When we got to the Sacred Circle and no one stopped us, I mentally patted myself on the back. I could blend in with my new silver robes. I could be a Phaetyn spy. Wait. That was what I was doing. For some reason, I heard Tyrrik’s suffering sigh in my head at that moment, and my lips twitched.

The royal guard surrounded the Sacred Circle. The Phaetyn warriors, dressed in their purple aketons, created a barrier to the tree.

The smallest Phaetyn grabbed my hand and said, “Do they know you have Queen Luna’s power?”

I nodded, and the young Phaetyn cringed. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Why did I always have to blurt everything out? I was so going to get better at keeping secrets, starting right now.

“If we go around through the trees, you can climb over,” he said, pointing to where the branches of the large elm tree entwined in the forest canopy above.

My Drae vision told me that those branches were not very thick, and my climbing skills weren’t nearly as good as my nectar-making skills—which weren’t very good. As Ryn the Fearless, I felt obligated to do something. As Queen Luna’s surrogate, I felt honored to serve the Phaetyn, but I was done being an idiot.

“The trees can talk to each other, right?” I asked, repeating what Kamini said. “What about if I ask the trees to tell me?”

The three Phaetyn exchanged glances, and the youngest one blushed. “Of course, that will work if you have ancestral power.”

Al’right. Although, why did we have to come all the way here if they knew that? They just finished telling me I had the power, and now they were questioning it? “Then let’s go find out the truth.”

“We haven’t had someone among us with ancestral powers for so long,” the stocky Phaetyn said apologetically, leading us back into the forest. “Most of us don’t know how the power works, or what all can be done with it. Did one of the royals tell you that?”

“Um.” Was I not supposed to know? “Someone must’ve said something.” I shrugged, relieved when they let it drop. Plus, I didn’t have to fight my way through the Phaetyn guards or climb any trees. Good, good. I stopped in the middle of the trees and found a large oak that reminded me of the trees at the edge of Zivost. I placed my hands on its rough trunk, closed my eyes, and asked the tree to tell me what it knew about Luna.

The beautiful Phaetyn queen appeared in an accelerated blur of memories. She lowered and raised the wall multiple times as she left and returned. Sometimes, she had guards with her, and other times, she was alone. The images flashed faster and faster before one stilled with jarring suddenness. The Phaetyn Queen left, lowering the jagged rocks, but this time as she crossed the path, a man waited for her. She returned, and the images faded.

The scene sped up, and the next time Queen Luna left, her belly was swollen with child. She wore a hood, and two guards flanked her. She glanced furtively behind her, her eyes welling with tears. The images blurred, showing the queen holding a child. She was outside of the wall. She kissed the baby and gave it back to the man, and she kissed him before returning to Zivost.

When she returned to the tree line, Alani stepped out of the forest, her face contorted in rage as she faced her sister. Angry words flew between the two, and when they stood in the tense aftermath, both of their expressions were pained.

A new image of Queen Luna materialized as she left again, this time as a hooded figure, alone, stooped as she tried to avoid prying eyes.

Alani was hiding in the forest, this time with Queen Luna's mate, Kaelan. When Luna embraced the man on the other side of the wall, his hood tipped back. His ears were rounded. He was human.

I gasped. Queen Luna had a baby with a human.

Another image materialized. Luna embraced her sister at the edge of the rock barrier. Tears streamed down the queen’s face, but though Alani embraced her sister, her eyes were as hard as agates. Luna stooped to pick up a small valise, and the walls lowered. Queen Luna and her two guards crossed to the broken rock. As the wall rose, and the queen’s human lover rushed out to embrace her, dozens of Druman swarmed around the group. Swords glinted in the moonlight, and the Druman slaughtered the queen’s guards and her human lover, all while they held her, forcing her to watch.

And all the while, Alani and Kaelan observed from the shadows of Zivost, their eyes gleaming.

A shadow flew overhead and descended to the blood-splattered rocks. An emerald Drae landed, and the air around him shimmered as he shifted.

I wrenched my arms to my sides, clasping my hands to my chest as I curled over, keening for the queen of the Phaetyn. I fell to my knees and sobbed for the twisted and sick betrayal I’d witnessed in the images. The previous queen had a child; I’d seen it. Luna had loved a human. If Alani so badly wanted to strengthen the barrier, why hadn’t she sent out search parties to find this child? Unless . . . Alani didn’t know about the child? Unless none of them knew.

Alani and Kaelan had just stood there and watched while Luna was taken.

My stomach turned, and a black hollowness spread through my chest.

“What did you see?”

I’d been crying for several minutes and had completely forgotten the presence of the others. I stood, my fists clenched at my sides, and looked each of the Phaetyn in the eye. My very life was a gift from Queen Luna, and I owed her a debt. Even though I didn’t want to be involved, I was, and I couldn’t turn my back on the very reason I had life. There was no question Queen Luna would help her people if she were here. The story of her life was a clear example of her belief in self-governance. Still, I needed to think of the implications before I divulged what I’d seen. This situation was out of control.

I dropped my eyes. “I saw Tyrrik falling from the sky again,” I said, woodenly. “It was terrible.”

* * *

I stormed the circle of guards surrounding the elm tree. I was certain they were there to keep me out, no one else. Queen Alani hadn’t wanted me to discover the truth.

Holy Drae-batter pancakes. She’d watched her sister be taken by the Emperor’s Druman and done nothing. I didn’t even want to think about how Alani had ended up with Kaelan. Because he’d been with Luna first. For all I knew, Alani had arranged to have Luna taken. The thought chilled me to my core.

I’d never expected the Queen of Phaetyn to be as evil as Irdelron. Was every sovereign in the entire realm like this? As far as I was concerned, they should be deposed, preferably followed by a public execution. Or Tyrrik could behead them. I’d even offer to help at this point because . . . really?

I reached the tree, filled with righteous indignation, and charged the guard with the most decorations on his purple uniform. I glared at him. “Where is Kamoi?”

“Prince Kamoi is presently detained elsewhere.”

“You don’t say,” I observed, rolling my eyes.

The guard blinked at my heavy sarcasm, which only irritated me further.

“It’s in Kamoi’s interest to speak with me, immediately.” My teeth extended, my Drae fangs emerging, and while it should’ve made me appear more frightening, their presence made my face contort while I spoke. “It’s a matter of security.”

The guard’s lips trembled, and he raised his hand to cover his mouth.

If he laughed, I would pull his shiny hair out.

The Phaetyn regained control and, this time seeming genuine, said, “Prince Kamoi is on the southern side of the forest with the rest of our army, trying to quell unrest. He really is busy.”

I deflated, feeling my teeth recede. “Drak.”

I had a few words to say to that freakin’ prince. Starting with the binding-thing and ending with how his mother was a grade-A pile of horse manure.

“Please inform him I would like to see him when he’s back,” I muttered.

“As you say.” The guard bowed.

I dipped my head. At least that guy was nice enough. Maybe they should promote him for not being a pointy-eared jerk. “Thank you.”

He looked startled by my gratitude, and a real smile lifted his lips.

They should totally give him a medal or something. With a sigh, I walked away, unaccountably weary. I ignored the side-long looks from the violet-eyed Phaetyn as I passed. The Phaetyn seemed unsure of whether I was an intruder or not. These silver robes were like magic.

Emboldened by my disguise, I followed the rush of water through the trees to my right, I adjusted my course and, a few minutes later, sank to my knees beside a bubbling brook. There were many Phaetyn around, some collecting water, some just talking, and others hurrying by to get other jobs done, maybe even to go join the fight happening somewhere in the forest. No one said anything to me, and I stared at the crystal water.

I didn’t want to get involved in all this Phaetyn drama. I felt a debt because of my connection to the trees and Luna, but this wasn’t my battle. Yet several Phaetyn were trying to force my hand, each in their different ways; Kamoi with plans to pitch the fork and do the Maypole dance with me, and his mother . . . Well, I wasn’t sure what her game was yet, aside from trying to bar me from finding out anything else, and the Phaetyn today asking me to look at the tree’s memories.

I wondered if Kamini knew her mother was a turd. No, she was way worse than that.

My presence here with the scheming and calculated interest felt too similar to a game I’d been forced to play before. This place just didn’t have a torture room. Or, at least, not that I could see. Somehow, that fact wasn’t making my palms any less clammy.

I cupped my hands in the water and brought the clear liquid to my mouth. My nose twitched as I recognized the same sweet smell of the water I’d collected outside the forest. I drained the fluid in my hands, and some of my tension eased. “It’s sweet, too.”

I dipped my hands again and drank my fill.

“It tastes sweet to you?” a male Phaetyn asked.

I glanced up to see him kneeling next to me. “Yes,” I said, drying my hands on my silver garments. “I’ve never tasted water like this, well, except for the stuff just outside this forest.”

The Phaetyn smiled and made a lifting gesture with his hand. A sphere of water lifted from the brook and hovered in the air. “There is life in water, as there is in the ground, the air, and in the animals,” the man said. He appeared middle-aged which probably meant he was hundreds of years old. “And Zivost is life itself. The water here is at its purest, and the rivers and streams that flow through this place carry life to those outside the forest. In times gone by, all waterways tasted like this. I’m greatly saddened to hear that is no longer true.”

Oh, boy. If only he knew the whole of it.

Someone scoffed behind me. I turned and saw a narrow-faced woman sneering at the man. “Do not speak to this atrocity, Fabir. She’s not one of us; she should not know our ways.”

The man ignored her, speaking again to me. “Tell me, child, what are your Phaetyn powers?”

I shifted, uncomfortably aware of the attention we were garnering. “Well, I can grow potatoes and stuff.”

“Ah, a plant affinity.”

I shrugged. “I guess. I made a flower once.”

He paused, the creases around his eyes deepening. “What do you mean?”

“I made a flower, a blue blossom that glowed.” My heart squeezed at the thought of it, of Tyr. But then, Tyr was in the rose house right now . . . wasn’t he? The essence of him.

There were gasps.

“I see,” the man said.

I glanced at him in question and saw he was looking at the ground where a single Tyr-flower had bloomed.

“That’s it,” I said. My chest filled as I leaned closer to the flower and stroked it gently with my finger. The luminescent flower bent toward me, even when I straightened.

The man was blinking back tears. “Thank you, child. That is a beautiful thing to see.”

“How dare you!” the narrow-faced woman seethed. “You enter our forest and try to usurp our rightful queen?”

A younger Phaetyn, one of the ones I’d spoken to earlier, snapped at her. “Ertha, she has ancestral powers. She converses with the trees.”

A hush rippled through the gathering crowd.

I slowly got to my feet. Maybe I could slip away before things got too tense.

“Dark does not belong with light,” another male Phaetyn shouted.

“No,” the man beside me said, standing. “That’s exactly where it belongs. Where there is dark, light must always exist. Drae and Phaetyn have always balanced each other as is our responsibility.” He gazed out over the crowd, and then his attention landed back on me. “This young woman is that same balance, just as one.”

“You’ve always been a fool,” Ertha shouted.

“Look,” I said, raising my hands to stop the shouting. “I’m not here to take your queen’s job.” Though I think you’d be interested to know a few things about her. “I came here with Kamoi, thinking your people could help me understand my Phaetyn side. That’s it. Whatever trouble you’ve got going on here has nothing to do with me.”

The young Phaetyn from earlier crossed his arms. “You saw something at the trees earlier.”

I began striding through the crowd. I would not get involved, not yet. I wanted a clear path. I wanted an exit plan. I wanted to know those I loved would still be safe when this was over. I was not going to put anyone else in danger ever again.

“What did you see?” he pressed.

The tension in the air overwhelmed my frayed nerves, and the pressure to do something consumed me. Scales erupted up my arms, and my eyes blazed. I whirled on the young Phaetyn, and the watching crowd reared back.

“You do not want to know the horrible things I saw.” My growl was menacing and filled the surrounding space. They didn’t know how this would end, but tensions would escalate, and people, Phaetyn, would get hurt. I took a deep breath, staring at the young man. He blinked but refused to look away. With a shake of my head, I broke the locked gaze, and then pushing through the last few rows, I strode back in the direction of the Pink House.

“See,” the woman Ertha called. “An atrocity.”