Page 141 of The Witch Queen

“Careful,” Verity warns, gently extracting my bow from my hands and casting a worried look in the direction of the servant. “Perhaps it doesn’t matter. If this plan with the covens succeeds, then they’ll banish Malum. The lost princess as well, with any luck.”

That’s what everyone else is saying, too. That capturing the witches will stop the war and destroy the creature. But that hope doesn’t ring true in my mind.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this plan with the covens,” I admit. “Why would they agree to help us if Ayleth tosses them in our dungeons?”

Verity frowns. “Maybe you should talk to the queen. If she knew—”

“No,” I interrupt.

In explaining about my mother’s journal and the lost princess, I omitted Ayleth’s involvement. As well as everything else I learned about the so-called queen. Not out of loyalty, as I certainly don’t owe Ayleth an ounce ofthat. But if I reveal her secret, does that make me any better than Ayleth is, exploiting the people around me for my own gain?

“She wouldn’t understand,” I say instead. “Or she wouldn’t care. She’s obsessed with her own power, the same as my aunt and—”

“My father.”

Another voice reaches us and I turn to find Gavin approaching. I stiffen. How much did he overhear? If it was enough that he learned about Mother’s journal, he doesn’t show it.

“What are you doing here?” Verity asks, echoing my own question.

“I came to find you,” he says to me. “I think we should leave.”

“Leave?” I repeat. “You can’t be—”

“I know how it sounds,” he says. “But I think we can both agree that capturing the covens is only going to make things worse. And there’s no point in trying to dissuade the council. All anyone cares about is winning.”

“Andyoudon’t?” Verity asks, arching an eyebrow. “You’re the one who issued the challenge.”

He flushes slightly.

“Yes. And at the time, I was certain that it was the right thing to do. But with everything that’s happened…” He pauses. Runs a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure what any of this means anymore.”

He’s not the only one. My own mind is a snare of doubts.

“And so you just want to walk away?” I ask.

“Not entirely,” he replies. “And not from Riven. With the trials suspended, we should use this time to our advantage. Go to my estate. Muster the men there and march on the palace.”

“Marchhere?” I ask, incredulous. “What, with pitchforks?”

“Others will join us,” he says, far more confident than I am. “And if we leave, they won’t be able to resume the trials. They’ll have to listen.”

Much as the prospect terrifies me, I can’t deny that there’s some logic in Gavin’s strategy. Aunt Margaret has been using her army as leverage since we arrived. But ifweshowed up here with troops of our own, the council would be forced to take us seriously. To stop treating us like the markers on the map they rearrange at will.

“Hold on,” Verity cuts in. “Even if thisinsaneplan works, only one person can sit on the throne. Are you expecting Blodwyn to go with you, to rally your men, all so you can come back here and win the trials?”

It’s a good question, one I should have considered myself. Gavin looks at me, the flecks of gold standing out in his brown eyes.

“I understand if you don’t trust me,” he says. “And I have no idea what’s going to happen next. But I know what will happen if we stay. This is the only chance we have to stop this madness.Changethings. If we don’t try now, we never will.”

His words resonate in a deep place within me. There are a thousandreasons to refuse him—Mother’s journal and the princess who vowed to track me down and eat my heart. How am I going to solve any of that if I run off with Gavin? But I also don’t know how I’m going to solve it if I stay here.

“All right,” I say. “I’ll go.”

—

In the end, we decide that the best time to escape the palace will be after Ayleth departs to meet the covens. Which means we only have two days to prepare.

Verity is right. This plan is complete insanity. When I left the White Palace the first time, I’d been so delirious with fever that I hardly comprehended what was happening. Now I am acutely aware of the potential consequences of my actions. Aunt Margaret will be furious. Ayleth as well, especially given what I know about her. She’ll waste no time in dispatching the Hunt to scour the realm for us. But will she do worse? Use her power to wreak her revenge? I don’t know. But I’m not going to sit here, taking no part in my own future. Whatever happens next, at least the mistake will be entirely mine.