“You took an arrow to the chest. And when Aurelia’s blood spell didn’t work, she used a bloodleaf flower petal on you,” Onal said in a cool, clipped tone.
“Stars above.” His bewilderment quickly changed to determination. “The ritual. We have to finish it now. Does the bowl still hold our blood? Bring it out. And the cloth and the knife. Put everything back the way it was.”
“But you said I shouldn’t—” I protested.
“Forget what I said. I think we can agree that things have changed since this afternoon.”
The stones were rearranged into the triangle, and Mother, Simon, and Kellan took their places at each point, though this time Simon’s arm was draped across Onal’s bony shoulder for support.
“Right where you left off,” Simon prodded.
“No,” I said strongly. “I’ve already told you: I don’t want this. I refuse. No one else is going to suffer in my place.”
“Aurelia.” Kellan opened my fingers and closed them around the hilt of the knife. “Do it. You have to do it.” He held my gaze and I felt my breath catch.
“No, Kellan. I don’t want—”
But even as I spoke he forced the knife in my hand down against his own palm. Through gritted teeth he said, “My blood, freely given.”
“Quickly now!” Mother commanded. “Take the bowl to the cloth.”
Stunned into submission, I stepped into the very center of the triangle.
“Three drops,” Simon said. “Repeat after me. ‘Sanguine nata, vita et morte.’ ”
One drop fell from the iron bowl and spread on the white fabric. “Sanguine nata, vita et morte.”
“Again.”
Another drop. “Sanguine nata, vita et morte.”
“Again!”
The last drop. “Sanguine nata, vita et morte.”
“Tertio modo ut ab uno vitae. Ligat sanguinem, sanguinem, facere,” said Simon. “Three lives now tied to one. Bound by blood, by blood undone.”
The stones flared up once more, and then all went quiet.
* * *
We laid the remnants of the spell away quietly; no one dared to interrupt the silence until the door to the next room creaked open and Conrad’s small face peeked out from behind it. “Mama, I can’t sleep. There are too many lights.”
Mother went to him, placing her hands soothingly on his cheeks. “What lights, my dear?”
“The ones outside. They keep getting brighter.”
She moved past him to the window. Beyond the glass, hundreds of glowing orbs were bobbing in the blackness, moving past the castle gate and across the grounds. Her hand moved to her mouth.
“Tribunal.” Onal’s voice was cold. “They’re marching on the castle.”
“They wouldn’t,” Mother said.
“They are.”
A heavy knock came from the other room. Toris’s voice was muffled through the thick wood. “Genevieve! My queen—they’re coming.”
Kellan threw the door open, and Toris rushed inside. Breathlessly, he said again, “They’re coming. Not just for Aurelia. They’re going to overtake the castle. Everything.”
“A coup?” Kellan’s hand was on his sword.
“It’s me they want,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “If I let them take me, they’ll leave everyone else alone.”
“You know we can’t do that, Princess,” Simon said. He was right. If I gave myself up, the Tribunal would kill me. And when it didn’t take—and someone else died in my stead—they’d just kill me again and again until all four of us were dead.
“Then I’ll leave. I’ll go now, today, to seek asylum in Achleva.”
“That won’t stop them from trying to overthrow me,” Mother said.
“You can come with me. We’ll be safe inside Achlev’s Wall. Renalt tried for three centuries to get past it without any success.”
“I will not abandon Renalt to the Tribunal, Aurelia.”
In my desperation to learn magic to undo the Tribunal, I’d brought them down on all of our heads. I struggled to reconcile with that fact. “But if you stay . . . and what about Conrad?”
“He can go with us to Achleva,” Toris said. “I can ensure his well-being.”
“With us?” I gave him an incredulous glare. “Surely you don’t think you are coming along.”
He ignored me and addressed my mother directly. “Lisette is already waiting in her carriage. We will meet her in the carriage house in one hour. The Tribunal has blocked every exit from the grounds; only I can get us past them in safety. The clerics on guard know me. They trust me. And they won’t question my desire to distance my only daughter from the violence that is about to take place.” Toris placed his hand on his chest, over the vial of blood he wore around his neck. “You are well hated by your people, Princess. You should take advantage of what kindnesses you are offered. This is your only chance.”
“My people hate me because you told them they could. That they should. You and your stars-forsaken Tribunal.”
“I may be a member of the Tribunal,” Toris thundered, “but I am loyal to the crown. When my betrayal is discovered, I stand to lose everything. My fortune, my friends, my good name . . .”
“How devastating for you,” I said flatly.
“One hour,” Toris said, upper lip curling. “The carriage house. Don’t be seen.”
“I’ll get them there,” Kellan said. “The prince and princess both.”
Toris left with a slam of the door.
My mother busied herself taking my wedding dress down from the dress form, folding it carefully, and tying it into a linen parcel. After a moment of watching her, I turned to Simon. “Is there a way for us to get across Achlev’s Wall without you?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “You must be invited into the city by someone of royal descent, of Achlev’s direct line. I brought with me three of those documents: one for you, one for a maid, and one for a guard. Anyone else will have to turn back or wait in the encampments outside the wall for the king to issue another invitation for them.”
“That’s all we need,” I said. “One for me, one for Conrad, and one for Kellan. Simon, could you stay here, with my mother? As a blood mage, you’re the only person who can offer her any kind of defense. Please. You just tied your life to mine. There must to be something you can do to protect hers.”
He frowned. “I might be able to seal us in these chambers, but I can’t guarantee how long it will last. If the seal fails at all, the Tribunal could still get in and then . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence. We knew what would happen then.
“Do what you have to do.”
He brought out three envelopes from his jacket pocket, sealed with the three-pointed-knot symbol of Achleva’s flag.
“These will get you across the wall,” he said, handing them to me. “May the Empyrea keep you.”
“And you.”
“We need to hurry,” Kellan said. “There’s no time to waste.”
“Mama?” Conrad asked with glistening eyes.