“You, you did this to me.”

I pushed the kids behind me. “I did. And I’d do it again.”

Maybe not the best choice of words, but it was the truth. And as I was learning, the truth was not to be trifled with.

Blue raised her hands, deep lines of magic running from her fingers to her elbows. I saw her intent and I stood there, slack-jawed in shock. She couldn’t possibly mean what I thought she did. Did she?

The magic slammed into me. Apparently she did.

CHAPTER 17

Blue’s power dropped me to my knees. There was nothing gentle about the magic, yet it healed me, the bones in my foot knitting together, the wounds from the hooks closing over. Shivering, I stared up at her. “I thought you were going to kill me.”

“My magic can do both. I can heal a wound or rip it open. But Ayu said that bastard of a husband of mine is going to marry two women. Starving us all is one thing, but this?” She flipped her hair back, exposing her breasts further. “Completely unacceptable. If anyone is going to rule, it will be me. So I will help you stop him.” She yanked the necklace off and tossed it to me. “You are the only one with a chance of killing him, Larkspur, small though that chance might be, it is there.”

Well, that was comforting. “Any idea how I might make it happen?”

She waved at me. “Enders. So useless when it comes to manipulation and planning. I will go to Requiem and request to be re-instated at his side. Of course, he will take me and then you will come to the throne room and challenge him to a duel.”

Ash cleared his throat. “That seems too easy. What aren’t you telling us?”

She put a hand to her chest, splaying her fingers as her eyes widened. “Whatever do you mean?”

“He means you have something up the proverbial sleeve,” I pointed out.

Perhaps we would have had more of a discussion, but a sudden shout up the street startled us all. Blue reached for the twins, dragging them close. “Come, children, we are going to visit your father.”

We ducked behind a house as Blue dragged Sting and Ray toward the voices. Castle guards swept around the corner, lowering their tridents upon seeing them. “Drop your weapons. Do you not recognize your queen when you see her?” Blue spit the words at them and I had to admit, she sounded queenly. Or at least, like the only queen I’d ever known.

The guards surrounded them and escorted them up the road, Blue snapping at them every few feet.

Sting and Ray both glanced back and the look in their eyes sliced me open. Hollow, empty, as if they knew what was coming for them.

Ash grabbed me and held me back. “No, you can’t. We can’t help any of them if we’re caught now. We have to figure out what the hell is going on with Requiem before we face him.”

I turned, surprise filtering through me. “So you’re with me now?”

“Do I have a choice? The only way to get us all out of here is to convince Requiem to let us go. And that isn’t going to happen, is it? So we have to kill him.”

Ayu shook her head. “You speak true. There is no way he will let you go. Come, quickly.”

The three of us scuttled through the lower levels of the Deep until we reached the dividing line between the rich and the poor. Not a lot more activity, but it was still busier than the poor section.

Ayu dragged us into a side ally. “You are too recognizable. Wait here, I will come back with Octo.”

Before we could protest, she was gone.

“I hope you are trusting the right people,” Ash said softly. I leaned against the wall, the sandstone rough against my skin. I looked down at my clothes, what was left of them. My vest had been torn in the middle, exposing my belly to the cool night air. He reached over and touched me, his fingers light across my sensitive skin. A shiver trembled through me and I looked up at him.

“So do I.”

His jaw ticked and he backed a few steps.

I let out a slow breath. “The pipe system runs through the whole city. It’s how the kids were breaking into the kitchen to snatch food. Maybe we could utilize the pipes, swim through them to get to the throne room without being stopped.”

“And do you know the layout of the pipes? I know you can breathe the water with that hook in your ear, but I can’t. You would have to go in alone.”

“I know.” But already I knew that wouldn’t work. There was no way I could learn the ins and outs of the pipe system in the time we had.

He stared hard at me, as if he would say something else. But he finally shook his head and looked away. “Someone’s coming.”

I crouched low, and Ash did the same as we waited. There was no way of knowing who was coming, or if we would have to fight. Relief flowed through me as Ayu’s voice floated down to us. “Please, you spoke with the Terralings’ ambassador. Will you at least advise me on this?”

A deeper voice, one vaguely familiar answered her. “Healer, what I spoke of with my old friend was inconsequential to what is happening now.”

I stood as they rounded the corner. The old man who’d helped me find the kitchens in what seemed like a lifetime ago stared at me in surprise. “You’re Octo?”

“Ah, Ender Larkspur. I see you have survived the cells.”

Ash stood and Octo blinked rapidly. “It seems we have an epidemic of survivors. How wonderful.”

“You spoke with Belladonna, how is she?” All I wanted to know was that she was alive and we weren’t too late.