her with the first time. They went to the central core and walked round it, the soldier touching Frost’s arm—communicating something. Then Frost pointed up, high above Tash. The soldier looked where she pointed and shook his head, then suddenly seized Frost and dragged her close to the edge, as if he was going to throw her into the core. She kicked and struggled, and the soldier laughed—a harsh, clanging sound—and threw her to the ground before walking away, back into the tunnel he’d come out of.
Frost sat on the ground and rubbed her face. Then she picked up a bottle and went to stand at the edge of the core, wafting her hands toward it, as if she was trying to capture the column of smoke in the bottle. But the smoke slipped away from her. For some reason it couldn’t be bottled up like that; it had to be caught as it escaped from the body of a demon.
But wait. That’s changed.
Tash stared at the core, thinking back to when she’d first seen it.
The smoke wasn’t anywhere near as high then.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember her first view of the cavern. It was huge—half of Rossarb could fit in it. And the hole in the center had had a red and purple swirling glow, with wisps of purple smoke rising from it.
Tash opened her eyes. The cavern was definitely smaller now. Still huge, but not nearly as big as it had been. The glow from the smoke was brighter too—and there was more of it, billowing from the core and rising far higher into the cavern.
Was that what Frost had been doing? Pointing out that the cavern was closing in?
More smoke means more dead demons. And if the cavern is closing in like the tunnels, that must be because the demons are dead too.
But why would the demons be doing this?
Tash looked down at Frost. If anyone had the answer, she did.
Right, missy. I’m coming to get you.
EDYON
BIRTWISTLE, CALIDOR
EDYON STILL hadn’t told his father about the assassina-tion plot, and now the tour was departing for Birtwistle. He’d hoped that he’d somehow find proof, but he’d found nothing and time was running out.
The tour wound its way along the coast road, arriving at Birtwistle in the early afternoon. The castle was built on the cliffside, and as they rode up to it, Edyon could see some balconies stretched out over the sea. Edyon remembered Lord Hunt’s words: “A balcony could collapse at any moment with the weight of people on it. A tragic accident . . .” A fall from any of them would mean certain death.
When they arrived at the castle, a tour of the building and its defenses had been arranged as usual. Birtwistle showed them from the hall, through the portrait gallery, along corridors with glimpses of the Birtwistle lands, and then he led them up one of the towers to see the coastline. On the highest turret was a small balcony.
The breeze here was strong, but the sound of waves crashing on the rocks below could still be heard. Birtwistle stood by the side of the balcony and said, “I believe the view from here is the best in Calidor. If you stand out there, you can see as far north as Brigane and as far south as Calia. Please, Your Highness, take a look at the view and give me your opinion.”
Thelonius took a step forward.
Edyon had waited too long. He had wanted to find the right time and the right way to tell his father what he knew. Instead, he had been a coward and told him nothing.
It was not very different from March never telling Edyon the truth about where he was taking him, even when he’d had so many chances to do so. There was never a good time to tell someone news that would hurt them. But Edyon could be silent no longer.
“No! Stop!” he shouted. “Don’t do it.”
Thelonius paused. The entire crowd, including the three traitors, turned to stare at Edyon.
“Father, the balcony will collapse if you step on it,” Edyon said, locking eyes with his father. “I know it.”
Birtwistle looked shocked. Regan looked impassive and said, “Perhaps Prince Edyon doesn’t have a head for heights?”
“I don’t have a head for treason. You and Hunt and Birtwistle are in on this. This is a plot to murder my father and myself.”
A few in the tour party frowned in confusion or surprise, while many looked from Edyon