Moon Song (Crowns of Zima #1)

Chapter Twenty-Four

            We marched on to whatever waited before us.

***

            I had only visited the actual inner-city of Zima once in my childhood. I was six and driven in a guarded carriage through the city as we paraded to Nodin for another advisory trip. We only traveled the better streets where we knew there'd be less evidence of magic and poverty and more so of the rich and societal.

            Even then, I saw beyond the little world the King thrust Laurel and me into. He tried to shield us from something greater--something far beyond his power--if only for his own selfish game. He wanted to show us the great things in being king when reality proved a much disdainful way of life.

            The street we walked through now was crowded by shopkeepers packing up for their own lunch break after he crowd had already drifted through. Few glanced at us, eyes knowledgeable of the fact that we weren't like them--wolves. But most ignored us in sight of scrambling for whatever leftover scraps they could find.

            Yvonne glanced around a corner. "Here we are," she breathed. "Quick, hurry in. Hurry in."

            We piled into the little entry way that passed as the foyer of a tiny apartment. A woman with gray hair stood in the doorway to the kitchen. She seemed like any other old woman at first glance. Then I noticed her eyes. One green. One brown.

            "About time," she spoke, her voice staccato and not at all matching her run-down appearance. "I've been waiting for you all since dawn."

            "The roads between Zima's outer woods and Zima's inner city grow longer each day," Raf told her. "We made our way in the amount of time possible."

            The woman nodded. "Very well." Then her eyes gazed over the crowd, assessing us all right before they landed on me. "Ah, the latest of the Radkov girls. Oh, how you look so much like your mother. Though I dare say, you must have your father's eyes."

            My blood froze. "You knew my parents?"

            "Your mother though she mentioned your father numerous time. I knew just how in love she was by the way she spoke of him." Her eyebrows came together forming a deep crease. "I didn't hear from her for months. Then she came back to me. I barely recognized her by her new shiny hair and new well-made clothes. She told me what happened--that she'd been forced to marry the king. I invited her in for tea. The moment she removed her cloak, revealing her swollen belly, I knew." The woman took a step forward and grasped my hand. "You were bound for greatness just as your mother. Just as your father."

            I swallowed thickly and looked down at the woman's unmoving hand. It lay wrinkled and her fingernails yellowed with age. But the ring was what held my attention. A ruby encrusted in silver. Just as the one my mother gave my sister.

            "You're a witch," I breathed.

            She smiled. "Well, of course, dear. I didn't pick such a dingy apartment for no reason. My name is Luisa. Your friends here and I have long been acquaintances."

            "As well as my mother and you."

            She nodded shortly. "Well, make yourselves at home everyone. You must rest for whatever lay ahead." She waved us on through the gap of a kitchen and into what I presumed to be the living area.

            Locke immediately plopped down on the couch, sprawling his legs across it.

            Raf whacked his legs. "Nonsense, Luisa. We're just here to finalize our strategy and to drop off one of our own. If you don't mind at least."