Malik gave another shake of his head. “That’s her sister. Millie couldn’t do it. Didn’t matter that Penellaphe was never supposed to know about her.”
“And you? You stopped believing in what Cora said.”
“I…I just couldn’t do it. And by the time she was old enough that I no longer saw her as a child, they sent her to Masadonia,” he said, his eyes thin slits. “And by the end, I’d heard of the Dark One. You. And I figured…”
I tensed. “You figured what?”
“That you would kill her to get back at the Blood Queen.”
Cursing under my breath, I looked away. There was a brief time when I would’ve done just that. Before I met Poppy. When I knew her only as the Maiden. Those brief moments, though, fucked with my head, even now.
I dragged a hand over my face. I still didn’t know if Malik having a change of heart mattered. Or if it ever would. I knelt once more. “Do you or do you not want to defeat Isbeth and the Blood Crown?”
Malik’s eyes hardened into chips of amber. “I want to see them burn.”
“What about Millicent?” I asked.
“She wants the same.” His gaze fell to where Poppy slept and then returned to mine. “She wants to be free of her mother. To finally be able to live.”
“If that’s what you really want, you won’t run back to the capital and get yourself killed. You’ll fight beside us. You’ll help us find Malec and then kill Isbeth. You will help us end this.”
“I will help you,” Malik said. “I won’t try to escape.”
I took that in, wanting to believe what he claimed as badly as he wanted to believe what I said about Poppy. Problem was, that faith wasn’t gained by words. Faith was earned by actions. “There’s something else I need to know about that night in Lockswood. What in the hell was up with that rhyme?”
“What?” He frowned. “What rhyme?”
“The pretty poppy one. Pick it and watch it bleed.” I searched his features.
“If that’s a rhyme, it sounds about five levels of fucked up,” Malik said. “But I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never even heard anything like that.”
The battlements of the Rise surrounding Padonia came into view as we crested the rocky hill the following morning. Anticipation and resolve rose swiftly, as did a bit of awe. The Wisteria Woods I’d seen the night before now crowded the earthen road and the city of Padonia itself, their trailing limbs of varying shades of blue and purple giving way to the deep crimson of the outer edges of the Blood Forest.
Poppy was clearly taken with the beauty, her gaze crawling over every inch of the landscape. I hoped it helped her forget that we’d passed the road to Lockswood no more than an hour ago. Her shoulders hadn’t relaxed until the wisterias became more visible. Still, she’d been quiet most of the morning.
Shifting in the saddle, I glanced over at Malik. Between our conversation last night and the upcoming reunion with our father, I was caught up in my head and hoping to the gods that I wasn’t making a huge-ass mistake by removing the bone chain from his wrists and allowing him to ride freely.
I just hadn’t wanted our armies’ first sight of their Prince to be one of him in chains.
Poppy folded a hand over the arm I’d encircled her waist with as she turned to the side, looking up. “Are you okay?”
“Not sure,” I admitted, glancing down at her. “Been thinking about what I’m going to say to my father.”
“What have you come up with?”
“Nothing that’s suitable for repeating,” I said with a dry laugh.
She glanced forward as the bridge over the River of Rhain became visible through the twining vines of bluish-purple. “We can delay this if you need more time.”
“We don’t need to do that.” I kissed the top of her head. “It’s best if I get this over with.”
The tops of many of the tents became visible, and it looked as if the bulk of the armies had camped outside the Rise. A risky move, but one that had most likely been decided in favor of not destroying the fields inside.
From the town, a low, rumbling roar gained our attention. I slowed the horse as Kieran stopped alongside us, the sound of hooves and paws reaching our ears. “We’re about to have company.” I squeezed her hips and then dismounted. I reached for her, and she placed her hand in mine without question or hesitation. The horse we rode was only now getting used to Kieran in his wolven form, and I had a feeling we were about to be swamped by many more. I didn’t want him throwing Poppy.