“What was it?” I leaned in, morbidly curious.

“It was a love spell, where the lovers cut their hands and tied them together with a cloth. I said the spell, and when the cloth was removed, they were supposed to be bound on a deeper level.”

“And did it work?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose so. When the man believed his wife was having an affair, he nearly killed her.”

I shrank back in horror.

“Like I said, messy.”

I looked down at the book again. “Can a spell like that be undone?”

“Sometimes. In that case, I could have torn the fabric apart and recited another spell, and that should have undone it. But there’s never a guarantee a spell can be broken.”

The thought of being tied to Ceren like this forever was untenable. “Well, this one has to be.”

“Even if I do manage to break the spell,” Adriel replied, “it won’t stop him from wielding the bloodstones. He doesn’t need your blood to do that.”

“No, but as long as he has my healing abilities, he’s going to be extremely difficult to stop. And besides, I want the link between us severed as soon as possible. I don’t want to be in his head anymore, and I certainly don’t want him in mine.”

Adriel sighed. “It sounds like Talia’s plan is to overtake Old Castle tomorrow, then attack New Castle, regardless of what you and I accomplish with this book.”

“You should have left with Roan’s soldiers when you had the chance,” I said, angry with myself for endangering another person I cared about. “Now you’re stuck here with me.”

“I could have left, Nor. I chose not to. Despite Roan’s misgivings about Talia—which, by the way, I happen to share—I wasn’t going to leave without a solution to your blood spell problem. Besides, the thought of another seven days in the saddle was horrifying. And Shiloh promised to check on Foxglove for me, so there was no rush to get home.”

I smiled, relieved that this friendship, at least, wasn’t complicated.

The tent flap stirred, and a second later Zadie’s head appeared. “There you are,” she said to me. “We were looking everywhere.”

Sami entered after her. “Any word from Queen Talia?”

“I wasn’t invited to the strategy meeting. Where were you two?”

“Ebb took us with her to see Grig and Osius. They weren’t invited to the strategy meeting, either.”

“How can that be?” I asked. “Osius is the only one who has seen Old Castle.”

“He reported back and was dismissed,” Sami said. “Ebb was going to see if she could speak to Grig in private. Osius seemed reluctant to talk about it with us.”

“He’s a soldier,” I ventured. “We’re not.”

“Fair enough, but we have as much stake in this as the rest of them. More, if you ask me. And if they’re planning an assault on New Castle that could potentially endanger our parents, I think we have a right to know.”

Zadie placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “I happen to agree with Sami. I don’t like that we’re being kept in the dark.”

I nodded. “I’ll talk to Talin later.”

The tent flap rustled again, admitting Grig and Ebb this time.

“I only have a few minutes,” Grig panted. “Osius needs me, but I want to tell you what he saw at Old Castle.”

“It’s about the Varenians,” Ebb added.

“Some of them are being held at Old Castle. Those who weren’t fit to work in the mines.”

Hope sparked in my chest. “My parents?”

“Not among them, from what Osius could see. It was mostly elders and children, about twenty of them. They were in the armory, making jewelry out of the bloodstones. Some of them appeared to be wearing the bloodstones themselves.”

The spark sputtered out. “Ceren must be using the gems to control the Varenians. Which means he could be doing the same to those in the mines.”

Ebb nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Rescuing them is going to be even more difficult than we thought.”

“How is Talia planning to protect the Varenian prisoners when she takes New Castle?” I asked. “What if they get caught in the cross fire?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Grig said. “Talia seems to thinks the Varenians will come to her side and fight.”

“Women and children? The elderly?” I shook my head. “That can’t be true.”

“I’ve seen her troops, Nor. It’s not just able-bodied men. I saw some boys and girls who couldn’t be over thirteen. It’s the only way she can get the sheer numbers she needs to fight Ceren.”

I remembered Shale’s words, how the woman king would make no exceptions. “We have to talk to Talin. If that’s true, he wouldn’t stand for it.”

Grig sighed. “Listen, Talin is a good man, the best I’ve ever known. And I know he doesn’t condone his mother’s methods. But he’s spent the past four years trying to get her back, and I don’t think he’s going to go against her now. She keeps him so close it’s difficult to even talk to him.”

“Grig?” Osius lifted the tent flap. “You need to come quickly. It’s time.”

“For what?” I asked.

Osius’s steady gaze met mine. “To launch our attack on Old Castle.”

24

They launched their attack in the hour before dawn and took Old Castle by late afternoon. Talin came back from the battlefield that night battered and bruised but with a tired smile on his face. When he finally made it back to his tent, I helped him with the buckles on his armor and filled the washbasin with water from the ewer, soaked a cloth, and brought it to him.

“Let me,” I said as I started to clean the dirt and gore off his face. He closed his eyes and sighed wearily, as if he hadn’t taken a proper breath all day.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Ceren’s troops were waiting, as we knew they would be. It was a matter of numbers, and we had more. But that’s only because he’s got the majority of his troops surrounding New Castle.”

I finished cleaning his face and went to rinse out the cloth. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. But I can’t guarantee a coherent answer. I’m exhausted.”

I wrung out the cloth and handed it back to him. “Grig said there are children in your mother’s army.”