-And you are right. I can kill you anytime I choose. I think I will do so now. I grow weary of this talk. You come too late to help your grandmother, Princess of nothing. She is as dead as I am. She died within hours of finding her way to me. She came here injured and I could do nothing to heal her wounds. She carried with her the Elfstones that rightfully belong to me, and so I took pity on her, thinking she had come to give the Elfstones back to me. I did what I could. But she deceived me. She never intended to give the Elfstones back. She intended to give them to you. All along, to you-

“She would have me use the Elfstones to help our people, who are threatened by invasion and extermination. She would have me follow in the footsteps of Kirisin Belloruus and make the magic a part of the lives of Elves once more. She would have me try to help fulfill the promise that Kirisin made all those years ago.” Phryne was making it up as she went, desperate to convince this old woman to rethink her position, to remember that she had once been one of the living and so should want to help them. “I will give you that promise you asked for. I will do what you want. I will find a way to make the magic a part of Elven life again. Why not give me the chance?”

-And lose possession of the Elfstones once again? For another five centuries? How stupid do you think I am, Princess of nothing-

Phryne didn’t know how stupid Pancea Rolt Gotrin might be, but she had a pretty good idea how bitter she had become. There wasn’t a shred of pity left for the living, not a bit of sympathy for their plight, not a care for what happened to them. All she wanted was to regain possession of her precious Elfstones.

But why hadn’t she? Why did Mistral still have them?

“If you want the Elfstones so badly, why don’t you just take them?” she demanded suddenly. “If you are Queen and ruler of everything, why not take them and be done with it?”

The shade hissed and spat like a cat with its tail in a vise.

-You will give me the Elfstones if you want to get out of here alive! Do you understand me, girl? You will tell Mistral to give them to me-

Phryne saw it then, realized the truth. Pancea Rolt Gotrin, for all the power that she commanded as Queen of these dead, couldn’t take the Elfstones by force. She needed Phryne to get them for her. But why was that? Why couldn’t she just take them away? If she had such power, why couldn’t she …?