She happily stepped into her role as a warrior—a role that fit her far better than that of a princess. She flared her sword and swung horizontally toward his neck.
“Don’t!” Denan cried at the same time Sela said, “Larkin, no!”
Garrot threw himself back. Her sword cut through his cravat. It gaped open, revealing black, forked lines crawling up his neck—the mulgar blight he’d earned by his own foolishness. He ran down the steps, but Alorica whipped her sword toward him in warning.
Denan grabbed Larkin’s shoulder. “Stop!”
Queen Jaslin pounded on the shields around the dais and begged to be let in.
Garrot scrambled back, his gaze searching for escape. There was none. He bared his teeth and faced Larkin. “I did not do this.”
A lie. Larkin jerked out of Denan’s grasp and put her shield between them, flaring it so it touched Alorica and another enchantress’s shields, effectively locking Larkin and the two enchantresses inside with Garrot. When he made no move to defend himself, she hesitated. Light rippled past her and stuck to Garrot’s skin before melting away.
What had just happened?
“Larkin,” Denan shouted.
Garrot gestured to the panic around them. “Is this some elaborate ploy to justify murdering me? Murdering your own people? Why? Vengeance? To keep us from magic?”
The Idelmarchians were not her people—not after they’d turned their backs on her. Her people were the Alamantians. “You think we did this?”
His cold blue eyes drilled into hers. “You and your husband are the ones who stand to benefit from the king’s death.”
Garrot was evil incarnate. Just like the wraiths he’d served, every word that left his mouth was poison. If he had his way, he would turn every piper against her. She thrust, but her sword did not sink into his guts. Instead, it glanced off. A faint light rippled across his skin.
Larkin stared. What kind of enchantment was this?
Farther back, some of the druids rushed the enchantresses blocking the only exit. Their shields sent out a pulse of light, which threw a dozen druids to the ground. They came up, rabid fear etched on their faces.
Weapons or no, the druids were about to attack. It would be a bloodbath.
“You will stop!” Sela roared, and somehow her voice vibrated with power.
Her sigils flared streamers of light, the details of her face lost in its powerful gleam. Liquid, iridescent gold shimmered across everyone’s skin before going transparent. Just as had happened to Garrot. Somehow, her sister had saved Garrot. Spared him from paying for his crimes.
“Sela,” Larkin hissed furiously.
Ignoring Larkin, Sela held up a bare arm. Before Tam could stop her, she raked a small knife down its length. Larkin made a cry of alarm, released her shield, and stepped toward her sister.
But the blood that should have been there . . . wasn’t. Not even a scratch. Larkin stared, not understanding.
“I have armored you all,” Sela said. “You can’t hurt each other now even if you tried. You will all return to your hometrees. The embedding ceremonies will continue in small groups.”
If Sela had the ability to protect everyone, why hadn’t she just done that in the first place?
In the silence that followed, Larkin became aware of Netrish’s rattled breathing. Of his wife pounding on the shield and sobbing her husband’s name. Of Gendrin’s low murmurs to his father. Of Aaryn calling out to her enchantresses to stay calm.
When no one moved to obey her, Sela’s eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. “Idelmarchians, you may go first,” she said in a deathly quiet voice.
The druids hesitated.
“Go,” Garrot said.
The enchantresses slowly parted. Eyes still wary, the druids passed between them and then hurried down the winding stairs.
Garrot’s sharp gaze bored into Larkin. “We did not come all this way to be tricked and murdered.”
It took every bit of self-control Larkin had to lower her shield.
Denan came to stand beside her. “No one tricked you.”
“If we wanted to keep you from the magic,” Larkin said through gritted teeth, “we would have never let you into the city. If we needed an excuse to slaughter you, we would have done it already.”
“You just tried to kill me!” Garrot cried.
“If I thought it would work, I’d try again.” She meant every word.
“Larkin,” Denan breathed, clearly aghast.
Sela marched over, Tam in front of her. “Go now, Master Druid. Or I’ll drop your armor and let my sister do whatever she wants with you.”
Larkin glared at the druid.
Garrot paled and backed down the steps, pausing just out of reach from Alorica’s sword. She ground her teeth, clearly not wanting to let him go any more than Larkin had.
“Alorica,” Sela said. “All of you, release your shields.”
“Now I’m taking orders from children,” Alorica grumbled, but she released her magic and stepped aside.
The other enchantresses did the same. Queen Jaslin rushed onto the dais, tripped on the last step, and crawled through her husband’s blood to take his hand from Mytin. Larkin’s father-in-law stumbled back from the carnage, seemed to realize there was nothing he could do, and came down the steps, which left the top of the dais to Netrish and his family.
Casting a final parting glance over his shoulder at Larkin, Garrot stepped past Alorica, who let him go, and hurried after his men.
Aaryn trotted past them. “I’ll make sure the druids return safely to the Enchanter Academy.” Motioning for her enchantresses to fall in behind her, she followed half a dozen steps behind Garrot.
Standing on the second to last step, Larkin itched to follow him and settle this once and for all. “We can’t let him go. Not after what he did to Netrish.”
Sela, Mytin, Tam, and Denan gathered around her. At Larkin’s back, Alorica continued watching the crowd.
“The White Tree saw into Garrot’s mind,” Sela said. “He didn’t plot the attack on our king.”
Larkin rounded on her sister. “Having the White Tree whisper in your head doesn’t change the fact that you’re a child! Setting a trap in a crowd is exactly Garrot’s style.”
It was how he’d captured her, after all.
Tears sprang into Sela’s eyes, and she turned away. Tam shot Larkin a reproachful look.
“Larkin,” Mytin chided.
Larkin instantly regretted her harsh words, but she was too angry to apologize.
“Who then?” Denan asked.
Sela glanced into the boughs, in the direction the arrow had come from. “I don’t know.”
Larkin threw out her hands in frustration. “Who else would it be?”
There was censure in Denan’s eyes. “If Garrot did this, he’ll pay for it. But we don’t know that yet.”
Larkin had summarily been overruled. Again. Anger buzzed through her. She needed someone or something to lash out at. She rounded on Tam. “How was that protecting her?”
“How was I supposed to know she’d try to cut herself?” Tam cried.
He had a point. “She stepped right between you and Alorica!”
Tam threw his hands in the air. “I wasn’t watching for danger from her!”