Page 91 of Echo North
I stare her down, hold my head high. “I have set my terms. You set yours.”
She smiles, deep and dangerous. “If you fail, you both will belong to me, and be bound to my court for all of time.”
“Echo, no.”
I look over at Hal. Tears slide down his cheeks. He throws himself against his knife-sharp bonds, struggling and swearing as he tries to get free. Blood seeps into the hollow of his neck, pours down his arms. “Don’t bargain with her! She’ll trick you. With her it is always a trick. You have to run. You have to go now, and don’t look back! I’ll not have you trapped here, too. I couldn’t bear it. Please, Echo. Please go.”
“You hear how he pleads with you,” says the Queen. “But time slips away. Choose now, what you will do.”
“I’m sorry, Hal, but I’m not leaving here without you.”
He sags where he sits, his whole body shuddering. “Please, Echo. Please.”
But I turn once more to the Wolf Queen. “I invoke the old magic. I accept your terms.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
RELEASE THE BOY, MOKOSH,” SAYS THEWolf Queen, without a sideways glance at her daughter.
“Release him yourself. I will not be your pet. You do not own me.”
In one swift movement, the Queen sweeps to Mokosh’s throne, and grabs her daughter’s muzzle with one clawed hand. “Idoown you, just as I owned your father, just as I own your filthy half-siblings. You will do as I say.”
Mokosh’s ears are pinned back flat against her head. “You don’t have any intention of keeping your promise to me, do you?”
The Queen digs her claws in deeper, making Mokosh flinch. “You could never be anything more than a hideous creature in a beautiful dress.”
Mokosh jerks away, the Wolf Queen’s claws tearing at her face. Blood grazes her silver fur. “I should have known better than to make a deal with you.”
The Queen smiles, her white teeth curving up over her lips, and touches Mokosh’s wound with one finger. “Now do as I command. Release the boy.”
Mokosh growls, but obeys, stepping down from her throne and over to Hal’s. She frees his neck first, loosing the band with a metallicclick,then his wrists, his ankles. She steps back, her furred hands balled into fists. She’s trembling. “I’m sorry, Echo.” Her voice is so quiet I barely hear her. “Save him. If you can.” And then she slinks back to her throne, bows her head into her hands. Her shoulders shake.
“Well?” says the Wolf Queen. “Stand, boy. Meet your fate.”
Hal takes a ragged breath and tries to stand, but his legs fold underneath him and he collapses to the ground. I am beside him in an instant, my arms around him, hoisting him back to his feet. I wonder how long he has sat bound to the Wolf Queen’s throne.
His eyes meet mine. The scar on his cheek from the spot of oil looks raw, ugly, as if still freshly made, though it is months old. “Please, Echo. Please don’t do this. Don’t let her trap you. Leave me. Save yourself.Please.”
“I am here to saveyou,” I tell him fiercely, “and I’m not leaving till I’ve done it.”
“But I’m not worth saving. Echo, you still don’t understand—”
“Come to the center of my circle,” thunders the Wolf Queen.
I lead Hal the few steps to where she’s pointing; he leans heavily on my shoulders. He feels fragile beneath my touch—brittle, impossibly old. And if what he and the Wolf Queen have said is true, heisold, more than four hundred years. “Echo,please!” Tears drip down his cheeks.
The moon is looking full into the Wolf Queen’s court. I have the feeling that it’s truly watching us, interested in the choices we make amidst the dust and the trees.
Hal faces me, standing a little straighter, a little grimmer than before.
I take both of his hands in mine; they’re cold, but they feel strong. “For the next three days, I’m holding on to you, Halvarad Wintar. And then you will be free.”
“What magic is stronger than hers?”
“The magic that made the world.” My voice cracks on the next word: “Love.”
He smooths his thumb across my cheek and smiles at me, the sad, hopeless smile of a man who has lost everything. He’s accepting my choice. “Thank you for coming to save me. My dear Lady Echo.”
