At Joth’s prompting, a man stepped forward, wearing a stocking cap and a simple tunic and trousers with a rope for a belt. I reached out to him and gave everything I had to his restoration, then immediately felt a new surge of strength for the next to step forward, a woman similarly dressed. Perhaps his wife.
They were an odd choice for restoration, I thought. Clearly these were not people of high status or recognition, and Joth wasn’t paying them any particular attention as close friends or family.
But as I restored the man’s wife, I began to understand why he had chosen them. Joth did have his reasons.
And I had mine.
So I continued with the next in line, and the next, each time receiving a limited infusion of strength. Again and again I continued restoring his people in the order that Joth silently called them forward. I had no idea where he was getting his strength to continue this process, but since he wasn’t showing the slightest sign of weakening, he must have drawn in enormous amounts of strength before entering this room. Somewhere outside this palace, there must have been dozens of his victims, or more.
“Please let me rest,” I begged him.
“My people have not slept for an entire generation,” he said. “When they sleep, you sleep.”
“You don’t understand,” I said. “You are restoring my magic enough to help your people, but physically, I am empty. I will not do anything more until I’ve rested.”
“Keep going, or you will die here.”
Barely keeping my eyes open, I said, “I will die here if I keep going.”
His grip on my arm tightened; then suddenly he tilted his head and mumbled something under his breath, as if in conversation with someone.
Perhaps he had forgotten that with our connected magic, I was privy to what he was hearing, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it.
“The Halderian king has entered the palace” was the message.
Joth pulled me closer to him. “Did you know of this?”
“Know of what?” I replied.
Inside, my stomach was churning. Had Simon come as friend or foe?
Foe.
On more than one occasion, I had proven myself an enemy to him. If only he knew how ineffectual an enemy I was.
With that single thought, something within me awoke. I had Endrick’s magic. I was more powerful than this! Maybe I didn’t know everything Endrick had been capable of doing, and certainly I didn’t know how to use the magic I now had, but I would not play the victim any longer.
Perhaps Simon was an enemy now, but Joth was the greater threat. My only hope might be to use the one against the other.
I reached out once more to the Ironhearts, and despite my weakness, I found it easy to identify each individual. I knew in general where they were, and I knew if any were attempting to ignore my hold on them.
So I gave a slight squeeze on the hearts of every single soldier. Now I had their attention. Then I made sure they knew their orders. Their queen had need of them.
Joth faced the thirty people I had restored. I imagined they were nearly the same as what they had been before Endrick had cursed them: same age and clothing as before, same interests and abilities … or almost the same.
Joth said to them, “If you have been restored, then for now, you must remain in this room, for your protection. Those who have not been restored must offer their assistance to all of us. Go and find the Halderian king. Bring him here.”
Once Joth seemed satisfied that his order had been obeyed, he turned back to me. “Will Simon relinquish his kingdom to save you?”
Despite my weakness, I couldn’t help but laugh. “As things between us are now, Simon wouldn’t relinquish his dessert to save me. But if he is coming here, whether by choice or by force, you should be afraid. Whatever he wants, he will get it.”
“Then I hope he wants to die,” Joth said. “For once I get him to kneel to me, that will be his fate.”
I shook my head. “Who will kill him? It won’t be you.”
Joth’s eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
I smiled. “By the time Simon gets here, my Ironhearts will already have their orders to bury you.”
At my words, nearly every door into the throne room began to echo with pounding noises. Joth’s people rushed to the doors to hold them closed, but their eyes revealed their fear.
“Remember your magic,” Joth told them. “Use it!”
But the people only stared at him and each other in confusion, which made my smile widen.
The thirty Navan had been restored … mostly. But Endrick had one power at the root of all other powers he had ever obtained—the ability to steal magic from others.
And so I had.
It was commonly believed that he had to kill the person in order to take their magic, but now that his power was mine, I understood differently. He killed the person so that they could not challenge him to get their magic back. He could have left his victims alive.
As I had left the thirty people of Navan alive. But their magic was mine. And I had no intention of sharing any of it with Joth.
Joth’s face reddened in anger. “What have you done?”
Now my smile disappeared. “Kneel to me and beg my forgiveness. This will be your only warning.”
“Never!” He reached for me, but using a power I had just acquired, my arm slipped through his grip like it was coated in warm butter. He ordered his people to grab me before I escaped, but I did the same with them, slid out the door, and used the last bit of strength within me to seal the door closed.
There were no Ironhearts nearby. I’d ordered all of them nearer the front of the throne room, closer to where the bulk of Joth’s restored Navan were.
Grateful to be alone, I slumped to the floor, closed my eyes, and tried to find anything within me to stand. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was found, and I needed to hide until I recovered.
“Get up, Kestra.”
I opened my eyes and groaned. Harlyn stood before me, with a disk bow aimed directly at my chest. Her voice lacked any emotion whatsoever. Considering all that I had done for her in the past several hours, I would have preferred to hear at least a hint of gratitude. Or at least something in her tone that didn’t sound nearly so eager to shoot me again.
“Get up,” she repeated. “Or this will be the place you die.”
I glared up at her. “And what happens if I do get up?”
Harlyn’s eyes flashed, and she gave no answer. She didn’t need to. I already knew it.
Joth had use of the half-lives as his army, warriors I could not even sense, much less see, yet who apparently had become tangible enough that they could strike a person down in an instant. Finally, I understood that.
And I had to expect that they knew I had entered the castle, and that some attempt would be made to stop me.
Until they did, I would do everything in my power to get as close as possible to Joth and Kestra … if she was still alive. And I had to find Harlyn. If I failed at that, I figured Gabe would finish whatever he had started outside. I’d never seen him so angry, and certainly not so angry with me.
Then I paused right where I stood as a realization flooded over me. It was so obvious, I couldn’t believe that I had missed it.
Gabe had feelings for Harlyn; maybe he even loved her. He couldn’t say anything because he knew she was meant for me, but nothing else explained why his reactions concerning her had been so strong.