would ward a person from magic, and my dismissal of the very idea. Of the strange wooden earrings that Lady Marie had worn, and the sprig of those very same berries pinned into her hair.
Rowan. The witch’s bane. And its presence rendered our plans useless, and put Anushka back in control.
If she’d ever lost it.
FORTY-NINE
TRISTAN
“They refused me entry to the castle,” Sabine snarled, her boots leaving tracks of mud across the floor. “Told me that Cécile would not be requiring my services tonight.”
“Did they refuse any of the other crew?” I asked, scratching Souris behind one ear because watching Sabine pace was only adding to my nerves.
“No.” She spat the word out.
“They’re cutting her off from the herd,” Chris muttered.
Sabine stopped moving. “That’s morbid.” I felt her gaze turn on me. “You’re awfully calm, all things considered.”
I shook my head, picking at a frayed stitch on my boot. My anger was a slow burn, boiling hotter and hotter and threatening to erupt. Every minute seemed to pass interminably slow as I watched the sun track across the sky, and instinct told me to act, to go to the castle and find Marie and extract Anushka’s identity from her with whatever means necessary. Only the finest filament of control kept me in my seat¸ reminding me that only strategy and wit would win us success.
“There’s something I need to tell you both. You might want to sit.”
Sabine stayed where she was, crossing her arms.
“Cécile’s hypothesis about the alignment of the winter solstice and full moon has been proven correct,” I said. “If we don’t stop her, Anushka will kill Genevieve tonight and perform whatever spell she’s been using to maintain her immortality. Even without the cost of Cécile’s mother’s life, given that we’ve lost the ability to track her, tonight is our only opportunity to catch her.”
“And you’ve sent Cécile into the lion’s den alone?” Sabine’s cheeks flushed red with anger. Spinning on her heel, she started to the door. “I’m going to find a way into the castle. I’ll swim across the cursed river if I have to.”
“Sabine, come back here,” I said, jamming the door shut.
She jerked on the handle. “Open it. Let me out.”
I briefly considered lifting her up and depositing her in front of me until I was done talking, but I suspected manhandling the girl would not predispose her to listening. “Sabine, sit down and listen. Please.”
She grudgingly returned and sat next to Chris, and I proceeded to explain all of what Cécile had seen and heard in Trollus. “Angoulême plans to take control of the city using my brother, and when he does, he’ll arrange to have Anushka killed. The trolls will hail him as their savior, and all the world will suffer for it. And I do not think I’ll be able to stop them.”
“So you plan to kill her instead,” Chris said, and it wasn’t a question.
I nodded. “There is a chance we could catch her and use Aiden’s plan to free Cécile from my father, and then hide her away from the world, but…” I hesitated. “My people are in danger from both within and without, and I have to do what I can to keep them safe.”
“And when the rest of the trolls are free? What then?” Sabine’s arms were wrapped around her body as though to ward off the chill.
“I will try to take the crown,” I said. “And I will spend the rest of my life trying to keep them in check.”
“And if you fail?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, my knowledge of life before the Fall marching unwanted across my vision. “I suggest you pray to your God that I don’t.”
“Is this what Cécile wants?” Chris lifted his head, gaze steely and unflinching.
“So she says.” I leaned back in my chair and hooked an ankle across my knee.
Sabine and Chris exchanged weighted looks, and I stared at my boot to give them a moment.
“I understand if you want to try to put a knife in my back or an arrow through my heart. Who could blame you?” I inhaled and exhaled slowly. “Cécile’s father intends to warn everyone in the Hollow at midnight tonight – it could not be sooner, because we cannot be certain of the loyalties of everyone in your village.” I looked up. “I’ll not stop you if you want to leave and go to them now. I’ll give you the gold you need to book passage on a ship to the continent, although