Chapter 40

A nyka's head ached from the glare streaming through her windows. It was unnatural. She shielded her eyes with her hand and did her best not to look out onto Dearth. Or to listen to the sounds coming up from the village. But even the local idiot could have understood that the noise was cheering and the movement in the streets was the townspeople dancing.

Galwyn shifted nervously on his perch.

"I know, my darling boy. It's vile, isn't it?" A little sun was one thing. This was…blinding. Who could live with so much brightness?

This was Sparrow's doing. It was all clear now. Those perverse shadows that had assaulted the kingdom last night, those Wyvern, had been doing Sparrow's bidding. How she'd bent them to her will, Anyka had no idea.

Did they understand that they had made themselves Anyka's enemy? That they, too, would face her wrath?

A pair of riders on horseback galloped past the front of the castle. Beatryce and her new friend from Willow Hall, Merylynn. How did Bea think that friendship was still acceptable? That girl was a commoner.

The trolls, who should be entering Dearth's gates in a matter of hours, could not arrive soon enough.

Anyka yanked the curtains across the windows and left her room. Her fist was clenched tight around one of the slips of paper that had been distributed over the kingdom last night. She kept to the shadows as she marched through the hall and down to Hawke's quarters. Once there, she pounded on the door. "Hawke."

Clary answered. "Good morning, my—"

Anyka shoved past her. "There's nothing good about it. Hawke. Hawke ." She strode into his bedroom.

A soft grunt answered her. He was still in bed, his curtains drawn so that the room was dark.

She went to the nearest window and yanked the fabric away, letting in a brilliant stream of light. "Look at this."

He squinted and turned away, shielding his eyes with his forearm. "What the devil is that?"

" Sun ." Anyka spat out the word like it was a sour piece of fruit.

"Sun? In Malveaux?" He scratched at the shadowy stubble dusting his cheeks, the look of confusion on his face soon replaced by one of annoyance. "Close that. It's making my head hurt."

She left the curtains open and took a few steps toward him. "How do you think I feel?" She pointed toward the village. "My subjects are dancing in the streets, cheering this wretchedness. Cheering ."

"How did you lift the curse without Lady Cynzia's grimoire?"

" I didn't do this. Sparrow did. Which means that book has not been destroyed." Amongst other things.

He pushed up onto one arm, causing the covers to fall away. He was shirtless, his shoulder still bound where the dagger had gone in. The skin beneath looked a little red. "Your highness, you can't expect the people to be unhappy about this. How many years has Malveaux suffered in the gloom? The citizens of the kingdom have prayed for this day."

She screeched in frustration. "I know that! But the problem you don't seem to understand is that Queen Sparrow is the one behind this." She threw the crumpled-up paper at him. "That's why she sent those notes. To make sure my people knew what she had done for them. She is evil and manipulative. Mark my words, she means to overthrow me."

He had the gall to smirk. "Isn't that what you plan to do to her?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours, always, my lady. But I think you give her too much credit. I'm sure she thinks she's done something wonderful for you and them. I doubt she has any plans to overthrow you," he hastily added. "She can barely run her own kingdom, let alone yours, too."

Anyka took a breath. "Maybe. But the people will wonder why I wasn't the one to lift the curse. They will doubt my power." The idea left a bitter taste on her tongue. She slumped into a chair near the fireplace. Sparrow had ruined everything. That stupid, stupid woman. Anyka shook her head, her eyes downward. "They will see Sparrow as their deliverer."

Hawke sat up, grabbed his robe from the end of the bed, and pulled it on. "Not if you use this to your advantage."

She looked up, unsure what he meant. Had she missed something? It wasn't her fault. She was distraught. "How do you think that's possible?"

He sat on the end of the bed, facing her. "Tell your people that you gave Queen Sparrow Lady Cynzia's grimoire so that this spell could be accomplished. Say you gave her your permission to do it."

Anyka's lip curled. He was a fool. "Why wouldn't I have kept the book and done it myself?"

"Hmm." He thought a moment. "Because…the spell to remove the curse could only be done by a Radiant. That's how it was written. Blame Lady Cynzia. Say she was a traitor. Part of the reason she was sent to Tenebrae."

Anyka frowned. "So then Queen Sparrow has done me a favor? That makes me beholden to her."

"Does that matter?"

"Yes!"

He took a deep breath. "Could you say she begged to be able to do this for you? That she promised if you would allow her to serve you in this way, she would never do harm to Malveaux?" He stood up, nodding as he continued to speak. "Then, when she does something, you can call her out as a liar."

"It's weak." She blew air through her nostrils. "But I have nothing else."

"The people are going to be so preoccupied with the sun they won't care what the reason is."

"Maybe. What if she doesn't do anything else? What if that's it?"

He laughed. "My beautiful queen, if you want Sparrow to be your villain, it doesn't matter what she actually does. All that matters is what the people believe."

Anyka sat a little straighter. "I could make her the villain."

"Yes, that is exactly right. Think about it. What if this amazing gift of her lifting the curse was really Sparrow's way of doing something terrible to the people of Malveaux?"

"Like what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. What could she have done? What's something that might not happen immediately, something that would take a few days to see the signs of? An invasion requires too much work and too many troops in uniforms we don't possess." He ran his hand through his hair. "There must be something."

"There is." Anyka stood, ideas whirling through her mind. "I need to talk to Nazyr. Get yourself ready and you may join me for breakfast. You can help me write my letter to the people. I'll have it sent out across the kingdom, explaining how the lifting of the curse came about. Then, in a few days, they'll see what Sparrow has really done to them."

She strode out, going straight to Nazyr's quarters. He bowed after opening the door, awake and dressed, unlike Hawke. "Good morning, my lady. What an unexpected pleasure."

"Have you seen what's going on outside?"

He glanced over his shoulder. The small table in front of his windows was set with a teapot, cup and saucer, a loaf of seeded bread, plus pots of butter and jam. "You mean the sun? Isn't it glorious?"

"Yes, of course I mean the sun. And no, it isn't glorious, it's terrible." She came in. "This was Sparrow's doing. You do know that, don't you?"

He nodded, his smile disappearing. "I assumed as much."

"Did you see the Wyvern flying over the city last night?

"No. I went to bed early, I'm afraid. Still not quite myself, and Grylan and I have been working long hours. I was tired."

"Yes, well, they flew over the entire kingdom, doing Sparrow's bidding and raining these down upon us." She pulled another of the notes from her pocket and thrust it at him.

He read it, nodding. "I see." He frowned, looking toward the windows again. "I didn't know." He shook his head. "This is my fault. I should have worked harder to get Lady Cynzia's grimoire back from her. I know that's how she managed this. There's no other explanation."

"It's exactly how Sparrow did this, but you can't blame yourself. What happened, happened."

His eyes widened slightly. "Thank you, my lady."

"What you can do now is help me turn this to my advantage."

"Anything. Whatever I can do, just tell me. I will push everything else aside until it's accomplished."

Anyka smiled. It was good to know she could count on Nazyr. She explained to him about Hawke's idea, how she could frame Sparrow's actions to set everything in place. "What do you think of that?"

"I think it should work. Hawke is right that the people will be so distracted that they won't scrutinize anything you tell them, they'll just be happy for what's happened. But I'm not sure where I come in."

"You're the second phase of my plan." She patted her hands together. "What I want is some kind of disease. Something that will only take out the weak, those who are already sickly, that sort of thing. And you must have a way of safeguarding me and those of my choosing, as well as an antidote ready to go. One I can take credit for."

Nazyr nodded. "Something that seems as if it was brought in along with Queen Sparrow's miraculous gift?"

She laughed. "You understand me, Nazyr." She walked to his table and helped herself to the piece of bread on his plate, already buttered and spread with jam. She took a bite, wishing the jam was blackberry and not pear. "This has to work. I don't want to lose too many citizens. Just enough to terrify them. Make them see what a threat Sparrow is."

"I am sure we can accomplish that."

"See that you do. I want it by tomorrow morning, if not sooner."

"That's not much time, my lady."

"Then you'd best get to work."

"Might you permit me to have Grylan's help with this?"

"Yes, that's fine. Not a word of this to anyone, though. You understand me? I like you, Nazyr. Don't make me cut out your tongue."

His eyes went wide again. "I would never betray you, my lady. Not a word to anyone but Grylan."

She took another bite of jam and bread, looking out the windows again. At the villagers dancing.

Sparrow had no idea that in a few short days, she was about to be the most hated woman in the realm. The Wyvern would rue the day they'd agreed to help her. They'd be complicit in this tragedy as well. The animosity against them and the Radiant would be epic.

Anyka smiled. She'd never been happier.