That’s my truth, Truth Seeker. I suggest you quit playing your games and come to me with a plan we can agree on.” Her bottom lip wobbles. “Our time is limited. I want to make the transaction so I may spend my last days with her. Give me that, Ryke, please.”
When she nods off, I lose my mind. I storm from the room, stepping over Gorten’s stinking body, on a mission to find one person.
Mazon.
I find him holed up in one of the rooms that looks to be used as a library. He’s setting up his tools with his back to me. Mazon is old, with long white hair and wrinkled skin. But he’s fierce and brilliant. The old man will never die as far as I’m concerned. I quickly fill him in on Elzira’s condition and what I know about it before sending him up to see her. Then, I stalk out of the room after him.
“Your highness,” Jorshi calls out.
I halt and turn to him. “What is it? I’m rather busy at the moment.” Busy keeping my cold queen alive.
He frowns. “I’ve spoken with Cavon, er Green, and they’re coming.”
“Who?” I demand.
“The Damned.”
“A nest? I have twenty thousand men out there. And what about the Eyes of the White? Will they stand by and let those things rush the castle? Eliminate the mad ones.”
His nostrils flare. “Sir, it’s not that simple.”
Irritation and impatience have me seeing red. “Out with it already,” I boom. “I haven’t got all day.”
“These are different. Many more than the nests we often see. An entire horde of them, your majesty.” He frowns. “A scout discovered them while investigating Norta Layke. They’re just beyond that, entering through the passageway between the mountains from the Hidden Lands.”
“A horde. A horde is no match for twenty thousand Volcs and the Eyes of the White.”
“We’re outnumbered still,” Jorshi whispers. “There are too many.”
“How long?” I growl.
“Two or three days.”
“We’ll meet later to devise a plan. In the meantime, make sure our men are fed and training.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once he’s gone, I rush up the stairs to the tower. Gorten is no longer on the floor and the mess has been cleaned thanks to two servant men who work for me. Elzira has been moved to the bed where Mazon checks her over. Her skin is as pale as snow. It’s her blue lips that send unease curling in the pit of my stomach. I’ve never seen her look so close to death.
“How is she?” I demand.
He turns his weathered face my way and frowns. “If she were anyone other than Queen of the Icelands, she would’ve perished by now. Nothing a little gappenoil can’t fix.”
“Elaborate.”
“She is incredibly strong. Like someone else I know.”
“Strong? She’s dying, Maz. Look at her. Unable to open her eyes.”
He nods. “I agree. She’s weak.”
Gritting my teeth, I try not to throttle him. Sometimes his old man riddles are tiresome.
“Do you remember when you were fifteen, my boy?” he asks.
It was fifteen years ago. I remember. “Of course.”
“Do you remember when you and your cousin snuck out of the palace on a hunt for The Damned?”
My gut churns at the memory. Recks was my favorite cousin. My best friend. “I do,” I growl. “Where is this going?”
I don’t want to play out the memory. I simply want him to tell me what’s on his mind. The old man ignores my wishes as he continues his story.
“You two were unruly boys, always looking for trouble,” he says wistfully. “You found it too.”
We’d walked through back alleyways behind houses and ended up in an old woman’s garden. It smelled sweet. Honnin drops. Little sacs of sweet, yellow goodness. Something that was too delicious to pass up. Recks was eating them by the handfuls. I’d managed to eat a few when the woman came out, chasing after us with a broom. Had she known I was a prince, she would’ve thought better. But at the time, we were two disruptive boys stealing from her garden.
“How does this have anything to do with Elzira’s condition?” I demand, eager to change subject.
Mazon frowns. “You two barely made it to the end of the road…”
Recks began foaming at the mouth, clutching his throat. I started retching. When he began shaking uncontrollably, I blacked out completely. Later, I woke up in the castle. I’d originally thought it was a bad dream. But it wasn’t. Recks and I inadvertently ate something deadly.
“Honnin drops have forever been eradicated,” I huff. Because of my