“Couldn’t get anyone to show you the ropes without giving away you were a half-breed?” I yelled over the wind. The intensity of the gale picked up, people screamed and debris flew through the air. I focused on the power of the earth, letting it run through me and hold me to the ground. I hoped Ash was doing the same. Requiem had lots and lots of “oomph”, but zero finesse.

I understood that problem far better than I liked to admit.

The wind died as suddenly as it had started and I rose slowly to my feet. Requiem glared at me as if it were my fault his little fit hadn’t gone according to plan.

He ran at me, and I met him in the middle. So much for no weapons. Our blades clanged off one another, sending sparks into the night air. Behind him, I saw a flicker of gray and white dart across to the podium where the thrones sat.

Peta.

Requiem kicked out, catching me in the knee. My joint popped out and I screamed as I went down, the pain stunning me. It was only when I looked down at me knee that I understood why it was so bad. Requiem had spikes in the toe of his boots. Tiny shark teeth that were black to match.

“The poison will take you slowly, painfully,” he crouched beside me as a spasm rocked my body. I arched, unable to stop the motion, which thrust my breasts up toward Requiem.

But he didn’t touch me. “Your man, Ash. You weren’t really fighting with him, were you? What a clever ruse to send him into the cells to find your ambassador. I must say, you would have been a far finer catch than Belladonna if you were anything but an Ender.”

My teeth chattered hard, but I felt the poison dissipating already. Griffin’s necklace was doing its job. But I forced my body to stay arched, to keep shaking.

To keep up the ruse.

“Nothing to say now, Princess?” He turned his head, his eyes going wide as a blur of white and gray bowled him over. I scrambled up, grabbed my dagger, and climbed his body as a snow leopard who could only be Peta’s other form, held him down by the throat. Her canines drove in deep, tearing through the flesh. Blood spurted in great sprays, staining her coat.

I lowered my dagger. “And he shall be killed by the one who carries the tooth of the great cat.” Blue had been wrong, it hadn’t been a griffin tooth, but a leopard tooth she’d seen in her dream.

Requiem’s eyes bugged as he stared at me, lifted his hands once, and a flicker of magic coursed along them. I softened the ground under him and pushed him down, encasing his hands in the sand that I quickly formed into glass. Rage lit his eyes, then left as his life bled out of him. His eyelids drooped closed and the breath eased out of him.

Peta gave him one last shake and then dropped him, spitting out his blood. “Filthy water brat.” She glared at me, her intense green eyes narrowed to mere slits. “Don’t think I did this to help you.”

I held up my hands. “Never. But thank you, just the same. Is your master—”

“Killed. Not that he didn’t deserve it. And now I must go back to the mother goddess and explain I’ve lost another of her children. . .” She shook her head, spotted coat rippling as she shifted into her smaller form. With a flick of her whit-tipped tail, she left me standing over Requiem’s still warm body.

The world was silent only for a moment.

Finley raised her hands. “I declare this a day of independence. A day of freedom for all.”

The crowd around us cheered, and for the first time they truly sounded happy. They hated Requiem, but they feared him more.

Finley stepped forward, and I bowed to her. She was no mere child. She was a queen in the making, and a damn tricky one too. “Your majesty, I believe the throne is yours.”

She glanced at Belladonna who still sat with Ash, unseeing near the throne. “Your sister won’t contest it?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think that will be an issue.”

Around us the crowd shifted into a wild dancing mob that lifted Finley above their heads. “Release my Enders from the cells at once!” she cried out. I watched her for a moment before going to my sister. Belladonna stared past me, her gray eyes clouded as if she saw things that weren’t there. She was barely covered in a thin piece of turquoise material that was completely sheer. Requiem and his damn games.

I touched her hand, shocked at how cold her skin was despite the warmth of the air. “Bella, it’s time to go home.”

She blinked slowly, her fingers tightening around mine for a split second before flinging my hand away from her. Her mouth hardened. “Do not ever call me Bella again.”

I stood, trying not to feel the hurt of her words, stepped back, and gave her a bow from my waist. “Ambassador. It is time to return to the Rim.” Was this just a ruse for the Undines? Or had something happened while I’d been trying to get to her?

Belladonna stood and smoothed her hands over her dress. “I can’t return home in this.”

“Here . . .” Ash stepped beside me, holding out a thick piece of dark cloth that sparkled with silver bits woven into it. “Ambassador, will you allow me to help you with this?”

Her chin came up and she gave a slight nod. Ash wrapped it around her body and then handed me the ends, I finished the job, wrapping her body in the silver colored material, tying it off at her hip.

Belladonna glanced down at my handy work. “Now take me home. Immediately.”

We didn’t argue with her. Ash led the way, cutting through the crowd. I walked behind Belladonna, my mind struggling with everything that had happened. Putting the pieces together of why and what were easy in some ways. Requiem had wanted to rule the Deep, but he’d also been laying the groundwork for a bloodline that would have ruled the entire world of elementals.