The Fate of the Tearling

observed that he used such humor defensively.

“All of us?” she asked.

“As many as you choose.”

“Me?”

“A guard needs a leader, Katie.”

“I thought you were our leader.”

Tear paused, looking to Lily, who shrugged and poured herself another glass of water. Tear turned back to Katie, and she saw something grim and hopeless in his eyes, the look of a doomed man with his fingers full of straw.

“I’m leaving.”

“Leaving where?”

“Leaving the Town.”

Katie gaped at him, once again sure that he must be joking. But Lily and Jonathan were both staring at the table, and in

was on the run.”

“From your mother?” This much, at least, Kelsea had drawn from the woman’s mind. There was a great betrayal there, though the exact circumstances had not come clear.

“Yes. From the Cadarese as well.” The Red Queen shook her head, as a dog would shake off water. “At any rate, the dark thing gave me shelter, saved me from starvation in the Fairwitch.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He thought I could set him free.” The Red Queen grinned bleakly. “But it wasn’t me, Glynn. It was you.”

“I did what I had to do to save my kingdom.”

“Temporary salvation at best, Glynn.”

“Why did you really bring me out here? To gloat?”

“No,” the Red Queen replied, suddenly subdued. “I wanted to talk to someone.”

“You have an entire kingdom at your disposal.”

“I can’t trust them.”

“You can’t trust me, either.”

“But you are not double-faced, Glynn. This entire castle, these people, all of them look for ways to tear me down.”

“People have always plotted against you. That’s the nature of being a dictator.”

“I do not care about that. It’s the artifice I can’t stand. You may despise me, Glynn, but your hate is open and clear. These people, they smile, but underneath . . .” The Red Queen’s voice hoarsened, her hand tightening on the balcony railing, her knuckles white. Tear legend said that the Red Queen had been born without a heart, but nothing could be further from the truth. What Kelsea was now seeing were the first cracks in decades of iron self-control. She considered putting a hand on the Red Queen’s shoulder, then wondered what she was doing. There was no friendship with this woman.

Why do I give her so much leeway?

Because you were inside her head.

Kelsea nodded, recognizing the truth of this. The sapphires provided the ultimate experience in empathy. It was impossible to hate someone after having watched the long tale of her life: the mother, beautifu

Kelsea was in no mood to feel empathy now