"She can't hold flame, without dying," said Ariana.
She hadn't looked at Samuel or me since I kissed him.
I don't know if she suspected something was up--or if she thought we were lovers.
"And that breaks the heart of the bargain.
It must be something that is possible--however unlikely--for the challenger to accomplish." "Fine," said the queen.
"If you are so particular, Silver, you may be the challenger." She laughed, and the roots in the ceiling writhed as the sound of bells echoed in the room.
"Of course I knew who you were, dear Silver--how could you think otherwise? Are there so many of us who chose to live so disfigured by the fangs of hounds and wolves? No.
Only Silver.
So you may take this bargain, and the alternative is that I will kill this almost-mortal woman who is not so human as your Phin or the boy.
Half-blood is not human enough to be saved by the guesting laws of the Elphame." Ariana didn't seem to hear the queen's taunts.
Instead, she said clearly and slowly, "I take hold of this fae, who will change--the first shape of fire counts as one.
After that, for every time he changes, one of my comrades will go free.
He will change five more times, three minutes each form, and if I succeed, all shall leave.
If I don't, one leaves for each shape I hold." As she was talking, Ariana set Phin down next to Gabriel.
Even under the queen's thrall, Gabriel put a hand on Phin's shoulder to steady him.
"Four times," said the queen.
"Five shapes.
I will not let go of Mercedes Thompson, who holds the Silver Borne." "It's all right," I told Ariana.
"I'm a survivor.
Ask anyone.
I can deal with the queen about the book when all of you are safe." "Six forms," said Ariana.
"One for each.
It is in the rules.
`The bargain requested, all prisoners invested in the outcome tested.' " The poetry didn't flow well, but I suppose that it didn't need to be very good poetry to record the rules of a fairy queen.
The queen's eyes fluttered in irritation.
I had a hard time not looking away--or blinking too fast myself.
"Agreed," she snarled.
"But Mercedes is the last to be freed and your grandson first." Samuel said, "Phin, Jesse, Gabriel, Ariana, me, and Mercedes, then." "Phin, Ariana, then the rest followed at the end by Mercedes," counteroffered the queen.
I saw what she was doing.
By putting Ariana and Phin at the beginning, she thought she was reducing Ariana's motivation even as the bargain became harder and harder to keep.