“You will give yourself?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate answering.
“You would die to save her?”
Fan’twar, no! Please, don’t do this.
“I will give my life in exchange for hers. You have my word.”
Gasping, I wanted to scream to make him stop. Faythander needed him. Without him, the elves would win. Theht would win. He was the only thing keeping evil from the world. If he died, everyone lost. Didn’t Silvestra know this?
The blackness engulfed me, sucking away my last reserves of energy just as the bands disappeared and I fell to the ground.
“We are agreed,” I heard Silvestra say before I lost consciousness.
Chapter 15
“She’s alive,” someone said.
As I opened my eyes, I found Kull standing over me. Sunlight streamed into the tower through the ruined roof, making me squint.
My first coherent thought was of the pain. Everything hurt. I glanced at my arms and found bright red welts where the witch’s magical bands had burned me, and I lightly touched my neck where I felt the same sort of wounds. Inside, I felt even worse, like everything was raw and exposed, the feeling of having my magic stripped away.
My second thought was of Fan’twar.
Sitting up, I tried to speak. “My stepfather?” My voice was so hoarse I wasn’t sure anyone had heard me.
Heidel stood near her brother, although I couldn’t find Fan’twar. I searched the room but found only mounds of broken stone and smoking, splintered beams strewn across the floor.
“The sky king is gone,” Heidel said. “The witch took him.”
My already upset stomach soured even more. How had this happened? Why had he traded himself for me? I pushed the tears back as best as I could, but losing him hurt even worse than the pain of having my magic stripped away.
Kull wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “He was still alive when she took him. And she left us with a message. There may be a way to bargain for him, although we’ve no idea how to decipher her words. We’d hoped you would know more.”
“A message?”
“Yes. Maveryck is in the library now, trying to decipher its meaning.”
“Maveryck? Why is he still here?”
“To help us, I suppose.”
“Why does he want to help us?”
“No clue. Perhaps the thieving business took a downturn.”
If I hadn’t felt like dying, I would have laughed.
“Take me to him,” I managed.
“Are you sure?” Kull asked. “You’ve been passed out for quite a while. Wouldn’t you like to rest for a moment?”
“No, help me up. Please.” I didn’t care that I felt like death. If there was a way to bring my stepfather back, I had to know.
Kull helped me stand, and together, we made it out of the tower and down the stairs as Heidel followed us. Several people rushed past, carrying towels and medicated ointments. Shouts came from downstairs, and I found the Wults gathered and speaking in heated tones. Some of them cast wary glances at Kull as we dodged the group and entered a narrow hallway.
“They’re talking about you, Brother,” Heidel said.
“I don’t care.”
“They’re blaming you for the abduction of the sky king.”
“Let them. If they want to be fools and blame me for something I didn’t do, then let them.”
“Euric, the man from the inn, is among them. He’s back to spouting treason.”
Kull sighed. “I will deal with it later. For now, we’ve got bigger problems to worry over.”
We made it through the hallways and to the library, where we found the doors propped open and several people inside. Kull’s mother and Maveryck were both hunched over a table.
My head pounded by the time we made it inside. Kull found a chair and placed it by the table, then helped me sit. The room spun around me, and I had to blink several times to make the dizziness go away.
“Olive, I’m glad you’re here,” Maveryck said. “Maybe you can help us understand this better.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but seeing the magical box on the table wasn’t what I had envisioned of the witch’s message. How would I ever get away from that accursed thing?
“Do you know what this is?” Maveryck asked as he scooted the box toward me.
“Of course she doesn’t,” the queen answered for me. “Leave her to rest. She’s in no position to answer questions.”
“Actually,” I said, “I do know what that is. It’s a lotus cube, and it can only be opened with black magic.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Very sure.”
“Then, do you know what this means?”
I reluctantly took the stone from Maveryck and studied its facets. The image of the skull I had seen earlier had changed into the shape of an oval with swirling gold patterns inside.
“It’s changed from when I saw it last. It could mean anything.”
Maveryck turned to the books stacked on the table. “I can’t find any symbol that matches it. If we are to set the sky king free, then we need to know that symbol’s meaning.”
I was glad I was already sitting, or the daunting implications of my stepfather’s situation would have completely overwhelmed me. I rested my chin in my hands, feeling dizzy and disoriented, my stomach ready to heave its contents, and worse, sick to death of dealing with the witch.
“When she held Kull prisoner, she wanted me to open his collar with a key she kept inside the box, but at the time, each facet had a different symbol. I was able to break through most of the spells using various forms of magic, except I couldn’t break through the last symbol because I would have needed black magic to do it.”
“Is there black magic in the stone now?” Maveryck asked.
I wasn’t sure my own magic would function long enough to let me find out, but I knew I had to at least try. Holding the stone in my hands, I breathed deeply, then focused on the magic inside, letting its powers call to me. Inside, I found an intense swirling vortex of bright emerald magic.
“It’s dragon
