Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Ayla stared at the stone bars of our prison, her lips parted in surprise, anger, disgust—it was hard to pick one emotion on her face. Cade was seething. Rutley and Elodia were still catching their breaths.
And me…I was furious.
"Why the hell did you give him your stone?" I snapped.
Ayla's head spun toward me. "Excuse me?"
"You could have lit it up and blasted him into oblivion," I said, waving my hand.
She came to her feet. "I tried, you insufferable moron. But it doesn't just come on when I want it to." She shook her head. "It hasn't done anything since Eoghan tried to kill me, in case you didn't know."
"Well, maybe we should try to kill you and see what it does," Elodia muttered.
"The most important thing was keeping that stone in your possession," I seethed. "And you just gave it away like it wasn't a six-week journey to find the damn thing."
"I gave it away because you were dying," she said. "What did you expect me to do? Let him kill the lot of you?"
"Yes."
"Hey…" Rutley began, but I held up my hand to silence him.
"Our lives don't matter, Ayla. Yours does. You hanging onto that stone is the most important thing. Especially now that Eoghan…" I didn't even want to say the words. All this time, all this work, and he'd managed to outsmart us yet again. And he had a head start on looking for the third stone, too. "This was a disaster from the moment you left Pennlan."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't even start with the I told you sos."
"And if you'd listened to me, you'd be safely back in the castle, the stone wouldn't be in the troll's hands, and—"
"And Eoghan would still have their stone and you'd still be in danger," Ayla barked at me.
"Got you there, boss," Elodia muttered under her breath.
"We don't have time to argue," Rutley said. "What we know is that the king has the stone, Riona, and potentially we're looking at that evil wizard showing back up."
"And they're going to war against the Erlking," Cade said.
"Do they have a chance?" I asked.
"I don't know," Cade whispered. "Aldrick is strong, but he's the only one. There aren't a lot of training matches happening these days. No army to speak of. And I don't know… Riona's powerful when she wants to be. An army of Rionas… I don't know if the fae realm has a chance. Especially because I doubt the Erlking would see it coming."
"We have to get out of here," I said. "Cade, any luck with your magic?"
He shook his head.
"Rutley, Elodia, any ideas?"
Elodia inspected the stone bars closely. "They're solid, boss. I'm sure you need some troll magic to open them."
I ran my hand over my face. "And I don't think any of us have any weapons. Edric stripped us of everything."
Ayla gasped and her hand went to her skirts. To my surprise, she lifted them, almost to the point of indecency, and revealed a small knife. The one I'd given her on our journey after we'd come across the wolves—I'd completely forgotten about it.
"Can you do anything with this?" she asked, handing it to Elodia.
"I can try."
Elodia took the weapon and began chipping at the stone. It was probably hopeless, but it was something. Cade rose to stand next to her, his staff pointed at the stone as he struggled to conjure. Ayla watched him go with a sad sort of stare before those piercing green eyes turned to me.
"Look, Ward," Ayla began quietly. "I'm… I'm sorry. Sorry for everything. All I wanted was… I was trying to do the right thing for Pennlan. But…" She shook her head sadly. "I guess I still have no idea what that is." She gave me a furtive look. "You were right. I had no business leaving Pennlan. And I'm sorry… I'm sorry I've just made a mess of things. I was desperate to find answers."
I glanced at her. "Your stone really hasn't worked since Eoghan? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because admitting it would make it real," she said. "I didn't even tell Captain Gabhann."
I didn't quite understand that logic. "You shouldn't keep secrets from your captain. Especially about stuff like that."
"I've done… I've been doing a lot of avoiding the truth lately." She met my gaze again.
Elodia let out a curse. The knife handle had broken off the blade. "Well, anyone else got anything hidden under their skirts?"
"Uh…" Cade pointed to the bars. "What's happening?"
The stone melted away until the bars were completely gone. Movement in the shadows put me on my guard, until I recognized the long, silvery hair—and that his arms were laden with our weapons.
"Lynton!" I cried, jumping to my feet. "You're okay. Are you all right? Do you have your memories back?"
"Edric's magic isn't as potent as it used to be," he said with a rueful smile. "Giving away the stone was a mistake."
"He has the Pennlan stone now," Ayla said. "And my…" She straightened. "My sister. He's making a potion with her blood."
Lynton nodded. "He has made several vials and is already bringing the villagers in to take it. I don't know where he's keeping her, though."
"If you'll give me my magic back, I can find her," Cade said.
"I would if I could," the troll replied with a grimace. "But your binding comes from Avram and the king."
"Then we take them out, and you'll get it back," I said, standing.
"Don't kill Edric," Lynton said, his eyes flashing at me. "I don't have any love for the king, but it's his magic that keeps this mountain from collapsing. If you kill him, it will be the death of every troll in this city." His golden eyes met mine. "They're innocent."
"You have magic. Can't you hold up the mountain?" I asked.
"I'm not as powerful as my cousin," he said. "I'd prefer not to test my own abilities if we can."
"Fine." I turned to the group, feeling like it was yet again up to me to come up with a plan. "Our priorities are getting Riona to safety and getting the stone back. Cade, go with Elodia and Rutley. Your magic may not be working, but your staff will leave a bruise if you swing it hard enough."
"Right, and they'll just put us back here in this prison," Cade drawled. "Or worse."
"Then don't let them put you back in prison," I said, as if that were the obvious answer. "Lynton, you're with me. We need to find Edric and get the stone back."
"What about me?" Ayla asked.
"You stay here. Out of sight, out of trouble." I turned to the others. "That goes for all of you. We're outmatched here, and we need to be clever. They'll underestimate us, and that's where we take our advantage." I nodded. "Now go."
Cade and the soldiers jumped to their feet, grabbing their weapons before running out.
Ayla watched them go with a worried sort of look before turning to me.
"I'm not staying."
I looked at the ceiling, inhaling a little. "Ayla."
"If you get the stone back, it needs to come to me," she said. "I'm the only one who can use it."
"And you just admitted—"
"Maybe it'll come to life," she snapped. "But me staying here isn't going to help anyone. At least…" She swallowed. "If I'm with you, I have a chance of doing something useful."
"Time is of the essence," Lynton drawled. "The longer we wait—"
"Fine." I didn't like the idea. "Let's go."
⤖⤖⤖⤖
We climbed the stairs, Ayla keeping pace with us, but staying behind Lynton and myself. My mind swirled with options, hoping inspiration would come to me in the heat of the moment. Praying the others wouldn't get tripped up. And wishing my queen had stayed behind where it was safe.
"Lynton," Ayla said softly. "Did you know that Edric had given away the stone?"
"No. Not until… Not until I came back. That was his design. I could tell you he'd taken it, not that he'd lost it."
"They're tricky, the fae," I said. "When they want to be."
"I just don't understand," she whispered. "He showed us his stone when we first got here."
"He showed us a stone," I reminded her. "That you vociferously admitted was the real one."
She glowered, muttering to herself. "Foolish, stupid girl."
“Shh,” I whispered, hearing voices ahead.
I motioned for us to flatten ourselves against the wall. Five trolls came walking by wearing whole-body armor, the same they'd worn in the vision from the aos sí. They carried no other weapons, but perhaps they felt they didn't need any with Riona's magic pumping through their veins.
When they were gone, we continued.
“I apologize for my part in this,” Lynton said. “I had one…one goal in mind.”
“Your daughter?” I asked.
He nodded. “All I care about is keeping her safe. That’s why—“
A loud groaning stopped him, and Ayla grabbed my arm as the room spun and the three of us wobbled. When we stopped, what had once been a landing had turned into another prison.
"I guess Edric knows we're out," I said, craning my neck. "Lynton, can you get us out of here?"
He walked to the wall and pressed his hands against it, closing his eyes. The stone rippled then calmed without moving. "He's more powerful than I am."
"You said all you care about is keeping your daughter safe, right?” Ayla said softly. "And she's out there? Part of Edric's army?"
Lynton nodded.
"When you use your magic," she said, "think of your daughter. Think of what it will feel like to lose her."
He stared at her for a moment, and I almost felt like pulling Ayla away from the intensity of his stare. But after a moment, he returned to the wall and closed his eyes, furrowing his brow.
The stone rippled again and groaned as it moved. I held onto Ayla's arm as we both nearly lost our balance, but soon the movement stopped—and we had a path out of the landing.
"Let's go," Lynton said, his face a mask of fury.
"What was that?" I whispered to Ayla.
"Eoghan would… He said emotion is part of magical intensity," she said softly. "I used to sit in on lessons with Cade. I thought it might be worth a shot."
"If—when you get the stone back," I said, "maybe listen to your own advice."
"I've tried," she said. "But even when Edric was about to crush you, I couldn't make it work. Not even when we were in the cave." She shook her head. "No matter how desperately I wanted to."
I reached down and grasped her hand. "We'll figure it out. Together."
"So you're un-resigning?" she asked, hopefully.
I snorted. "I'll think about it."