“Us?” Giles demanded. “How can we stop both those armies? Didn’t you even watch the spirits’ vision at Raven’s Nest? I know the land wants you to be its queen, but this war has been going on for decades, Cordy. Everyone says it’ll never end until the crown is fixed, and that crown is still in pieces after everything we’ve tried. If they figure out who we are while it’s still broken, they’ll kill us before we can even try again! Do you really want the three of us to sacrifice our lives for no good reason?”

Sacrifice …

The word chimed like a bell, resonating deep under her feet with all the fractured pieces of the land.

A true sacrifice …

Cordelia caught her breath, her head spinning.

Of course! She finally understood. No wonder they hadn’t managed to put the crown together in any of their attempts. They’d been missing the most important element.

It was so simple … and so terrifying.

Her teeth started to chatter. She clenched them together.

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bear it!

But the Raven Crown hadn’t been formed by the land and its people each pursuing their own paths. It had been sealed by true sacrifices made on both sides. That meant giving up something she loved—and Cordelia had learned, across their terrible journey, exactly what and whom she loved too much to ever sacrifice.

That left only one possibility.

“I can do this,” she breathed as shivers rippled through her. “We all can. We will, because no one else—no one—is going to die on this land today.”

That was worth any sacrifice.

Cordelia took a deep breath, lowered her chin, and braced herself against the ground. Grass prickled against her ankles. Deeper down—deeper—deeper—

“What are you doing?” Giles demanded. “Your eyes—”

“Shh!” Rosalind hissed. “Can’t you tell? She’s working.”

“Is she?” he asked. “Or is the land working through her? I’m not sure—”

“We have waited long enough.” Cordelia’s voice resonated with the full weight of Corvenne as her chin rose, drawing its gathered power through her. Echoes rippled down the hillside like an avalanche. The ground in the valley below gave a convulsive shake, sending every soldier stumbling to their knees. Screams sounded behind the city walls …

And Cordelia and the land spoke in unison, their words rolling down the hill like thunder:

“It is time.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Time to heal what has been broken.

Time to make things right.

Cordelia’s body moved down the long hill, flanked by her triplets. At least, she thought it did. It all seemed very far away. Her vision was blurred with memories not her own, flashing past in uncontrollable succession. Every part of the fractured land was shouting at her at once, sending her visions of past horrors and past promises.

Her right foot slipped beneath her on the dirt path …