Page 12

I shoot him a dark glare. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

After a short period of silence, people start poking their heads out.

Lark sways on her feet from the aftereffects of using borrowed elements. She’ll also be thirsty. I’m already freezing, and I stumble as I catch her. We lean on each other while the exodus of people dwindles to a stop.

A handful return, but others call out, insisting it will be safer at Valk’s shrine.

Right now, I’m happy to follow someone else’s lead, because I don’t have a fucking clue which path is right.

I don’t even know what’s happening with my own magic.

Chapter Five

The sun looks like a big orange ball getting squished against the edge of the world. It makes the sky all pink and purple, like when I mix my paints together. Uncle Agnar holds my hand as I watch the people of the town carry their dead friends and family.

They’re all floppy like my dolls when I drop them, but I’m not supposed to stare because staring is rude. My flame sprite dances over my shoulder, forming little shadows that wiggle across the ground.

“Hold still, Rosie.” Uncle Agnar sounds tired, the way my papa used to when he worked too hard, back when he was still alive. “And don’t look over there.”

Oops. Too late.

I already saw the carts with all the dead people. Arms and hands hang off the sides as if they’re trying to wave goodbye. I know what that means.

It means they’re never coming back.

Uncle Agnar said my papa got killed trying to save me from the drachen. Then Lark saved me after I was corr-up-ted.

Even though she’s the queen now, I usually just call her Lark. She claims she’s still the same person and doesn’t care about fancy titles anyway.

Uncle Agnar scolded me when I told him how I’d crawled into the big leather pack and hid after hearing one of the guards say he was sending supplies to the battle zone. Knox tried to appear stern, too, but I could tell he wanted to smile.

Lark just sighed, shook her head, and hugged me.

“We’ll send aid from the capital.” Lark sounds soft but strong at the same time. “Food, medicine, whatever’s needed.”

“Absolutely.” Knox rotates his huge silvery wings before rolling his neck from side to side. “They’ll need grain too.”

I tug free from Uncle Agnar’s grip, and my flame sprite drifts closer to my ear, tickling me. I giggle, but nobody notices because they’re all busy talking about important adult stuff.

Lark nods. “We’ll make sure they have enough.”

Bored, I pull out the rocks I found before Uncle Agnar grabbed my hand and refused to let me go. He was so angry with me after the loud fight that I hid them in my skirt pockets.

Now, I flip the rocks and rub my fingers over them.

They’re not regular rocks. They’re smooth and have all these neat shiny lines running through them, as if tiny lightning bolts are trapped inside. I stack them, one on top of the other, to build a little tower.

“The town well’s intact, at least.” Uncle Agnar points to the spot beside him, silently instructing me to stay put before he pivots to talk to the others.

“Look.” I hold up one of the stones so it catches the last bit of sunlight. “They’re pretty inside. They glow like swimming stars.”

Uncle Agnar spins around fast. When he sees what I’m playing with, his eyes get really big, and his face does that thing where his eyebrows scrunch together.

“Rose! You don’t know where those things have been.” He scoops them up and drops them into a pouch attached to his belt. “Hands out.”

I show him my palms and…oops. They’re dirty and sparkly with dust from the stones. Uncle Agnar strides over to the well, motioning for me to follow. He pulls up a full bucket, pours water over my hands, and then tells me to scrub them together.

I’m sad as I watch the glittery bits wash away. “Is that stuff bad?”