just assumed the cloaked man’s only mission was to take out Rosie. Now we know he means our entire region harm. If it is him, in fact.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Or perhaps we have two foes with two separate agendas.”
“How do we undo it?” I asked the question Emil chirped in my ear.
Urien pursed his lips. “Fixing the water supply isn’t the main problem. I can procure the elements easy enough. It’s that everyone’s been infected already.”
“What can we do? Should we send word to the duchess?” Montel asked, leaning in to make sure he heard every word of the elite behind-the-scenes conversation.
“It’s too late for that now. Unless she’s riding into our territory this very moment, there’s nothing she can do.” Urien’s eyes cut to me. “It’s to you, Rosalie.”
I quirked my eyebrow. “Um, okay. Done. What do you need me to do? You know I’ll help however I can.”
“One of the ingredients in the cure is a portion of a kingly spirit. I can provide that easily enough. The other is the touch of a queen. That’s where you come in.”
I held up my hands. “Hold up there, chief. You’re giving up part of your spirit? How does that even work? And don’t you like, need your spirit?”
“There’s a spell for it. It’s simple enough. It just makes me sleepy, so I go into a deep slumber until my spirit restores itself.”
I shook my head as I spoke, unwilling to let this kind of talk go on any longer. “Not on your life, pal. I mean it. We just got you to wake up. No way are you going to sacrifice yourself like that.”
My dad’s hand found my shoulder and gripped it to reassure me. “You don’t need to worry about me, darling. I’ll wake up. Sleep is to restore our magic. That’s all this is. I’ll give away a portion of my magic, and then it’ll return to me once my body regenerates its resources.”
I hadn’t stopped shaking my head the entire time. “I just got you back. Not happening. I’ll do it. You guys can use my magic. That’s no sweat to me.”
Urien pulled me in for a hug. “Thank you for the offer, but it must be a king. Even if you could do it, I wouldn’t allow it any more than you’d permit me to sacrifice myself.”
“Then it’s settled; you won’t do it.” I pressed my cheek to his solid chest. “I won’t allow it.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re forgetting that I’m your father. Add being a king to that, and you’ll realize that I belong to the people. I’m their biggest servant if I’m to be their greatest ruler. This is what’s required of me to assist them how they most need it now, so this is what I shall do.”
Draper shook his head. “I’ll do it. Rosie’s right. It shouldn’t be you. Your magic is still coming back. Mine’s at full stock. I might only need a short nap to recover.”
Urien pulled Draper in with his other arm, holding us both and pressing a kiss to our foreheads. “No more would I permit you to sacrifice yourself, Son. That’s the thing about fathers. Dads get to do the sacrificing, so that you can live and play.” He squeezed us tight, and I could feel the love he kept on tap for us swelling up and broadening his chest. “I wish nothing more than a lifetime of play for you both.”
Bastien turned to Montel, and rattled off a list of ingredients that were totally foreign to me. Then he turned to Urien. “Is there anything else we need for the spell?”
“You forgot virgin blood, but I can tell you’ve studied extensively. Well done, Bastien.”
I knew Judah would chuckle at that last ingredient. “Wouldn’t be a legit potion without virgin blood. That’s like, Fantasy Fiction 101.”
Montel slapped Draper’s hand. “I’ll bring it all back. Might take me some time to find a virgin who will let me take her blood, but the other things are easy enough to find.”
Urien nodded. “Search them out in secret, if you can. We don’t want our tormentor to know that we’re already on the way to solving it all.”
I held up my hand. “You can use my blood. Sounds like a better plan than terrifying someone out there, who’s already scared.”
Urien and Draper looked over at me with wide eyes. Urien broke out into a proud beam, letting us go so he could bring Bastien into his strong embrace. “Thank you, Son.”
No matter how Untouchable he was, I could tell being hugged by the King of Avalon was a privilege Bastien hadn’t been expecting. “Um, thank you, your majesty.” When the hug ended, I could tell Bastien was trying to stifle just how shaken he was at the fatherly affection he’d assumed he never needed. He cleared his throat, and then jerked his head toward the hallway. “I’ll take Rosie upstairs to get her blood. Draper, you want to help me?” He pointed to Urien. “The spirit’s the last part, so don’t do the spell on yourself until we actually have all the ingredients and they’re all mixed.”
“Of course. I’ll wait in my chambers.”
Bastien walked Montel into the hallway, whispering something before he came back in. Bastien curled his arm around my waist, his palm finding the small of my back, which I knew was a spot on my body he coveted. “Into your room, Ro. Let’s go, Draper.”
15
A Kingly Spirit
We moved up the steps silently, though I could tell Draper was steaming. When my door shut, he burst out with, “I can’t believe how stubborn that man is! Well, I guess I should’ve, since he’s your father, and you’re as stubborn as they come. He can’t be allowed to sacrifice his spirit so soon after coming back to life. It’s too dangerous!”
Bastien latched my bedroom door. “I agree. That’s why we’re going to do it without him. Montel’s going to bring the ingredients up here. We’ll have Rosie’s blood already, and Draper, we should definitely use your spirit. You’re younger than Urien, and you weren’t just in a coma for twenty-one years.”
Relief washed over Draper. “Finally. Someone who’s making some sense. Yes. I’ll do it.”
Bastien drew his dagger and moved toward the bed, motioning for me to sit down. “Whoever’s behind this is expecting Urien to sacrifice himself. He knows what the cure is, and that Urien would do anything to save his people.
I’d be willing to bet anything that he’s waiting for the king to be incapacitated before he makes his next move. I say we don’t let him get that far.”
I chewed on my lower lip. “But I don’t want Draper to get hurt, either. Giving up part of your spirit? I mean, isn’t that kind of terrible?”
Draper waved off my concern. “Pfft. It’s nothing. It’ll put me to sleep, is all. So long as my body’s safe, I’m fine with that.” His eyes darted to Bastien. “Can you make sure someone stays with my body?”
I scooped up his hand. “I won’t leave your side.”
Draper pecked my cheek. “Yes, you will. You’ll have to. You’re the ‘touch of a queen’ that’s needed to administer the cure to the people. You’ll have to leave me, and you’d better, or the people will die, and I’ll have given up my spirit for nothing.”
I let Draper wrap his arm around my back as he sat down on the bed at my side. “Okay, someone actually explain all this craziness to me. None of this makes much sense.”
Draper squeezed my bicep and then rubbed slowly up and down my arm as he spoke. “The potion with the spirit, the virgin blood and all of it is to redeem the wells. To make sure there’s a fresh water source available to us. But we’re still all infected, so we need a separate cure for that. It’s two separate antidotes for the two parts of the problem. A touch of a queen with a guérison elixir will cure the people.”
Broken Girl Page 9
