Darrow rolled his eyes. “I already know what your help means for her.”
Standing again, I added, “Sir, Kestra is a danger to herself, and certainly is at risk of endangering all of Antora. Help us to help her, that’s all we ask.”
“Tell me how killing my daughter will help her.”
“Tell us how ignoring the truth about Kestra will help Antora,” Gabe countered.
“Are you certain that she is still in the throne room?” Trina asked. “What does it mean that everything has become so quiet?”
I took one cautious step forward. “Darrow, take me to her. You know enough of my feelings that if there is any way to save Kestra, I will.”
“You’re too late.” Harlyn ran toward us from deeper inside the palace. A long cut was on her right arm, her dress was torn in several places, and her face and hands were dirty.
My heart stopped. “What do you mean we’re too late? Is she—”
Harlyn shook her head. “No, she’s alive, and she completed her quest—Endrick is dead. But I think it’s only made things worse. She assumed all his powers, and she holds the Olden Blade!”
I took her hands in mine. “Are you all right? What happened?”
Harlyn drew in a deep breath before speaking. “Before she killed him, he forced her to her knees. He did something to her there, corrupting her further, I think. All I do know is that Kestra is Endrick now, in power and demeanor, and in the way she thinks.”
“With her magic, and with the half-lives, she should have been on equal ground to fight him,” Darrow said. “How did he get her to her knees like that?”
Harlyn opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
From behind me, Trina said, “Are we going to sit here and discuss this, or do something? Every minute we waste is a minute she better understands what she has absorbed from Endrick.”
I turned to Darrow. “Surely you see what is happening. Take me to her, please.”
After a quick glare at Trina, he looked again at me. “The first time I saw all of you was on the road headed to Woodcourt. Kestra’s life never was easy, but you Coracks made a fine mess of what little she did have. You destroyed the family she had known, made her hated in every region of the country, gave her magic—knowing what it would do to her—and now you wish to punish her for what you did! Kestra is my daughter. I gave my life to her service, the only way I could remain close to her, and just when she was getting old enough that I could have told her the truth, you took me from her too.” Darrow shook his head. “You have ruined her life. I’ll take you to her, Simon, no one else. But if you make a single move to harm her, I swear that I will strike you down first.”
“You cannot go,” Trina said. I began to object but she added, “You’re a king. You have responsibilities to your people.”
“You won’t have the right judgment around her—even you admit that,” Gabe said.
“I’ll go,” Harlyn said.
“No!”
“Simon, listen to me! When I was in the throne room with Kestra, there was a point when she could have killed me, but she didn’t. I don’t think she’ll kill me now either.”
“None of us should go in that room without a plan to stop her.” Gabe quickly added, “Without harming her, of course.”
His tone sounded sincere, but I knew otherwise. Gabe had only said that because Darrow was listening.
Harlyn said, “The hand she fights with is injured. If I can get close to her, I can steal the Olden Blade. Then at least we have something to bargain with.”
Or the means to kill her. I was thinking it, and I knew the same was true for every one of us in this circle.
“If Kestra already saved Harlyn once, she might not see Harlyn as a threat,” Trina said. “I say that we should let her go with Darrow.”
It wasn’t a good idea, but it was the best idea we had, so reluctantly, I nodded. Harlyn gave me a smile of confidence, then followed Darrow down a long hallway.
“Now what?” Gabe asked.
“Let’s rejoin the others and figure out what to do next,” Trina said.
Only then did I realize that we had not been alone for our conversation, though I couldn’t say how long Joth had been standing at the entrance to the palace. He announced himself with a mocking laugh, then said, “Rejoin the rest of your petty Alliance at your own risk.” Joth strode into the palace through the main doors as casually as if this was his country to rule. “With Endrick dead, it’s chaos out there.”