“By the Pleiades,” Kitsuna muttered.
I turned to see what she was looking at.
The army outside the gates was enormous. Hundreds of soldiers. Maybe thousands. The field was now filled with monsters that I couldn’t have imagined in my worst nightmare. Green-faced goblins, giants, ogres with spiked clubs. Towering creatures that looked like men wearing insect suits of armor holding long knives over the top of their hands as they rode on the backs of animals that looked like elephants, but instead of being cute they had these razor-sharp tusks and paws that reminded me of enormous tigers. Burly soldiers in helmets with hooked faceplates and cruel spikes across the top were ranged behind them, and I watched, stunned as a row of archers lifted their bows and launched a volley of arrows straight at us.
Kitsuna yanked me down onto the roof beside her and Mercedes, covering both of our heads with her arms.
“Where did all these soldiers come from?” Mercedes asked. “The Fate Maker’s army wasn’t this big last time.”
“They’re Bavasama’s.” Kitsuna pointed at a group of soldiers near the front. “That’s why Eriste isn’t hiding his betrayal. He’s out there on the battlefield, leading the army of Bathune.”
My eyes widened and my mouth hung open as I tried to take it all in. My aunt had officially betrayed me. I hadn’t trusted her before, but I hadn’t really expected her to outright betray me, either. I’d thought she’d have been more secretive about it. More stealthy. “How many of them are there?”
“I don’t know,” Kitsuna admitted. “But I do know that if those walls don’t hold we’re in serious trouble. We’ll be overrun.”
“And who’s that?” I pointed to a woman on the ground, a woman with crimson hair who was identical to the one who had ridden behind the Fate Maker on Kuolema’s back in my dreams.
“That’s your aunt,” Kitsuna said. “The Empress Bavasama herself. It looks like she’s come to steal herself a kingdom.”
I heard Mercedes gasp.
“Not today.” I gritted my teeth. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Dragons launched themselves into the air, off the ledges below us, and I turned to stare at them instead of the army that had come to claim my kingdom.
“Winston!” I yelled and scrambled forward, trying to climb down to where the rest of the dragons were massed, at the far end of my palace’s roof, so that I could reach Winston before he and they took off too. I needed to get on his back and go face down the traitorous witch who had brought her army along to settle a family fight.
“You need to stay back, Your Majesty.” Kitsuna grabbed me, pulling me toward the dome. I pulled Mercedes with me. “If the walls give, you need to be prepared to run.”
I watched, frozen, as the creatures kept coming, pushing against the gate, pressing into the hastily reinforced walls we were using as barricades. My archers rained down arrows, and knights and other soldiers jabbed at the enemy with their pikes and blades. But for every man who fell, two more moved forward to take his place.
“Oh, God.” I grabbed my friends’ hands as a large fireball shot toward our walls and exploded into blue-black flames.
The dragons swooped forward and blew flames at the enemy. There was a roar, and I turned to see a blue dragon fall, struggling as if caught inside some invisible net. The roars continued before turning into high-pitched, pain-filled shrieks.
“We need to…” Kitsuna’s shaky voice trailed off as the screeching suddenly stopped.
A horrible, ominous creak sounded, and then the snap of the gates buckling under the pressure. The enemy troops poured into the palace grounds, bloodthirsty screams filling the air.
Winston wheeled away from the rest of the dragons, another red dragon and a gold following close behind. The three of them landed heavily on the top of the roof, and he lowered his head in front of me, stretching his neck out so that I could climb on.
“Come on.” Kitsuna grabbed my hand and urged me forward, toward the dragons. “We need to go.”
“What? I thought you said I wasn’t riding into battle today?” I yelled as she shoved me toward Winston’s neck and began scrambling onto her mother’s crimson back.
“We’re not riding into battle, Your Majesty,” Kitsuna said as I hoisted myself onto Winston’s back. “We’re retreating.”
“How are we going to retreat? My army is trapped inside the walls, and I refuse to leave this palace for my aunt. She’s not getting anywhere near my throne.”
Mercedes dragged herself onto Ardere’s back, keeping a stranglehold on his neck once she made it up.
Kitsuna pointed down at my army, and I watched in horror as they all started to flee as the Fate Maker’s troops rolled into the front gardens. “Forget about your aunt and your stupid throne! The army is running away! We’re retreating.”
“There’s a wall back there!” I threw my hand out, motioning to the back of the palace. “There’s no escape.”
“I’m sure they’ll make one.” Kitsuna gestured to Winston and then met my eyes. “Come on. We can’t take the risk of you being captured.”
“I don’t have the tear.”
“Forget about the tear!” Mercedes yelled. “He can’t use the tear without you. So come on. We need to go before they kill us.”
“I can’t. Not with the Fate Maker and Bavasama here.” I jumped off Winston’s back and sprinted for the rune at the top of the roof. “I’ve got to get the tear. I can’t leave it for him.”
“Oh, for the love of the Pleiades,” Kitsuna yelled, her footsteps beating behind me.
I reached the rune and slapped my palm against it. “Take me to the Rose’s Tower.”
Fingers brushed across my back and the entire world spun as the rune ripped me away from the roof and transported me to my tower.
I hit the stone floor on my knees, my head spinning, and I put my hand in front of my mouth to keep from vomiting. I pushed myself to my feet and hurried forward, hoping that the Tree Folk doors to my room wouldn’t stand in my way.
The doors must have realized that I was in a hurry and threw themselves open hard enough to smack against the walls. I raced into the bedroom and grabbed my crown box, tucking it under my arm like my gym teacher used to yell at us to do with the ball when we were playing flag football in gym class.
A roar from outside made me glance out the windows, where I saw dragons swarming over the back garden, pouring down flames on what I hoped was the Fate Maker’s army. Kitsuna was right—we had to go. We were being overtaken, and I had to keep the tear safe and out of the Fate Maker’s hands.
I sprinted back out to the rune, and before I could even get the word roof out of my mouth, the magic that protected my palace wrapped itself around me. I gasped as the spell proceeded to tear me, and the box, into a million pieces. I came to a split second later, in the exact same place I’d transported from just a few moments before.
“Your Majesty!” Kitsuna called out.
“It’s okay, I have it.” I held the case up to show her.
“Forget about the stupid relic!” Kitsuna shrieked. “Let’s go already.”
“What about my army?” I screamed as I ran to Winston and climbed, one-handed, onto his back.