“It’s okay, love. You’re safe now.” Wyneth stroked her hair, feeling faint with fear. The queen joined them, taking Vixie’s face in her hands.
“You’re not injured?” She looked her daughter over as Vixie shook her head.
“I need to go. I need to make sure Tiern is okay.”
Both Wyneth and the queen grasped her.
“You’re not going back out there,” Queen Leighlane said firmly.
Vixie still had panic in her eyes. “When will this end, Mother? Papa can make it stop. He can change the laws!”
“It’s not so simple,” the queen whispered. She stroked Vixie’s cheeks, drying her tears.
“He must never change the laws,” came a grainy voicefrom behind them. “It is imperative that we not give up control.”
Wyneth, Vixie, and the queen turned to Duke Streamson. He seemed to be addressing Duke Gulfton, who leaned on his ornate walking stick, eyes glazed.
“Perhaps it will never end,” Duke Gulfton whispered. He hobbled from the room, green robes dragging across the floor, and Duke Streamson followed, shaking his head.
Wyneth thought with sadness that they should both retire. She looked to the queen. Her aunt Leighlane gave her a tight smile that was meant to be reassuring, but it wasn’t. It felt as if everyone in the entire kingdom had lost their wits along with their control over the situation. If they’d had any control to begin with.
Something had to give.
Vixie walked to the window, looking out at the sky and grounds. “I hope they’ve killed it.”
Wyneth’s stomach turned at the thought of what her young cousin had seen. She prayed Tiern and the other soldiers were safe against it.
“Aerity is out there with monsters on the loose,” Vixie whispered. “She needs to be brought home.”
The queen pursed her lips. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. She could be anywhere by now, the foolish girl. She knows we don’t have enough people to chase her down.” She shook her head and walked to her daughter’s side. Winter light shone against her deep red curls.
Wyneth moved to her cousin’s side. Vixie looked straight at her, and in that moment the girl’s terror morphed into an intensity Wyneth had never seen from the lass. It was as if a thought had taken root in her cousin’s soul and was growing to massive proportions before she could attempt to stop it.
Aye, the kingdom lacked soldiers to find Aerity. But Princess Vixie, it seemed, was willing, able, and ready.
Chapter
16
Vixie waited impatiently at the entrance of the castle for Tiern to return. When the doors finally opened, she rose up on her toes, eager to see if he was all right. But it wasn’t Tiern at all. It was a mass of guards surrounding a group in bright clothing: trousers and tunics of reds and greens with buttons up the sides. Vixie recognized the garb of high-class Kalorians. She stepped aside into an alcove to watch as they passed. They were a dour bunch of serious faces.
She gave a slight shiver at how the colorful dresses and long black hair of the women reminded her of Rozaria. She noted the difference in hairstyles between upper-class Kalorian men and tribesmen. Men of the tribes shaved their heads on the side while the lords did not. They woreit down and straight. But all Kalorian men wore the center strip of their hair pulled tight and knotted at the back of their heads.
Vixie stepped out to see what was going on when someone gripped her arm. She looked into Tiern’s worn face.
“Tiern!”
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Aye.” She wanted to circle her arms around him in a hug, but guards were watching. Always watching.
Lord Alvi swept into the castle with a cold breeze and followed where the Kalorians had gone in the direction of the king’s office. Vixie wrapped her arms around herself.
“What happened after I left? Was it killed?”
“Let’s get away from the door.” Tiern led her to a nearby hall. If possible, he seemed even more withdrawn and dark than an hour before. This time Vixie could very well understand why.
“It lives,” he whispered. “It flew out over the sea. They tried to follow in boats but couldn’t keep up. It’s injured, though. Of that, I’m certain.”
