Bitter cold and blackness. Then a whisper in her ear.
B“Fair Jennet.”
It hurt to breathe. She had to remember… had to…
“Lady, awake.” A flutter of sound, moth-quiet. “Stir not.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she wished they hadn’t. She lay in the circle of standing stones, propped up against one of them. Her hands were tied behind her. A golden cord wrapped around her aching chest secured her to the menhir.
In the center of the circle, Tam’s little brother lay bound on the slab of stone. The Dark Queen stood at his head, the Bright King at his feet. Red and blue flames flickered along the edges of the stone.
“Brother,” the queen said. “Our victory is complete.”
The king nodded. “Once we open the gateway to the mortal world, the bargain between us is ended.”
Jennet swallowed, her thr
