Danielle’s Comments (group member since May 19, 2014)

Danielle’s comments from the Danielle L. Jensen's Reader Group group.

Lindsay wrote: "As a second note...I'm not sure Roland is a villain. I don't feel like I know enough about him to decide if he's calculating our just crazy or both. I think he's a tool for the greater villains to ..."

Roland is a very interesting character, because he *IS* insane, which makes him very unpredictable.

Lindsay wrote: "I have a love/hate relationship with cliff hangers. I love them because they keep me excited about the next book and I hate them because of the obvious unresolved issue at hand that plagues me unti..."

Hi Lindsay,
Yessss! When a series I love ends, I feel so sad :(

Adriyanna wrote: "1. I both love and hate cliffhangers. Ultimately it depends on the book. A book can have a cliffhanger, but if it takes away from that "I feel satisfied with the ending", then the author made a mis..."

Hi Adriyanna,
The ending of ACOTAR really has me eager to read the next instalment. I'd say it's the novel I'm most looking forward to this year.

Desi wrote: "1. I love and hate cliffhanger ending. I hate because the ending is killing me but its also the one that makes me want to read the next books. If there's no cliffhanger I don't think I want to read..."

Hi Desi!
Well I'm sorry you had to deal with a cheating boy, but I'm glad to hear you got rid of him and put the blame where it was deserved!
The King is a pretty complex guy! Revealing more of his backstory in Warrior Witch was one of my favourite parts :)

Lillian wrote: "1.) As a bookworm, I'm surprisingly okay with cliffhangers. If I encounter a giant cliffhanger at the end of a good book, I will be disappointed, and it will be on my mind a lot. But I usually dist..."

Hi Lillian,
I think that's a pretty good theory on why readers over look the mistakes of the hero/love interest.

I also am not a big fan of Tristan blackmailing the half-bloods, which is funny, because I'm the one who made him do it! Such a perfect example of an author making a character do rotten things for the sake of developing a plot :)

Makenna wrote: "#1 I really like cliffhangers, but only if I don't have to wait long for the next book.

#2 I think I would have stayed. I know it would be hard, but I think my love for him would win over and also..."

Finally! Someone who loves cliffhangers :D

Robandbecky wrote: "Oh my goodness! Cliffhangers drive me nuts! Especially when I know I won't find out what happens for another year! Of course it's just my luck that I'm attracted to series in progress! Left Behind,..."

I can tell you with great confidence that Warrior Witch does NOT have a cliffhanger ending :) You will finally have some resolution.

Melissa wrote: "1. I.... have a love/hate relationship with cliffies. Most of the times I love them despite breaking my heart into a million pieces. But when an ending is forced into a cliffy, I feel like going in..."

WHATTTTT?! You wouldn't have stayed with your one true love? Who are you, and what have you done with Melissa?
JOKING, of course :)
Yes, Tristan's inability to trust is the root of many of his mistakes, but I feel he makes long strides in the series to improve that particular character flaw :)

Perla wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Here are the discussion questions! You can answer as many or as few as you want, and you can also pose questions about these chapters to me!

TO UNLOCK EXTRA CONTENT #11 I need 20 ..."

Hi Perla,
I also like your first answer better :) One of the reasons I brought this topic up was that I so very rarely see criticism of Tristan's errors (with the exception of those related to the romance plot line), and I wanted to highlight that he does make them.

I love Tristan to death, but I do consider his bad decisions/mistakes worse, because they are so calculated. In the instance of him blackmailing the half-bloods, he knew with certainty that many of them would be injured or killed, but he wanted to keep control of the situation. Certainly people get hurt as a result of the choices Cécile makes, but they are almost always unintended consequences. For me, intentions are really important.

Kelsea wrote: "1 - I have to say I am very torn about cliff hanger endings. I read a series that had some serious cliff hanger endings (the air awaken series) but as much as I hated not knowing I also loved the t..."

Hi Kelsea!
One of the (many) great things about Elise is that she writes INSANELY fast, so you don't have to wait too long to find out what happens next :D

Brittani wrote: "1. I have mixed feelings about cliffhangers. I used to HATE them, to the point where I would just refuse to read the book until the sequel was released (I may or may not read the endings first). No..."

Hi Brittani,
I'm inclined to agree with your opinion about it being internalized misogyny, which is troublesome. I see over and over again (and not just with my books) readers accusing female protagonists of being special snowflakes, but then hating on them when they do make mistakes, whereas I RARELY see the same criticism directed at male characters. Now I'm not saying that it isn't okay to dislike the trope of "The Special", but I think it is important for readers to be mindful that it isn't just "The Special GIRL" that they have a problem with.

Suzume wrote: "Well i'm not a big fan of cliffhanger endings but that doesn't mean i don't read them,i make sure when there's one the serie is finished so it won't bother me but will make me want to read the next..."

Hi Suzume!
That is definitely the benefit of waiting to start a series until after it is finished!

Sabrina wrote: "I will answer the first question, even though it's actually a hard one, and the second one! I can't choose

1. How do you feel about cliffhanger endings?

It's actually a hard question. I both hate..."

Hi Sabrina,
I'm really close with my family, so... I probably wouldn't have made the same choice as Cécile, either. That said, I think in the back of her mind she's confident it won't be forever. She truly believes that Tristan will triumph over his father – always the optimist :)

Pili wrote: "1.- Cliffhangers tend to kill me if I'm really involved in the book... so I usually wail and pout and scream and give the side eye to the book & author... and if possible I commiserate with friends..."

Hi Pili,
I'm also guilty of waiting to start a series until at least the second book is out if I hear it has a cliffhanger ending. I also do this sometimes for more complex fantasy novels, because I tend to forget the details of what happens. Especially in the adult fantasy market, where authors often have many years between releases.

Aneesa wrote: "Okay since I can't answer the other questions since I have not read the book which is on my tbr, I will just answer the first question :(

Cliffhangers is something I hate and love at the same time..."

Hi Aneesa,
I also hate standalone novels with unresolved endings. I was talking about this the other day with an author friend, and I was complaining about how much I dislike books like The Giver for that reason. I need resolution!

Fun Facts!!!

Chapter 30 – When I was originally writing Stolen Songbird, trolls could get drunk if they consumed enough. But it occurred to me (duh) that if they couldn’t be poisoned (by anything other than iron), then they most certainly wouldn’t be affected by alcohol. I caught most of the references to troll drunkenness, but there is one that I missed, and every time I read it, I’m like %%$**.
Chapter 31 – The horseman in this scene shows up in Warrior Witch. His name is Lord Lachance, and only you read-along people will know that he made an appearance in Stolen Songbird.
Chapter 32 –Tristan and Cécile originally did the deed at the end of this chapter. Why did I change that? Well, I actually answered that question for Perla back when Stolen Songbird first came out. This is what I said:
The first is a matter of writing technique and has nothing to do with the characters themselves. When writing a romance of the slow burn variety, a big part of what moves the reader through the pages is the anticipation of certain intimacy milestones. First touch, first kiss, first declaration of affection, first make out scene, first sex scene. As an author, I want to hold out on giving up those moments as long as I can, but not so long that it frustrates the reader and seems annoying and contrived. I want the reader to be mentally screaming KISS HER and then fist pumping the air when it happens, but I have to be careful not to push it into the territory where the reader is eye-rolling at the fact they seem incapable of getting past first base. Finding a balance can be tough, especially since different readers have different tastes.

Reason two has to do with the characters and the plot. The series of events that occur after our two lovebirds confess their feelings in the labyrinth actually happen pretty quickly. I don’t have my notes with me, but I’m pretty sure the rest of the book takes place over the space of only three days. Which is a pretty short amount of time to go from an almost first kiss (darn Sluag interruptions!) to having sex, especially given that neither of them is overly experienced in that department. That said, there are two moments when it could have been expected to occur. The first was on the lake. You will recall that Cécile was pretty keen on the idea, but Tristan put on the brakes. The reason he gives her is the consequences of having a child, but the bigger reason is that he’s still not convinced that Cécile really wants to stay with him in Trollus, because she’s never been given the choice. He gets that certainty the following day when he sneaks her out of the city, and that results in the second moment when they potentially could have consummated their relationship. And I thought about. I wrote the scene with them doing it and then again being interrupted, which is ultimately the choice I went with. Why, you ask? See reason 1. I wanted readers to go into Hidden Huntress not just with the anticipation of how and when the two would get back together, but also how and when they’d finally reach that intimacy milestone.
Chapter 33 – The real reason for the mountain breaking is the same as the suspected reason for the rockslide that inspired Forsaken Mountain. Also, Forsaken Mountain was originally called Broken Mountain. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions on why that got changed.
Chapter 34 – Roland doesn’t actually dislike his brother. You will get more details on that in Warrior Witch.
Chapter 35 – Originally, the injury necessitating Cécile’s escape from Trollus was the one she got when she was running for cover from the earthquake. It turned septic. But that didn’t fit the timeframe (I wanted the pace very quick at this point), thus I created the events of chapter 34.
Chapter 36 – Gah, this chapter. It’s not Tristan’s finest moment, because what he’s giving freedom in exchange for their freedom. With the stone tree, they won’t *need* the magic of full-bloods to keep them safe, but by giving him their names, they are giving up their free will.
Chapter 37 – This used to be the last chapter of the novel, but we decided that was TOO much of a cliffhanger, so I added a chapter that showed Cécile had survived.
Chapter 38 – When I write letters in novels, I almost always include only the first part. I don’t know why… Also, the last line of this chapter is one of my favorite in the book.

Chapter 30
Cécile finds Chris in the market, and they discuss her family. They still have not given up hope and her brother blames himself for Cécile disappearance. Her mother is offering a substantial reward for her return, and Chris suggests that she might have the means to purchase Cécile’s freedom from the trolls. She refuses because she loves Tristan and she will not leave him. Chris is horrified, and refuses to believe her when she tries to convince him that Tristan isn’t the horrible monster Chris believes him to be.
Chris takes her hand, pleading with her to reconsider as he believes Trollus is draining the life from her. Tristan comes over in a jealous rage. Their argument turns into a fistfight, and he almost kills Chris. He stops only when Cécile tells him she will never forgive him if he hurts Chris. Once the fight is over, Tristan storms off. Cécile finds him in a tavern, and he tells her that Chris is right. That she belongs outside in the sun. She pleads with him to reconsider, but he sends her away. She lingers outside, and overhears him order the tavern keeper to deliver a message to Anaïs, provoking Cécile’s residual jealousy of the other girl.

Cécile wanders around the streets until she comes to Pierre’s door. He lets her in and they talk about the fight between Tristan and Chris, and Pierre admits that it is never a fair fight between trolls and humans, because trolls have strength from another world. She asks him what he’d do if he were free of the curse, and his peaceful answer gives Cécile hope. Then Tristan arrives and tells her that she must come with him now.

Chapter 31
Cécile asks Tristan where he’s taking her, and he tells her the River Road. She argues that the guards won’t let her pass, and he cryptically responds that they’ll let Anaïs by. He takes her to the home of a half-blood where Anaïs is waiting. With the help of magic and a wig, they disguise themselves as each other, and once the transformation is complete, Tristan takes Cécile to the River Road.
Tristan doesn’t want to let her go. But he needs to know that she’s chosen to stay because she wants to be with him, not because she’s never been given the choice. Cécile tries to persuade him that he is wrong. She loves him and she wants to be with him. But Tristan tells her that she needs to go outside, to remember what she’s giving up, and then make the choice.

She crosses the invisible barrier of the curse, walking onto the beach and into the water. She thinks about what she’d be giving up if she remained with Tristan, but also what life would be like without him. She imagines a life where she moved on and married someone else like Chris, but she can’t stand the idea of it. She also reflects on her life in Trollus. She has made so many friends and she doesn’t want to leave the half-bloods she promised to help. She looks back toward the invisible entrance where Tristan is standing, and in that moment she makes her choice.

Chapter 32
Cécile steps back through the barrier. She chooses Tristan over a life in the human world. She feels Tristan’s relief, happiness, and love. They kiss and get caught up in the moment, until they are interrupted by a guard. As they make their way up the River Road, they see Anaïs, disguised as Cécile, is waiting for them at the gates to the city. At the sight of them, she disposes of the disguise, clearly angry, and suddenly Cécile is thrown from her feet. At first, she thinks Anaïs has knocked her down. But it’s an earthquake.

Tristan protects her with his magic, but when a boulder falls into the middle of the city, he leaves to go support the tree and save others. He asks Anaïs to protect Cécile and take her back to the palace. Cécile falls and cuts her knee on the way back. Once they are safely inside, Anaïs helps her stitch up her wound. Anaïs admits her feelings for Tristan, but tells Cécile that even if she’d chosen not to come back to Trollus, it would never have happened between the two of them. She explains that she can never be with anyone because she is a carrier of the blood disease that killed her sister, Pénélope. Victoria comes in then and offers to keep Cécile safe while Anaïs goes to help some trapped miners.
Victoria dozes off and Cécile takes out the grimoire to see if she can find a healing spell. Giving up, she goes to the kitchen with Victoria hoping that she can find some herbs to clean her injury. They can’t find what she’s looking for, so Cécile decides to try to use a spell to extract the information from Élise’s mind, believing there might be a chance it will work as the girl is half human. The spell works. Victoria knows that Cécile is lying about how she knew where to find the herbs. Cécile tells her friend her secret, and Victoria promises not to reveal it to anyone.

Chapter 33
The day after the earthquake, Cécile goes to the library to do more research. Although she cannot heal herself she learns more about the difference between witch magic and troll magic. Cécile puts the information together, and realizes that Anushka didn’t break the mountain. Such magic isn’t possible for a witch.

Just then, Élise comes in upset. Tips was helping another gang meet quota when the tunnel they were in collapsed. He didn’t die, but his leg was completely crushed. Since he will be of no use to the guild anymore he will likely be sent into the labyrinth. Cécile believes she can save his life with her magic, but doing so would put her own life at risk, as the trolls would learn she’s a witch. She decides to take the risk and reveals everything to Élise.

Chapter 34
Cécile arrives at Tips’s home and clears the room. She tells him that she plans on amputating the leg and healing his wound. He thinks that he will be useless without his leg, but she convinces him otherwise. Élise arrives after that with the materials needed for the spell. Once Élise has used her magic to block any noise they will make, she amputates his leg and Cécile performs the healing spell. The magic works. The injury looks like it has been healed for years, instead of being a fresh wound. Élise drops the magic barrier. As soon as she does, they hear screams from the street. Roland is out hunting half-bloods.

Cécile goes into the streets to face Roland, hoping he won’t hurt her for the sake of his brother. He twists her arm, driving her to her knees, then tells her that when he’s king, he’ll never make the mistake of bonding someone as weak as her. She tries to make him stop, telling him that Tristan will be here soon and that by hurting her he will also be hurting his brother. But he doesn’t seem to care. Anaïs arrives to stop Roland, but she is too late.

Chapter 35
When Cécile wakes up, she is back in the palace and is in extreme pain. Tristan is by her side and he blames himself for what has happened. She tells him that she needs a doctor. But there are none in Trollus, because the trolls don’t need them.
Tristan says all she needs is rest. But she knows she is dying, and the bonding marks on his hand prove it. He promises to go out and find a human who can help her. Anaïs comes in to watch over Cécile, and together they try to come up with a way to keep Tristan alive if Cécile succumbs to her injuries.
Tristan arrives again with Jerome and Chris in tow. They haven’t the skills to help her, but believe her grandmother does. Before Tristan can send for her grandmother, the King walks in and tells them that no one will be bringing another witch into Trollus. Tristan accuses him of having lost his mind, because without help, Cécile will die. But the King does not seem to care. Anaïs pleads with him, reminding him that if Cécile dies, Tristan is likely to as well. The King assures her that he won’t allow that to happen, which eases Cécile’s fear. He orders Tristan not to interfere with the progression of events, then departs.

Once the King leaves, Tristan, Anaïs, and Chris conspire together. When they come to a decision, Tristan tells Cécile the plan. They will smuggle her out of Trollus tonight; and Chris tells her that Tristan will come with them, that they have found a way for him to leave. When Cécile asks how that’s possible, Tristan tells her not to worry: all that matters is that he’d never choose to leave her.

Chapter 36
Tristan goes to a tavern in the Dregs to meet with the half-bloods. Using the plans for the stone tree, he blackmails them into giving him their true names. He tells them he’ll only use them in defense of Cécile. What he doesn’t tell them is that he plans to use them immediately to help free her from Trollus.

Chapter 37
Cécile spends the next hours in a drugged fog waiting for Tristan. But before he returns, the King arrives. Believing he intends to harm her, Anaïs leaves to find Tristan. He tells Cécile that he has no intention of letting her die, and that he has a witch in the city waiting to heal her once Tristan makes his move. She accuses him of manipulating Tristan, but the King argues that he’s training him. He believes that by the time Tristan kills him and takes the crown that he’ll be the man he needs to be to rule Trollus. A messenger arrives and tells the King that the half-bloods are rioting, and he orders that they be contained peaceably. He tells Cécile that Tristan believes her life worth more than those of the half-bloods, and that he is right, because she is the key to their freedom.

Just then, Tristan enters the room and a battle ensues. But just as it appears Tristan has lost, Anaïs arrives. With her help, Tristan subdues the King. But Tristan hesitates to kill his father, and the King takes advantage of the moment. The lights flicker out, and when they brighten again, Tristan is bound by the King’s magic and Anaïs has a sluag spear embedded in her chest.

Cécile tells the King she’s found a way to open Anushka’s grimoire in the hopes Anaïs will hear and know what to do. The other girl tosses her blood, which has been tainted by the steel spear, at the King, and Cecile uses it to bind the King’s magic. The dying Anaïs tells Tristan to kill his father, but he can’t do it, so she tells him to take Cécile and go, that she’ll keep the King restrained. But as they leave, the King has a satisfied smile on his face.
\
They run through the streets and into the labyrinth, but Cécile loses consciousness. She dreams of a land of endless summer, and has a conversation with a golden man who makes a bargain with her. He gives her the name of that which she most desires, with the caution that should she use it, she will be in his debt. When she wakes up, they are at the edge of the rock fall. Tristan whispers how much he loves her and at the last moment she realizes he has deceived her about his ability to leave Trollus. He pushes her through the curse’s barrier, then raises his own so she can’t come back. Chris and his father are on the other side, ready to save her life.

Chapter 38
Three days after she has arrived home, Cécile wakes up. Her grandmother asks her what happened and Cécile tells her everything. She becomes worried when she doesn’t feel Tristan, but when she checks her hand, her bonding marks are still silver. Determined to return to him, she takes a horse and starts to ride toward Trollus, but Chris stops her. He promised Tristan he would not let her go back. He gives her a letter from Tristan that tells her she must never return to Trollus, for only death awaits her there.
Although Cécile cannot go back, she refuses to give up. Instead, she vows to practice her magic, and while she does, she intends to begin her hunt. She doesn’t know where she’ll find Anushka, or what she’ll do when she does. But the one thing she knows for certain is this: the witch must die.

THE END!!!

Here are the discussion questions! You can answer as many or as few as you want, and you can also pose questions about these chapters to me!

TO UNLOCK EXTRA CONTENT #11 I need 20 different people to answer at least one question!

One participant on this thread will win a signed copy of WARRIOR WITCH, courtesy of my publisher, Angry Robot Books

All participants are entitled to one WARRIOR WITCH swag pack. It's not a contest - if you participate and then email me, I will mail you swag. Details here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Don't forget to enter the favourite quote giveaway, which ends TONIGHT! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


1. How do you feel about cliffhanger endings?

2. If you were Cécile, would you have made the choice to stay in Trollus with Tristan if it meant NEVER seeing your friends or family ever again?

3. Instead of just asking for their help, Tristan blackmails the half-bloods into giving him their true names so that he can force them to assist in freeing Cécile from Trollus. Many of them are killed as a result. How did you feel about his decision? Was it a mistake? What would you have done in his situation?

4. I’ve noticed that readers tend to be more forgiving of Tristan’s mistakes than Cécile’s, despite the fact his are more calculated. Why do you think that is?

5. Tell me your thoughts on Roland. Do you consider him a villain, or is he just a threat like the sluag? Why?

6. Just based on what you’ve learned in Stolen Songbird (No insight from Hidden Huntress or Warrior Witch), what do you think the King wants from Tristan? Do you think he cares about him? Do you think the King is smarter than Tristan? How do you feel about the King in general?

2/2


“I’m not…”

She broke off whatever she’d intended to say, and I carefully fastened the necklace around her throat, my fingers fumbling with the clasp. “Most people would have given up a long time ago – just curled up in a corner and waited to die, but you’ve lived every day. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so tenaciously optimistic.” I pushed back her hair so that I could better see her face, and her skin was cool beneath my fingers.

Tell her the truth.

But I was afraid of revealing how I felt and having her walk away. And even more terrified that she’d choose to stay.

The truth, you coward.

Taking a deep breath, I said, “I want you to stay, Cécile, but I’m afraid staying will only bring you misery.”

Silence.

My lungs felt as though they weren’t functioning properly, and my pulse roared in my ears. What would she say? What would she choose? Then she reached out and rested a hand against my shoulder, her nails digging into my coat, and I knew. Could see it in her eyes and feel it in my heart and my mind, and I knew that this was something. To her, and to me. Wrapping my hands around her waist, I pulled her unresisting form toward me, fully intent on kissing her as I’d imagined doing so many times. But a flash of motion behind her caught my attention seconds before my grasp on my magic faltered and my light blinked out.

Sluag.

“Cécile?” I called, knowing she was there but wanting to hear the sound of her voice. Needing that tiny bit more confirmation that she was all right.

But she didn’t answer, and my heart skipped.

“Cécile? Where are you?”

I heard a faint sound, then a cough echoed up the tunnel and she said, “I’m here.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

My relief was tempered by the coolness of her tone. “I’m coming down.”

Coiling a rope of magic around a rock, I used it to brace myself as I slid down the slope, stopping on a narrow ledge. Brightening my light, I leaned over, tension falling away from me in a rush as I caught sight of her.

She sat in a pool of sluag waste, water, and, from the rainbow hue, what I suspected was lamp oil. The ground beneath her glittered with gold – the skeleton floating in the pool the obvious source. Her hair was plastered to her face with slime, and she clutched a knife and what looked like a rock. No, not a rock. A flint. My chest tightened as I realized that if I’d been a moment or two later, all I would’ve found was a charred corpse.

Cécile looked over her shoulder at the open passage behind her, and her disappointment was a punch to my gut. She knew how close she’d come to freedom, and believed me here to stop her. I almost blurted out that I’d help her escape, if that was what she wanted, but then her relief all but smacked the words back in my mouth. I stared at her, trying to understand how she could be both disappointed and relieved at my presence at the same time. Why couldn’t I understand her? Why, given I had more insight into her mind than anyone, was I so confounded by her? “Is it because you’re a human or because you’re a girl?” I demanded.

“Is what because?” she asked.

“Your blasted kaleidoscope of emotion!” I said, my frustration leaking into my voice. “One minute you’re happy, the next you are sad. Then angry. Then ashamed. Every hour I’m forced to run the gamut of every emotion that ever existed and never know the cause of a single one of them.”

She crossed her arms and scowled at me, her pride in no way diminished by her current circumstances. I was half convinced if I gave her another light that she’d carry on her merry way. “I don’t even know whether you want me to rescue you from this mess or to leave you here in the dark.”

“Please,” she snapped. “You aren’t here to rescue me – you’re here to stop my escape. And besides, I don’t need any help from you.”

“Oh?” Stones and sky, she was the most stubborn person I’d ever met. “So I take it you are wallowing around in sluag shit because you enjoy the smell so much? And you thought it would be more entertaining to navigate the labyrinth in the dark? Perhaps,” –I lowered my voice, remembering later than I should have the risks of shouting– “we should stuff your ears with wool and tie one arm behind your back to make it truly entertaining for you!”

She held up her stupid flame-creation tools as though they were the answer to all the world’s problems. “See?”

“Yes, I do see,” I said, furious at myself for putting her in this position and at her for not grasping the danger. “I see a broken lantern that has leaked oil everywhere and a fool of girl about to set off sparks in the midst of it.”

“Then I suppose we should both be glad you finally decided to stop me.”

Her voice dripped with uncharacteristic sarcasm, but it took me a second to grasp her meaning. She believed I’d been content to let her leave, and had come now only because I’d believed her life, and subsequently mine, was in danger. “You think I’m here to save my own skin, don’t you?”

“Why else?” she asked. “Duty?”

The word was a slap to the face that I deserved, and before I could think it through, I said, “To hell with duty. I came for you – I came because I was afraid you weren’t going to make it. I came because I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to you.”

She exhaled softly, her features softening. What strange power the truth possessed, and what a fool was I to never have exercised it before? I lifted her up and set her on the ledge next to me, barely noticing that her sleeves squished beneath my grip as I steadied her.

“It’s Luc.” She gestured below. “My purchase price.”

I scowled. “Then he got what he deserved. The labyrinth always kills the greedy ones eventually.”

“No one deserves this.”

“He lied to you. He stole you from your family. He sold you with no more regard than a trader sells a side of beef.” I balled my hands into fists, wishing that idiot of a boy were still alive so that I could feed him to the sluag all over again. “If any man deserved to die, it was him.”

“And you purchased me, with as much regard as a nobleman buying a side of beef.” Her voice was cool, but she might as well of shouted the words in my face.

“I did not.” If only she knew, if only she understood that I’d done everything I could to keep her from this fate. That I’d agreed to it because otherwise my father would’ve killed her. “I fought this arrangement at every turn. I’ve told you that.”

“He gave you the choice. I was there,” she said. “I heard you agree to me with my own ears. But the whole time, you wanted it to be her, didn’t you?”

I sighed, wiping a hand across my face. Lies had power, too. “Anaïs and I are only friends.”

“Oh.”

“We have never been anything more and we never will be,” I continued, choosing to leave out that I’d kissed that particular friend more than once in years gone by, “but we pretend we are in order to give me the time and privacy I need to meet with my followers.”

“Oh,” she said again. “I thought that maybe before I came that you and her... Did you ever consider it?”

Obviously I’d considered it – I wasn’t blind. “Do you really want to go down that path?”

“No.” She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. “Anaïs is a sympathizer?”

“Not precisely,” I said, knowing that my friend’s actions were motivated not by the belief half-bloods and humans were our equals, but by an almost vicious need to protect those weaker than her. “But I trust her implicitly, so that isn’t so much the issue. Her father, Angoulême, is head of those who wish to keep troll bloodlines pure. He wants to ban all human-troll interactions, ban any human from stepping foot within Trollus, and to conduct all trade at the mouth of the River Road. He also wants to purge the city of anyone with less than pure blood. He’s suspected my leanings for a long time, and this isn’t the first time he’s tried to use Anaïs against me. To make matters worse, he has my younger brother as his ward. Roland is... insane. Violently so. And Angoulême has directed his violent predilections toward his cause.”

“Why did your father let Angoulême have him?” she asked.

“Originally, it was part of a…” Anaïs would be hurt if I revealed our broken betrothal to Cécile. Her pride had been the reason she hadn’t told me in the first place, and she’d had enough taken from her lately “…a contract that he was negotiating. An alliance. But ultimately, I think it was because he didn’t want him to turn out like me.” I’d never admitted that to anyone, could hardly believe the words were coming out of my mouth, but there was no stopping. “So he placed him in a home where neither my aunt nor I are welcome.”

“Anaïs’s home.”

I nodded. “Which is why I know some of his plans. Angoulême thinks he can control Roland and that he can get rid of me and put my brother on the throne of Trollus. And if he were to succeed he, Angoulême, would be king in all but name.”

“So why don’t you tell your father about Angoulême’s plot?” she asked.

Because my father likely already knew. “Because I don’t have proof. And neither does he, so we exist in a sort of stalemate. Or at least we did.” I wasn’t sure how my father would react to the news I’d been cavorting with Cécile in public. It was what he’d told us to do, but the motivations behind that request were not as clear as I’d like. They never were.

“I played right into his hand, didn’t I? If I hated you, like I was supposed to, I wouldn’t have cared about Anaïs. I reacted just as he suspected I would. I’ve put everything at risk.”

“Yes, but it isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I should have told you everything when I had the chance. I thought you’d be safer if I kept you in the dark. But I was wrong.”

And my mistake had nearly cost me everything. She’d come to me in good faith for an alliance. And though I’d agreed to it, I’d treated her like a pawn in this endless game of Guerre I played, keeping my strategies to myself. Which had turned out to be to my enemy’s benefit. But more important to me in this moment was that now that she knew I’d deceived her, and how could she ever trust me again? And without that, how could I ask her to stay?

Hating the silence, I said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. We are here now and very near the limits of the rock fall. I’ll take you the rest of the way out… If that is what you want.”

She bit her bottom lip, eyes searching mine even as her uncertainty bombarded me.

“Won’t you be in a great deal of trouble if you don’t bring me back?” she asked.

“Very likely. But that’s my problem, not yours.” I’d have to find a way to keep my father from sending men to drag her back to Trollus, and there was only one way that could be managed. I’d have to make my move against him, even though I wasn’t ready. Even though I might lose. And even then, there would be a target painted on her back for the rest of her life. But she knew that, and I refused to use fear to sway her decision.

“You must decide, Cécile. My father’s soldiers will catch up to us soon enough, and your moment to flee will have passed. After this, another chance will not be forthcoming.”

I didn’t need to be able to sense her emotions to know that she was torn. And though I had no reason to expect it otherwise, it still stung that the decision was so difficult for her.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

I want you to stay. “This is your decision.”

“I know.” She gripped the rock next to her, her nails making little scratching sounds. “But before I make it, I need to know how you feel. About me.”

How could she not know when it felt like every second of the day my traitorous thoughts turned to her. “Don’t you know?”

She shook her head.

Tell her the truth. But it was hard, and not only because it was against my nature. So instead, I extracted her mother’s necklace from my pocket and pressed it into her hand.

“You didn’t do it?”

“You asked what was better, closure or hope... And I think hope is better.” And I refused to be the one to take it from them. “Forcing your family to believe you were dead felt like admitting defeat – like we were conceding before the battle any hope they might see you again. I just couldn’t do it.”

Her eyes glittered with tears. “Are they still looking for me... or do they think...?”

As if they would give up searching for someone like her. If I were in their position, I’d never stop. “Not every day; but as often as they can, they still search the hills. They haven’t given up on you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the glittering gold pendant. “You kept it in your pocket the whole time, then?”

“My hoarding tendencies manifest themselves in strange ways. It was the only thing that was yours.” And it was the one thing she had left of her life before. Having one of my minions leave it on an unnamed corpse had been unthinkable. “I noticed you wearing it when you arrived, and again that first night you sang. I watched you standing in the glass gardens, and I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. A flame in the long dark night.”

Continued in next post...